Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at
9:45 pm
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There is no question that the low fat food industry is huge and seems to be growing every day. But I don’t believe that we can justifiably point the finger at “fat” and say that this is the reason that many people are gaining unwanted fat and then spend hundreds of dollars on ways to get ride of that fat. I believe that the fundamental reason that so many people jump on to the low fat dieting wagon train is that up front it seems logical and straight forward “I have to much fat therefore I should reduce my fat intake”. But when we begin to understand how the body operates and the internal systems that are in place for energy storage, then the idea becomes a little less straight forward.
For example, with the Adkins* diet plan people were getting great results by eating super low carbs and then eating what ever they wanted form the “fatty” food category. So by common sense deduction one would have to say that if “fat” was the problem then those people wouldn’t be getting the results they claim to have gotten.
Not until the food industry decided that the very refined sugars and processed fats should be a larger part of our daily food consumption did we see a real problem of fat, that for some can be unmanageable at best. Now the doctors that were seeing the results of this new food reacted in a way that seemed logical, they wanted people to reduce the amount of fat they eat by large percentage. Then the thought was, if less is more then keep reducing fat intake until you see results. Eventually this downward spiral in fat consumption would lead to the common wisdom that eliminating all the fat’s from your diet might be a good idea.
Not all fat’s are created equal:
With all this low fat dieting hype something vital was forgotten. Your body actually NEEDS fat to function properly, for some this might come as a shocker. But with that said, certain fat’s can be very harmful, case and point is the recent developments that show that modified fats such as partially hydrogenated oil’s like those in margarine can be actually worse for your health, let alone hindering your fat loss goals. The trick is to eat more of the essential fats like those found in fish oils and flax seed and concentrate on not just eliminating fat but reducing the “fake fats” from your daily food intake. Fake fats can really set you back in your fat reduction goals because they’re not metabolized in the same way as healthy fats and thus it can become a sludge in the system that simply weakens the body while adding a few inches to the waistline.
To sum it all up it is better to think in terms of what types of fats you are putting in rather than the amount. And in some cases those healthy fats can actually help, rather then hinder your fat loss goals. So add some knowledge about types of fat to your knowledge base and become empowered to take back your waistline.
Looking for good fat,
Nick
*Atkins is a register trade mark. I personally do not advocate the Atkins way of thinking.
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Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at
9:58 pm
Finding motivation in things that seem so mundane is not always easy, but as my dad always said breaking something big into smaller bit size pieces always helps. Then once you have done something successfully it seems easier to do it again and before you know it you look back and wonder why it seemed so hard before. Focused action pushes forward to success like nothing else, and success is something that brings more motivation.
Understanding the motivation cycle to reduce your body fat percentage:
- Need for change: We all have needs as human beings and we all have different reasons and ways that we would prefer to do something. Many times in the “fatloss workout” world the idea is that “your need” is a cookie cutter and they have the exact thing that is needed. Well developing your “why” is very important in discovering your need in reducing the amount of fat you have.
- Drive or Push: Once you have your need or reason why and are committed one hundred percent to it then the drive to do the action will be in place.
- Action: This is the actual doing part, whether that be walking, cycling/biking, hiking, swimming, jogging. But if that all sounds to complicated then simplify it by simply increasing the amount of daily activity that you do. There are plenty of weightloss books out there that can give you many, many idea’s on what you can do in order to achieve an increase in caloric output. But let me try and illustrate how simple it is for someone to “increase” their activity. For example sake we have a person that sits on the couch all day long only getting up to use the restroom and to get food and water. If they simply added one thing to their day such as walking down to the post office, the store, or around the block this would be an increase. Once that doesn’t seem so bad they could add something else that seemed reasonable until they achieving the desired goal.
Now the other half of action is the caloric input and there is plenty of resources out there that deal with this so for brevity sake I will just mention that the right kind of foods coupled with increased activity can produce a result a lot bigger then you think. Also rather then reducing the amount of food just simply find some way to get more of the healthy stuff in you.
- Achievement: Once your drive and activity give you the result your looking for, it will continue to drive you to continue do what is working, and tweak what doesn’t seem to work.
- Satisfaction: This stage is when you can look in the mirror and smile because all your hard work has paid off. Again the old saying holds up that success fuels more success and that holds true when you go from a fat belly to a flat belly.
Developing your fatloss health plan:
After reviewing the above steps in what makes a successful fat loss plan you can then make it personally yours, custom fit for your situation. As you put together your plan consider what your “why” is, that underlying reason for making a change. Once you know that then your set to find those things that you enjoy and that increases your activity.
Less empty calories:
If you are someone that puts a lot of empty calories (cake, muffins, cookies, junk food, etc.) you might look at ways to cut that back and replace it with something else healthier. So for example if I am someone that eats fast food five days a week I might try to cut back to four days and pack a lunch for the 5th day. I might choose fruit juice over soda pop. If I am someone that eats 200 cookies a day I might try to cut it back to 190. OK so that last example might be a little extreme but you get the picture. Again small consistent changes is what wins this race not the quick things that you stop doing three days later.
Working Your Plan:
It’s important to note that the source of your motivation may change over time and as those needs change and your life changes it’s good to keep this cycle of motivation in mind and then you can tweak your plan accordingly. Something that might be the case for you, as it was for me, that while jogging or running and really enjoying the results that it is giving you and then injure a leg or ankle, you have to rethink the activities. So take up something like golf or maybe gardening, just something that doesn’t use the injured leg. The main point here is to reassess where you are in the fat loss motivation cycle and keep the activity level at what you had or moving up so your action doesn’t slow down to a complete stop.
Now admittedly it is really tough at times to keep your mind and body in sync after a big set back. Whether that set back be an injury or some other unseen element in life, simply go back to step one and look at how your motivational needs have changed and what really drives you NOW at this place in your life. We are dynamic people and that means we have to give ourselves some flexibility in everything we do to avoid getting stuck.
My hope is that this idea of motivation, whether it be external or internal, breaking it down into steps can help in making this race to loose fat one that you can win. Please leave a comment; I am interested in your thoughts and idea’s. And thanks for stopping by to give this a read I really appreciate it.
Working to be motivated,
-Nick
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at
8:17 pm
Alright so I’m not going to sit here and tell you all is going to be a bed of roses if you faithfully follow these things but I can say without a shadow of doubt that your success in losing fat and staying well at the same time absolutely hinges on these three things. The goal here is to work with your bodies natural systems to reach your end goals. In all honesty the main reason we deal with excess fat is because something is not working properly whether that be our brain, muscles, or motivation.
Easy, Healthy, Fast
- Consider cleansing your body
- Eliminate soda especially diet soda
- Pack a lunch
Cleansing or Detox:
I am a huge advocate of cleansing your body from the toxic build up that happens over the years of not eating exactly like well all know we should. The problem with fatloss and is that the fat in the body stores many bad things that actually can harm your body if they are released into the body all at the same time. If you do a cleans or detox and help get your body back in balance and this also reduces the number of free radicals in the body. Then as your are shedding the fat looking for the permanent fat loss you are able to limit the negative affect of fatloss.
Getting Rid Of Cola Or Carbonated Drinks:
If this is impossible for you to do then I would strongly recommend that you avoid the diet soda of any kind. So you might be asking that why would you say that, I mean dieting is suppose to help you loss weight right. Well that is what some people would like you to think because they put the word diet on the label they automatically have your best interest in mind. What they will not tell you is that the artificial sweeteners in the soda is actually working against you and your fatloss health goals. Recently Pepsi has started making the throw-back Pepsi with real sugar. My theory is that enough people have requested something with out the artificially sweeteners in it that Pepsi figured the marking was wanting something different.
What is best is to drink water or something as close to it as possible. Since your body is composed of a high percentage of this thing called water, by putting more of it in, your body eliminates toxins and free rascals that are building up in your system as you are losing fat weight. Water also helps in muscle function which will ultimately help you burn the fat.
Packing A Lunch:
If you think brown bagging a lunch is something that takes too much time, step back and evaluate what you just said. If packing a luck takes an extra 15 min’s every evening and it can help you drop the fat sooner then later wouldn’t that be worth your time to accelerate your goals. Why go through all this, well to put it simple you can control more effectively the quality and quantity of the food. Most times the time eating out or just snaking for lunch the calories are empty, or put another way they don’t feed the body but rather feed the waistline. So you have a choice you either spend your time in packing the lunch or you will spend more time exercising in order to keep the empty calories from become a part of your waistline.
After all this you might be asking now what? Well again this is one those things that you don’t have to jump into all this all at once. Your goal should being looking for long term results which can lead to permanent fat loss rather than the quick and over inflated results. So take one thing and start implementing it and you would be surprised how just one of these things can make the difference.
Please leave a comment; I am interested in your thoughts and idea’s. And thanks for stopping by to give this a read, it means a lot to me.
Safe and Effective,
-Nick
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There is no question that the low fat food industry is huge and seems to be growing every day. But I don’t believe that we can justifiably point the finger at “fat” and say that this is the reason that many people are gaining unwanted fat and then spend hundreds of dollars on ways to get ride of that fat. I believe that the fundamental reason that so many people jump on to the low fat dieting wagon train is that up front it seems logical and straight forward “I have to much fat therefore I should reduce my fat intake”. But when we begin to understand how the body operates and the internal systems that are in place for energy storage, then the idea becomes a little less straight forward.
