AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (‘TRY’, BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3 When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastrointestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork.

Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.

About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To  obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified  water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes.  Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to  more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac,  anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive  spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and  bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Also these rules will no doubt help as well

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and  how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.

Cover food with a paper towel instead. This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

So what do we mean by life style and it’s effect on our weight?

Many people are extremely busy with their lives. They have to get to work, they have to look after the kids and they have to look after the house. Then there are the school activities, the after school activities and if there is time  , a social life. Exactly were is there time to exercise or eat properly? Rushing home from work, grabbing some fast food something and then heading out the door again to one of the kids activities is just not conducive to managing your weight. The jobs we have today are leaning more and more towards low activity jobs. Whether we sit behind a desk or push a button to control a robot on an assembly line, we are not buring many calories on the job either.

This is the lifestyle that many of us face today. Without changing this lifestyle we cannot possibly lose weight and we are lucky to not gain weight.

The Fundamentals

Energy into your body less energy burned during the day equals positive or negative results. If it is positive you are going to gain weight. If it is negative, you are going to lose weight. It is just that simple. There is a lot you can do on both sides of the equation to influence it in the right direction and a lot of it is life style changes that you need to make.

Let’s look at the fast food area to start with. Whether you grab something at the fast food restaurant or you heat up a prepacked frozen meal, they are all high in calories and high in salt content. A high salt content helps the body retain fluids and contributes to high blood pressure. One of the first steps is to get away from the prepared fast food syndrome and it is relatively easy to do and watch your salt intake.

Prepare Your Own Fast Food

Pick a day, perhaps on the weekend and prepare a large meal. Does not matter what it is, but make sure that it is far more than what your family can eat. Prepare a healthy meal and capture all of the vitamins by cooking  properly with a balance of vegetables, meat and a carbohydrate. Once you are finished dinner, prepare casseroles which you can freeze to be taken out for dinner sometime during the week.  Every time you cook a meal always cook more than you need. Before you know it, there will be a freezer full of meals that you can select for your family to have an excellent meal.

Book Your Schedule

Just in the way you book meetings and the kids activities, book some time into your schedule so that you have time to exercise even if it is going for a walk around the block for 15 minutes. Remember what we are trying to do is alter your lifestyle. Scheduling time for your self even if it is a few minutes at a time is a good start. Walk to meetings. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Whenever there is an opportunity to exercise in some small way, take it. This will burn calories and also increase your metabolism at the same time which burns even more calories.

Involve Your Family and Friends

It is really hard to lose weight if you are the only one trying to watch what you eat and to exercise while others enjoy themselves over eating and not worrying about what they eat.

With a partner to help you when you are down and support you in sticking to your goals the job can get to be much easier. Having your friends involved, as well as your family has other benefits as well. They will participate with you as well and gain some of the benefits of losing weight. Your kids and spouse will be able to work with you and help you to prepare meals, go for walks and generally increase your families overall activity rate. This is a bonus to your weight loss and life style changes.

Long Term Benefits

Whether you know it or not, by involving your family in your weight loss program, there are multiple benefits that you will see for a long time. The obvious benefit is that you receive the support you need to stick with the program when you find it difficult. Your family will also benefit since they will also lose weight at the same time if they stick to the life style changes you are mapping out. But the real benefit is the long term results and influence you have on your kids.

By being more active, by eating better and staying away from fast food, your kids will develop the habits needed over a lifetime to help them sustain their weight at acceptable levels. If you are overweight as a kid you will be overweight as an adult. If you learn to eat properly , to manage your portions, to exercise when you can, they will do the same. They will follow your lead and this is one of the most important gifts you can give to your family. Long term healthy habits is so important to living a higher quality life and to living a healthy life.

Try it and work at it and you will see the results over time. The fast weight loss programs that you pay for just will not work unless you can also change your lifestyle.

What I have come to conclude in life about just about everything is that if it sounds too good to be true then it is too good to be true. Many people get duped by the fast paced flashy advertisements. They want to lose weight so badly they are willing to try anything. I have also learned in life that if you don’t have to work for it and put some effort in, then you will not appreciate it and will just go back to your normal ways. So all of these weight loss diets that promise weight loss in a matter of weeks are promising more than can be achieved.

We are going to list some of the weight loss diets and a short description of each. We are in no way supporting these diets. We do think that everyone must make their own decision and do their own homework to determine which one is going to be best for them. We are trying to gather some unbiased information about diets to help people who read our posts. Please add your own comments if they are helpful to other people.

Atkins Diet
Metabolism Diet
Rice Diet
Cabbage soup diet
Sonoma diet
Soup diet
Low fat diet
Calorie diet
High protein diet
Mediterranean diet
Cleansing diet
Weight Watchers diet
Crash diet
Natural diet
Raw food diet
Mayo clinic Diet
Lemonade diet

Just looking at the names of the above diets gives me the shakes. I cannot imagine following a cleansing diet for example or a raw food diet. They just seem so counter intuitive. If you have ever watched the biggest loser, they talk about portion control, managing your total calorie  intake, eating a balanced diet to make sure you get all of the essential minerals and vitamins. The biggest loser also talks about getting enough exercise to allow you to create an energy deficit and as soon as you have an energy deficit you are going to lose weight!

Your body is a highly complex organism that requires many different foods in order to maintain the chemical balance it needs to be healthy. Why would you ever limit your food intake that essentially robs your body of key foods and vitamins it needs to maintain your health? In fact what you are potentially doing is making yourself ill while losing weight! Now that is a scary thought.

Eating in moderation is just another way of saying manage your portion control. You really have to wrap your mind around that so that you do not over eat. All of these diet plans are aimed really at making money and not your well being. Most have no scientific support and in fact many are just plain bad for you.

Following a weight loss diet on any of the above diets does not really deal with the reason you are overweight in the first place. Obviously you have eaten too much. Can’t argue with that. But why have you gotten into the habit of eating so much? Is it boredom? Are you trying to hide from something? Are you looking for comfort when you cannot get it from anything else or anyone else? It may be one or all of these reasons.

In my case, my family always had desert for supper and often a snack just before we went to bed. Can you imagine if I did that today! Never the less, I still have a craving to eat something, anything, just before I go to bed. Now that is a long term habit. The worst time to eat is just before you go to bed  and yet that is what my family did for years. They were very active and had an outlet to burn the calories off.

However when you get older, this just will not work. First of all you are not nearly as active , your metabolism slows down and you tend to eat more as well. On go the pounds and boy are they tough to get off. So far I have found that a little bit of exercise has helped along with eating sugarless gum just before I go to bed.

The exercise increases my metabolism, and burns some calories as well which helps to create an energy deficit. The sugarless gum gives me that fix I need just before I go to bed, which is really just feeding my habit with something that is very low in calories. This is a win win solution for me.

I have been able to lose 10 pounds over the past month using this approach. If you want to call it a weight loss diet you can, while I prefer to call it limiting my intake while managing my habits in a manner that lets me remain satisfied and lose weight.

This is by far a better approach to weight loss diet programs. I continue to eat a balanced diet to get all of the vitamins and minerals I need and I am not missing any of my favorite foods, just limiting the amount I eat at each meal.

Works for me . Maybe it will work for you too.

Everyone had to work out as usual and watch their diet the same as usual, but now it was their partners that were doing the training and the motivating. While there was lots of shirt term buzz around this change, I think it had a lot of long term benefits for the contestants.

Bob and Jillian or is it Gillian, had to teach the training side of the group what they should run their partners through each day as well as the last chance workout.  The training group also got to do a last chance workout as well and then these trainers walked their team members through the same last chance workout. Although this is just a short term experiment, and they could never replace the professional trainers, the contestants now have some experience setting up a training program and also motivating their partners. This will be extremely useful over the long term when all of these people head home for real and have to face the real world.

When they go back to their home towns and their gyms, they will now have a much better idea of what to do to take more weight off or maintain their weights.  You might argue that they already know this, however it is much different when you have to lead vs. just follow instructions. I think this was a great thing to do and it will pay dividends for the contestants over the long run.

Twists to the Biggest Loser

Of course each Biggest Loser show will introduce some side issues for every segment and last night was no different. One couple apparently are gaming the show. He lost the required 12 pounds to avoid going below the yellow line while his partner who was doing the training only lost 1 pound. The previous week she had gained a pound. She was accused by the professional trainers, Bob in particular, of gaming the show and not really trying to lose weight. When she made some lame excuse and would not admit it, Bob lost it  accusing her of lying and not being honest with him or the other contestants. There was a huge yelling match which was embarrassing for everyone. No one came to her defense including her husband.

I think that is exactly what she was doing and just will not admit it. We have to wait till next week to see how this will be handled by the trainers and the contestants.

The other twist was that the couple ( two guys) who won immunity got to choose which team would switch at the last minute for the weigh in. Turns out it was a good thing they did not choose the couple who was gaming it. Each week the show gets more and more interesting as these people who weigh over 500 pounds at the start take more and more weight off.

Biggest Loser Energy Deficit

One of the comments that the professional trainers, Bob and Jillian, made to the lady who lost one pound only was that based on her work outs she had to have consumed 7000 calories every day to not loose more weight.

They were referring to energy deficits. If you work out for 12 hours and burn 7000 calories, then consume 7000 calories you are not going to lose weight. If you consume say 4000 calories, in this scenario you will lose weight. Remember the average person burns approximately 1500 to 2500 calories each day without working out, just from normal activity ( not couch potato activity).

She either did not work out that much and therefore did not burn the calories or she ate as many calories as she was burning. She obviously knows what she is doing, but not fooling anyone, especially the trainers. They do not like this type of game play especially when they get so personally involved with the people on the show. Bob’s point was, don’t lie to me, we know what you are doing so you may as well admit it.

I am sure there is more scandal and excitement to come next week on the Biggest Loser.

Biggest Loser Training

There are other elements to the training that is done at the Biggest Loser. They recognize that there is some underlying reason that these people gain weight. If they do not deal with this issue, then even if they do lose all of the weight at the Biggest Loser ranch, they will just gain it all back when they go home.

Both Bob and Gillian are really good at getting under the skin of the contestants to get them to own up to their underlying issues, deal with them and become a much better stronger person as a result. Only once they have owned up to their issues will they lose weight at the Biggest Loser ranch and also keep it off. You have to give them credit. They deal with the weight issues, the deal with the health issues and they deal with the personal issues that have caused these people to gain the weight they have.

We all have to search deep to gain the level of commitment they build up on the Biggest Loser show. As I said we really admire the trainers and the show, Biggest Loser.

The biggest loser is a reality show and it is watched by millions of people every week. The biggest loser is also an intensely personal journey by up to 20 people who have to bear everything to get on the show and to lose weight. There is no privacy left. These people are prepared to show the world what they look like with all of the weight they have gained and also to talk about their fears and their issues that helped to get them were they are. I think the audience is silently cheering for all of these people to be successful and get their lives back.

Could You Take the Heat

My wife and I watch the show and wonder if we could take the heat so to speak of Bob or Jillian getting on our case and making us go that extra mile. Let’s face it , it is pretty intense with one of the coaches screaming in their faces and the contestants giving it their all, up to the point were they get physically sick. Could you do that, I am not sure I could, yet these people are motivated beyond belief with some of them losing up to half of their body weight.

Of course the program shows the most intense episodes with the trainers yelling at them and making them work very hard. This is made for TV situations to make it more exciting and also at the same time make us really feel for these people. What we do not see is all of the hours of training that they actually go through. Every once and a while one of the contestants will let slip a remark that they worked out 11 or 12 hours per day in order to lose the huge weight numbers they achieve each week. No one wants to go home so they put the extra effort in to meet their goals and stay at the biggest loser ranch.

Is It Healthy

The contestants are closely monitored by medical staff and we noticed that when someone does faint or is having difficulty, the medical team is not far away. After all these people are putting an incredible strain on thier hearts and someone had better monitor them. So far no one has been seriously hurt on the biggest loser and we hope it does not happen.

What is good is that they not only exercise, they are also taught about the calories they eat, what they need each day and how to maintain an energy deficit. Jillian Michaels made a statement on HLN that fundamentally you need to create an energy deficit if you are going to lose weight. You can exercise all you want and you will get stronger , but if you do not also manage your caloric intake, you will not always lose weight.

On the biggest loser, they teach them about good diets and eating properly. They give them hints about eating out and how to avoid the high calorie foods. They also work with the contestants to help them overcome their private issues that may have contributed to their weight gain in the first place. Let’s face it the biggest loser has a good thing going and is helping many families lose weight across the US and Canada and maybe around the world.

How to Become the Biggest Loser at Home

With out all of the support, the medical team, a bad ass trainer like Jillian on your case and the time to train like they do while at camp, how does someone become their own biggest loser at home? Everyone is different and has their own problems however there are a few things we have noticed from watching the biggest loser that we all need to focus on.

Decide that you really want to lose weight

Decide that you are going to commit to making it happen

Surround yourself with like minded people and supportive people

Get to the Gym

Get checked out by a doctor

Manage your caloric intake

Create an energy deficit

Stick with the program, don’t give up even if you get discouraged

The above eight steps are pretty tough and the most difficult of the eight are the first two. You need to decide for yourself and make the commitment to yourself that you are going to lose weight. No one else is going to be able to do it for you and they certainly cannot talk you into it. This is a big commitment and you have to be ready to make that commitment and become your own biggest loser.

Find a buddy to work out with and also to help with diet planning. It is so much easier when you have someone who can work with you and motivate each other. When you are down and having a bad day that is when your buddy needs to step in and push you back on track.

There will be bad days. Let’s face it on the biggest loser they have them all of the time. The second week weigh in is notorious for low weight loss and even in some cases weight gain. This is when a supporting team mate can help you out to keep you going.

We would love to hear your comments on the biggest loser and other diet and weight loss ideas.

Fad Diets

There are lots of fad diets that are advertised on TV and the radio and in newspapers. Most of them are selling a product and that is how they make their money. They do not always deal with the larger issue of how exercise factors into the equation. Low carb diets, water melon diets, soup diets and on and on. These diets just do not deal with the need for a balanced diet with the proper vitamins that the body needs. Nor do they deal with the total number of calories that everyone needs to maintain a normal busy life style vs. what they need to take in and lose weight. Creating an energy deficit while eating properly will ensure that you lose weight.

Weight Watchers

Weight watchers appears to focus on portion control using a point system to manage your calories and intake. Consumers following the weight watchers diet must keep track of their food intake using a point system and also portion control. They can also bulk up on low calorie food to give them that full feeling that everyone wants. Consumers on weight watchers diets can even partake of deserts as long as they have not exceeded the number of points they need to consume for the day. Still for weight watchers to be successful, even weight watchers agrees that an energy deficit must be created if you are going to lose weight.

Add Exercise

If you maintain a normal daily routine i.e. going to work, household chores etc, then you will need to make sure that the calories you take in through meals and snacks is less than what you need for daily activity. As long as there is an  energy deficit, you will lose weight over time. Going for a walk, working out at the gym or exercising on your own will help you increase this energy deficit and help you lose weight. Paying attention to what you eat and how much is an important element of weight control. Exercise will burn calories and increase your energy deficit.

Building Muscle

One of the side effects of working out is that you will build muscle. You will lose fat content as well, however it is a well known fact that muscle weighs more than fat. Some consumers who are exercising regularly do not lose weight, but their body is changing, becoming more lean and less chubby. Consumers should not be concerned about this. Muscle is always better than fat, and will actually increase your metabolism which in turn burns more calories. Besides who does not want to look well toned and lean?

Eat Good Food

We all know that there are good calories and bad calories. Some dieters are even allowed to eat sweets, but there is a big difference between some sweets and others. Take a chocolate bar for example vs a piece of chocolate. A chocolate bar as a lot more in it besides chocolate. There is corn starch, trans fats and lots of sugar. This is an example of a not so good desert or snack. Eating a piece of pure chocolate does not contain all of these extra elements and is just as satisfying.

The same rule applies to many other foods. Fried foods, deep fried foods and precooked frozen foods lose much of their nutrient value during preparation, while at the same time picking up lots of trans fats and calories during the cooking and preparation processes. Stick to fresh foods that you cook yourself to avoid all of these extra calories and fats. Use low fat cooking techniques and avoid frying your food.

Read the Labels

All processed food is labeled with the number of calories and fat content. The first thing to remember is that the number of calories could be up to 20% higher than what the label says. Manufacturers are allowed to be 20% in error. If you must eat processed food , keep this fact in mind when you are planning your meals so that you do not ruin your energy deficit calculations.

If you are serious about losing weight, there are a number of steps you need to take to ensure that you lose weight. First of all you must create an energy deficit each and every day. An energy deficit can be created by dieting or exercise or a combination of both. Practice portion control to reduce the calories that you take in.

Snacks and Energy Deficits

Another huge area which can eliminate your energy deficit is snacks. Snacking by itself is not bad. It can actually be good to help increase your metabolism. The problem with snacks is that we do not have control over how much we eat while snacking. Before we realize it, the snacks we eat can eliminate our energy deficit and cause us to gain weight. If you cannot eliminate snacks, then practice portion control to manage how much food you actually take in. Secondly change to a low calorie type snack which cause you to bulk up give you that full feeling. However the best way is to avoid snacks all together.

Manage your energy deficit by managing your diet and adding exercise to increase you energy deficit.

Make a Decision and Stick With It

This statement may seem trivial, however unless you have the conviction to lose weight along with the perseverance, most people will go on a diet for a short period, lose a few pounds and then go off the diet. So the first major tip is recognize that you need to lose weight and the second is to decide with commitment that you are going to do what is needed to lose weight.

Change Your Life Style

Once you have decided to lose weight and are committed to losing weight the next step is to decide what attributes of your lifestyle that you need to change. Perhaps it is fast food, perhaps it is snacking in front of the TV at night, perhaps it is eating very large meals.  What ever it is you need to set up your environment so that you are not tempted to continue bad habits such as snacking.

Exercise Routine

Part of changing your lifestyle is to begin exercising. Even if it is a walk around the block, it is better than sitting in front of the television and snacking. If you have been a couch potato and this is the first time you decide to exercise start slowly and build up. If you are seriously unhealthy, talk to your doctor first. Even if you start by walking a short distance and build up over time this is a huge improvement.

Exercise will improve your circulation, help you lose weight when combined with a diet program, build your muscles including that of your heart, and increase your lung capacity. Exercise will also increase your metabolism which will burn more calories and help to burn off those pounds.

Fit Your Exercise into a Busy Life

Sometimes we are just so busy that we do not have time to go to the gym and exercise. There are various ways to get your daily exercise. For starters consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If it is only  a few floors, chances are you will save time since you can cover several floors before the elevator even arrives. Go for a walk at lunch. Park your car further away from the entrance to your office or shopping and walk the extra distance.

If you are waiting for the kids at an activity, don’t sit and wait, go for a little walk even if it is around the parking lot. There are numerous ways to get in that extra few steps every day while you are building up your endurance.

Walk 10,000 Steps a Day

You have probably seen or read about walking a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. I have personally tried this and found it quite hard to get all of the steps in. I bought a step counter and away I went walking around the mall to get my 10,000 steps in. I have to admit it gets a bit boring, so try to vary the routine, go for walks in your neighborhood or around your work place. Drive the car to a different location and walk. Before you know it you will be walking your 10,ooo steps every day.

Eating Habits

This is probably the most difficult thing to do and why we left this weight loss tip until the end. We are all used to fast food prepared quickly with lots of sauces and salt. The salt is bad for high blood pressure or hypertension and all of the fried food and sauces have thousands of calories in them.

Start cooking natural foods and make your own casseroles to be frozen. That way you manage the salt and the fat that goes into the meal and it is ready when you need it. Just a quick dethaw, heat it up and supper is ready. These are excellent meals when you are in a hurray and pressed for time.

Stay away from fast food restaurants or any restaurant were the food is cooked in oil of some kind. Try doing without all of the sauces such as ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and special sauces. Not only are they high in fat content, they are also high in calories and salt as well.

Snacking

Snacking is like a silent villain that sneaks up on you. We all love to snack, however the problem with snacking is that we lose track of how many calories we are actually eating. It is relatively easy to sit in front of the television and snack on a bowl of peanuts while watching our favorite program. Before we know it the bowl of peanuts is gone and we have consumed a thousand calories or more. While nuts are an excellent food type, we really do not need these extra calories unless you can burn them off in some way. Let’s face it most of us cannot burn them off easily.

If you must snack, have sticks of sugar free gum around to chew on. They have few calories and provide that chewing sensation that we need. Far better to chew several sticks of gum than to eat many different snacks.

In summary, make a conscience attempt to change your life style, exercise, change your eating habits and avoid snacking. You will find that the pounds will come off. The rate of losing pounds will depend on how well you do in sticking to your plan. Let us know if there are other ideas and tips that have helped you to lose weight and keep it off.

Fads & Diets

There are numerous fads and diets that are advertised on TV and other venue’s. Some of them work and some do not, but how can you tell. Certainly some of the stars that are making pitches appear to have lost weight and are doing very well according to the advertisement. Valerie Bertinelli is a good example. She looks fabulous and has benefited from Jenny Craig. But is that the whole story?

The first thing to remember it that everyone who is making a pitch is getting paid in some manner to pitch a program or a product. Today, people will say what ever they need to say to sell a product, knowing that there is no repercussion if they misstate  or stretch some facts. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. There is no doubt in Valerie’s case that she has lost weight.

There are many other fads and diet programs, however most people either do not have the money to invest in these programs or they are looking for the quick fix to lose weight. Little attention is paid to the level of nutrition in these various diets. Even frozen foods such as lean cuisine have been reported to have 20% more calories in some of their meals than what is claimed on the box. In addition , look carefully at the sodium levels in each meal. Some will have as much as 30 to 40% of the sodium intake in one meal that you need all day.

It Pays to Read Labels for Nutrition Balance

Always read the labels when you are purchasing prepared food. Even cereal will have some elements that you may question such as sodium, fat content, and other elements that the body does not always need. Soups are notorious for high salt content. Frozen meals of all types are often high in fat content and high in sodium content. Fast food can also be a source of high fat and sodium with little nutritional value. Read the labels and make your own decision, before blindly following the advertisement on the box or on the TV. Often they conveniently forget to mention various factors that you may be interested in.

Follow the Food Guides

Both the United States and Canada have their own food guides which if followed will help to ensure that you meet your needs for the right vitamins,, minerals and other nutrients. Consumers can also reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and osteoporosis. A balance diet based on the food guide will contribute to your overall health and vitality.

Food Guide Basics for great Nutrition

Adults should eat seven to 10 servings of vegetables and fruit every day. Six to eight servings of grain products and two to three servings of milk products and two to three servings of meat products. Meeting these guidelines will generally give you all of the necessary food groups, minerals and vitamins that you need every day.

Serving sizes should be matched to your overall food intake required to maintain your ideal body weight. Over indulging in anything can have negative impacts including weight gain even if it is nutritional for you. Combine this with 6 to 8 liters of water to aid in hydration and digestion of your food. If you exercise, additional water is usually required based on the level of exercise you undergo.

If you would like more details about the food guides, search the internet for Canada’s food guide.

A Common Sense Approach to Nutrition

Take some time to really educate yourself on what is needed to provide the nutrition you need for your age and gender. Read the labels and look for low sodium content and low fat content, with a mix of minerals and vitamins. Cooked foods at home prepared from scratch are usually better than prepackaged prepared foods that have a lot of preservatives and additives included. Combine good nutritional intake with the proper amount of food and exercise. Getting one or all of these out of balance can contribute to weight gain and poor health.

Fast food restaurants are not the best place to go to get well balanced low calorie meals. Some have begun to introduce better meals , however you need to pick and chose those that provide the right nutritional value along with lower caloric intake. Many are deep fried, have lots of fat and sodium to make them taste better. Even splitting a meal is better than eating all of the meal yourself, but it is better to just not order a high calorie, high sodium high fat meal in the first place. some of the new salad meals at fast food outlets are great until you add the salad dressing. These high calorie, high fat dressings should be used lightly.

Multi Vitamins

If you feel that you might not be getting all of the necessary vitamins from your food intake, multi vitamin pills are often a great idea. However you should talk to your pharmacist first to get a recommendation on which vitamins to take based on your age and gender. Also if you are prone to osteoporosis, consider additional calcium tablets and vitamin D to help with the absorption of the calcium. Again your pharmacist can assist with the selection.

In summary think for yourself, ask questions, do some research and read the labels to ensure you are getting the necessary nutritional value you need from the food you eat. Talk to your pharmacist regarding vitamin and calcium supplements if needed.

No Pain , No Gain

We have all heard this statement over and over, applied to many different topics including weight loss. If you have watched the biggest loser, it is obvious that these people are going though significant pain as they work to reduce weight. They are working out a large number of hours every day, with sore muscles, stomach cramps and pushing themselves harder and harder. Although this has great entertainment value, the concern is can their hearts withstand this additional physical stress.

The contestants on the Biggest Loser have a team of doctors monitoring their every move, monitoring the food they take in and monitoring the medications that they need to take. We have seen some people on the biggest loser actually collapse.

From a common sense exercise point of view, by far the majority of people do not have this level of support when they begin to exercise. If you join a gym, you will always be asked to sign a document which absolves the gym of any blame should you have some sort of health issue while at the gym.

If you are concerned ask for a doctors assessment and recommendation regarding your exercise level. Start by walking around the block. Depending on the level of your health you may want to start slowly and build up to a more intense level of exercise. If you feel any discomfort other than sore muscles, take a break. Build up slowly and as you control your diet with the common sense diet approach and follow a common sense exercise  approach you will gradually get stronger and lose weight.

It Takes Time to Lose Weight

Contrary to the TV advertisements that suggest you can lose significant amounts of weight in a short time period and look like some of the hunks and beauties that advertise these products, no one can make that transition so fast. These people have practiced portion control and exercise programs all of their lives in order to look like the way they do on TV. It is just impossible to change your body to look like that in a short amount of time regardless of whether it is an exercise machine of some sort or a pill or liquid that is being advertised.

The message they are giving to you is that you should buy this product to look like the way these people do. It just will not happen, in the time frame they are suggesting. It takes hard work and focused effort on exercise as well as diet to get to look the way these people look.

Common Sense Exercise Programs

Note that we are not saying “Don’t buy these products”. We are saying that you should manage your expectations regarding these products. If you purchase some sort of weight bearing machine that slides under your bed when not in use, the machine could actually be an excellent addition to your exercise program.

Use the new exercise machine every day or at least 3 times a week and push yourself to your limit every time. Over time you will begin to see results. Add to these exercises to increase your level of fitness and as your strength builds you will be able to do more, exercise more and lift heavier weights.

Using this type of approach will vastly improve your chances of losing weight and keeping it off. One of the most important elements to keep in mind is that you must manage your own expectations. The TV advertisements build up unrealistic expectations and everyone gets disappointed when the results do not immediately come. Set some realistic guidelines and goals and then work towards achieving them over a reasonable amount of time.

Exercise is a Lifetime Challenge

For most of us, with the temptations we have, the life style we lead, exercise is becoming a lifetime activity. Whether you go to the gym, take the dog for a walk, bicycle or ski, everyone of us should know that we need to do some form of exercise all of our lives.

When we were kids, we participated in various sports and were always active. As adults we become more sedentary and burn less calories as a result. Most of us do not reduce the number of calories that we intake and as a result we tend to gain weight. Many people will gain a minimum of 10 pounds every decade, while those of us with eating problems may gain much more than that.

If you want to maintain your weight, the equation is pretty simple. Calories that you eat must be either burned off through daily activities, burned off through exercise or they will add to your bodies fat content. There is no getting around that fact. 2000 calories in less 1500 burned off by daily activities and exercise leaves 500 calories that your body will add on as fat! This is just a simple example to make a point. Individuals need to gauge your food intake with your activity level to assess how much exercise you need and how much you need to decrease your caloric intake.

In summary start slow and build up your exercise routine, stay with it, set up a program for yourself to follow and limit your caloric intake. Get a doctors assessment if you are at all concerned about your health level and your ability to exercise.

The main message of this post is as follows : Develop a common sense plan around the food you eat, the nutrition you get from these foods and the amount of exercise that is right for you. Without a plan that you can focus on, most people will just not be able to  lose weight or improve their situation

Common Sense Diet

So what does it mean to follow a common sense diet? Without getting into how many calories you are eating or how many calories you are burning off, the common sense diet really means that you need to limit your intake of food and focus on good nutritional food.

More and more we are seeing that when we go to restaurants, that we are not satisfied unless there is a huge plate of food in front of us. Part of this satisfaction is getting value for money spent. We seem to equate the more food that we have in front of us vs. the amount we are spending is a good thing. Consumers love going to buffets were they can eat as much as they can put into their mouth or going to a restaurant where the restaurant offers large sides of vegetables, pasta’s or other high carb food.

Of course once we have this immense quantity of food in front of us, there is the feeling that we must consume all of this food. We ordered it and we have been taught since we were young to always finish our plate. So we order or receive large amounts of food and we consume all of it. Before we know it we are gaining weight at a rapid pace.

The message is to practice some self control and cut down on the quantity you are eating. Use whatever trick you need, but reduce the quantity of food that you take in every day. Use a smaller plate, stop snacking, snack on low calorie foods, split portions with a partner and avoid those places were you just cannot maintain your self control. It is the old adage, you cannot take a kid to a candy store and expect him or her to not ask for some of the candy in that store.

Split Portions

One common sense diet approach is to split portions between you and a partner when you go out to a restaurant. We have found that most restaurants support this request and will gladly give you another plate so that you and your partner can separate the portions any way you like.

Some restaurants have a minimum order requirement. If you really like this restaurant, then just order a salad for one person and have the other person order the main course. You can split the meal after the meal is delivered and reduce the number of calories that you are taking in.

A big advantage of this approach is that you also reduce the cost of eating out!

Foods You Eat

Anything that is deep fried, regardless of what it is should be avoided. The fat content from the oil that it was cooked in will contribute to many more calories that you can believe. Focus on foods that are not deep fried such as vegetables that are steamed, meat that is not breaded and fried and stay away from desert. If you really must have desert keep your portion small and split it with your partner. That way you will both benefit from less calories, save money and reduce your weight.

Common sense diet – Snacking

Snacking is one of the most difficult things to get control of and yet in some cases is the single biggest contributor of weight gain.

There are two problems with snacking that cause weight gain. The first one is that we lose control of how much we snack and how many calories that we actually consume. A bowl of peanuts, chips etc taste great, satisfy some inner urge and before we know it the entire bowl is gone. Repeated daily or several times a week will definitely contribute to weight gain. It really does not matter what you snack on, unless it is just fruits and vegetables with no salad dressing, everyone loses control of how much they eat and will gain weight.

The second problem with snacking is what we snack on. Many of us like salted peanuts, chips or sweet deserts. These kinds of snacks will contribute to weight gain as well as possibly high blood pressure from all of the salt intake. If you must snack, then cut these types of high calorie foods out of your diet and switch to other low calories types of foods. Fruits and vegetables are good examples.

Another common sense diet snack reducer is to chew low calories gum. Benefits to chewing low calorie gum include the lack of calories, the sensation of chewing you get which will contribute to the satisfaction of chewing on something and it gives you something to do instead of snacking.

In summary, reduce the amount of food you intake, split portions, avoid snack foods and desert and use common sense diet approach to everything you do. Use tricks such as smaller plates,  splitting portions, avoiding fried food and eating steamed vegetables with spice flavoring instead of salt.

We would appreciate your comments and positive contributions to this subject.