Weight Loss Psychobabble

Weight Loss FACTIOD - "The "FAD" weight loss industry consisting of gadgets, creams, belts, and supplements is a 20 Billion Dollar industry." Why are we as a society still not thin?

It is everywhere you go. "Try this, do that, switch to this, lose 40 pounds on the Hollywood 48-hour miracle diet."

The things that make us overweight are also everywhere. Fast food on every corner, serving sizes that have over the last 10 years moved up in range from Large on up to Biggie size, and eventually came the Mamma of them all - the SUPER size!

Restaurants are not any better – especially in America. Huge serving sizes along with more than one offer from our server to have dessert and other goodies have really cost us as a whole. It is any wonder it is so easy to gain the weight?

After the tremendous portions of food arrived and we all got overweight, then came how to get rid of the weight and fat. First, we were told to only cut calories. They explained how it would work and why we would lose weight. Overall, it did not work!

Then, we were told to cut out fat and were given products like low fat cheese, bread, sour cream, and even low fat WOW Doritos and Lay's potato chips. That was 7 years ago and we got even fatter! Something is wrong!

Then, the fat burners, weight reducers, cellulite creams, and vinegar pills arrived on the market, along with the scams that promoted them. We had numerous celebrities talk about how they lost the weight and kept it off, and we followed their advice, bought their books, exercise gadgets, and listened intently to them on the talk shows.

Funny though, somehow six months to a year later, there they were – FAT AGAIN! We had books from the medical community and a host of weight loss plans.

We have Scarsdale, 48-hour Miracle Diets, Tahitan Noni Juice, Herbalife, Atkins, the Zone…and we wonder why all these

contradictions make us feel like we are living in the Twilight Zone – or at least we know they are!

Weight loss centers began popping up all over the place leaving the old stand by Weight Watchers in the dust. Many had their own food you could purchase – and the food was not inexpensive.

Then of course, you had the Slim Fast crowd. Slim Fast is an interesting case - you know - "A Shake for Breakfast, one for Lunch and a balanced Dinner? I did that and gained 7 pounds.

My friends and family all tried that way of doing this and we all had two things in common. We were always hungry and we ALL gained weight.

Two liquid shakes are just not going to satisfy your body, nor the YOU that needs to get under control. IF you feel deprived you are not going to win the battle of the bulge.

There has also been a lot of "press' lately about a little hormone that is getting a lot of blame in the overweight challenges of Americans. It is call Cortisol, maybe you have heard of it?

The hormone Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands in response to any kind of physical or psychological stress. Experts have likened it to an auto response of the body to stress.

Again, back in the days when we ran to stay alive and ate to run…there were periods of good eating and long periods without food. The body, under stress would release this hormone that would direct the body to store fat – especially in the abdominal area.

In modern times, with the combination of high fat foods, high levels of stress, and the sheer speed at which we live, your body tends to work against you by slapping on a layer of fat RIGHT WHERE YOU DO NOT WANT IT!

Further, if you are stressing out about getting fat you are actually making yourself more susceptible to gaining weight! Right away the pill makers popped up all over T.V. and Radio touting supplements to reduce, block, absorb, and flat out stop Cortisol from doing its dirty work.

You have to understand the scientific jury is still out on this and so I do not recommend jumping on this expensive band wagon. I have yet to meet ONE person who lost weight on a long-term basis from simply taking a pill, without making any dietary or physical activity changes.

Furthermore, history tells us that these fad approaches end up causing more harm to people than any good. I have personally (as I always do) investigated these products and right away have found a very misleading campaign of how these work.

Keep in mind this information is not generally revealed until you have opened the packaging and read the fine print. The main basis for these products is that they will "Help you to reduce stress thereby reducing Cortisol production and the belly fat it causes your body to store."

That's right folks, they reduce your stress. Now, if that was all it took to lose significant weight and build a healthy lifestyle, then we would have all been able to sleep off our weight issues.

It is my belief that good nutrition and a basic understanding of how the food you eat works is going to help you reach the health goals you desire. Unfortunately, Cortisol is not the only misleading supplement based approach out there….there are more…many, many more!

So, who do you believe then? This was my MAIN problem. I was not losing weight doing any of this stuff, nor had I ever met anyone who had lost and significantly kept it off any length of time past about 3 months. I am glad I was able to discover the truth when I did.

Why Dairy Farmers are NEVER Fat!

I grew up around farms when I was a kid in Texas. A lot of my extended family was in the dairy business. I loved going to visit them during summer holidays because my cousins and I would cook up the most outlandish schemes and games while we were together. I loved the food even more.

I was a city kid, so the fresh butter and home made ice cream was always a treat. We got fresh milk, butter, cottage cheese, yogurts, and that dreamy ice cream through out those hot Texas days.

Yet to my recollection, no one was fat or obese. In fact, we looked like a bunch of scrawny kids as I look at some old photos today. I realize we were young and had very high metabolisms, but my grand parents, aunts, and uncles were all normal size hardworking people.

I did not realize it then, but there was a magical secret to their diets that would help me lose and keep the weight off for good later. Yes folks, dairy products help you take off the fat!

Research has shown that consuming ½ a cup of 2% cottage cheese as a late night snack actually helps you lose weight while preserving the precious fat burning lean muscle mass in your body. The enzymes and nutrients in the cottage cheese make the body work at digestion and burns fat.

The cottage cheese causes no rise in the body's glycemic index (blood sugar) and preserves muscle repair and building. The body does most of its repair in the sleep state so this is an excellent food for the late night snacker – like me!

University studies on dairy products also show that people who added three servings of yogurt per day lost an average of 61% more body fat

and kept it off than those who did not. Additionally, studies have also shown that the increase in calcium intake for eating dairy products helps you to burn fat, and actually inhibits the body from creating fat in the first place!

One of the great secrets to weight loss is burning fat without losing muscle.

The simple scientific fact behind this principle is the more muscle you have, the more fat your body will burn off on its own. The problem with most diets like the Atkins is that as you starve your body of carbohydrates it eats it own muscle as well.

When you are done losing your excess weight, which means lost fat and muscle, you have less lean mass left than when you started. This allows your body to put the weight back on twice as fast as before.

Everyone who's yo-yoed on diets KNOWS this nasty phenomenon as rapid weight gain. This causes so much grief and frustration that many just give up and go right on gaining.

NO one told them that losing all that "weight" by starvation meant losing one of their best friends for keeping their weight within a normal range and maintaining their health. In fact, muscle speeds up the fat burning process much better than most carb cutting diets can.

Every pound of muscle you add will make your body burn about 45 extra calories a day to maintain it. So, if we work to turn some of your fat into more muscle, you can burn a tremendous amount more of fat without lifting a finger.

Just trading in fat for as few as 5 pounds of muscle will help you burn about 1 pound of fat every week. Now that's what I call the ultimate weight loss weapon!

"GEEEEZE Chris, that sounds like its going to be a lot of sweat and hard work!" I can hear the old resistance wheels in your heads turning as you read this. Well let me tell you that you are WRONG!

I'm not talking about joining a gym and killing yourself with weights. I'm not talking about ridiculous aerobic goals either. The Weight Loss By The Numbers Plan combines what you need to do in your dietary intake, along with very attainable exercise goals and the psychology of how and why you will lose the weight.

You will be provided with the opportunity to turn fat into muscle and regain your health along with a normal weight. All you will have to do is follow the plan to attain your goals!

Life is Sweet - Sugar is NOT!

Weight Loss FACTOID – "All foods in proportion are NOT created equally!"

Example: If you trade two pats of butter at 70 calories for an Orange at 90 calories – YOU STILL GAIN WEIGHT!

You will have two main enemies when trying to lose weight. One is you and the choices you make daily (you know that one all too well). The other is too much glucose or sugar.

Yep, good old sugar, in it's various forms. This includes the starchy food that the body converts to sugar. What? Not FAT? What about FAT?

Do not be shocked – FAT is not your enemy and you need it to live! I am not going to tell you to never eat sugar again so don't worry. Now let me explain why.

As you have heard, here in the good old USA many of us are getting fat, especially our children. This is not hype, and not my opinion. 67% of us are overweight to the degree it effects our health. The healthcare field has sounded the alarm.

Even though Martha Stewart and a host of TV Chef's have done a great job teaching us all how to cook gourmet food for less than a dime – it isn't their fault either. Martha herself has even commented that "Gaining just 5 pounds can ruin ones looks!"

What is at fault is all the misinformation and out right lies being told everyday on Radio, T.V., and other mass audience mediums. I still cannot fathom why the FDA and the FCC, who are supposed to be watching what we are given and what we are told, can allow such a mishmash of double speak and overstated claims.

I understand to a certain degree they can't be everywhere and they have other battles to fight, however, the lies continue to be told from vinegar pills to fat catchers and burners. What the heck is a fat catcher anyway? And what else in the body is it catching?

The first thing you need to understand is how the body processes alcohol, sugar, and fat. As hard as it is to comprehend there was a time when humanity did not have twinkies, ho-ho's, apple pies, margarine with hydrogenated oil, strawberry preserves, pancakes, breakfast cereal, or canned green beans that the large companies insist on putting sugar in.

Doubt me on the green beans? Just go into your kitchen and check out your labels and see how many items have sugar. By the way, it goes by many names – dextrose, sucrose, corn syrup, and glucose. All of this is SUGAR.

What our ancestors did have was meat, fat, grasses, leaves, some fruits that were dried, more meat, and more fat. There weren't any obese or fat people – heavy folks can't run and in the Stone Age, you had to run – trust me. (In some of our cities these days the need to run can occur as much as in the past, now that I think about it.)

There just were not any fat folks back then. It was a really rare to see someone that could be labeled as obese. With our diets today, is it any wonder that we can work ourselves into a dither on the treadmill and we still see no results?

Is it any wonder we can't lose weight and that diabetes is on an epidemic rise even in our children? You need to understand that your body burns its fuel in a certain order by what is available.

This is the body fuel burning formula: Alcohol – Sugar – Fat.

This is why the famous Atkins diet works so well for some – they count carbohydrates – particularly those from sugar and NOT calories.

They keep their "Carbs" under 90 grams per day. Then, they build up to a tolerance from there. As they increase their intake of carbs, whenever they find a level where they begin to put weight back on, they stop. Once they find their level of happiness, they can from there maintain their weight.

The balance of hormones and the level of stress in your life guide you through the doors or right into the walls, when you are trying to lose weight. You need to understand and own that your diet choices are the map's they use to determine where you will land on the scale.

Ever hear of the sugar high? Sure you have. We all have that wonderful rush when we consume sugar and then we have the crash afterward. Then what do we do? Reach for more.

So, your body is processing the sugar and STORING the fat. If you drink alcohol it will process that alcohol first, then the sugar, then fat.

That is why alcohol gives folks hangovers when they over indulge. The body has BURNT all the blood sugar in the brain and dehydrated the body in the process, but didn't do one thing to the fat.

Thereby slowing down the metabolization of the fat. Hence, the famous "beer- belly." This has been clinically proven by the way. So, guess what happens next?

You crave MORE sugar! Have a hangover and want to ease it? Drink a regular coke and watch how fast you feel better. So, you think – "Ok, I will just cut out some sugar and I will lose weight, right?" NOPE – wrong!

From all the years of having a high sugar and starch diet, your body is NOW trained to look for the sugar. When you cut out the sugar, it spends days looking for it. This is the real reason why fasting doesn't allow you to lose weight quickly.

While your body is searching for more sugar, your metabolism is on hold. Dr Atkins says you must give it a new fuel (low carbohydrates) and more protein, fats, vegetables. He is right!

However, the Atkins diet can be hard for a lot of us to stay on permanently. It creates a side effect condition known as acidosis with its own problem, which I will cover later. However, cutting the sugar and changing your fuel is a PART of the puzzle.

Then you have your stress hormones. Heard of them? They are part of the enemy that is you.

Recently, the scientific community has announced that the hormones secreted under stress lead to the storage of fat around the midsection of the body. I will take that one step further again based on experience and results.

The hormones interact and direct the glucose in your body to be used for energy and/or stored as fat. When you secrete adrenaline (your flight or fight stress hormone), your body begins to use Glucose (Sugar) for quick energy. In the Stone Age you had to RUN remember. Then, you crave more sugar.

The sugar gives you the "high" or quick energy to get the job done. Meanwhile, your body is storing the fat for the next "attack" (Stone Age reaction) or project you need to get done (today's world).

Your body begins to store more protein and fat needed to heal wounds it thinks you may acquire. Again, our ancestry kicks in – your body doesn't know that your boss is only after your head figuratively, or that your being overdrawn at the bank does not mean you need to run for your life.

Your body now turns to survival mode! When this occurs everyday guess what you're doing? Yes – your body is storing fat and protein

from what you eat and continues to search for quick energy via sugar.

This is why so many dieters "fall off" the wagon so easily. Your body has it rules. You need to change them!

Sugar is everywhere. It can be found in places you would never guess to look. I am going give you a list of foods with hidden sugar value (Glycemic Index) in the "Tables" chapter.

As I said earlier, I have no intention of telling you that you have to completely cut out sugar to lose weight. You do NOT. What you have to understand though is that all carbohydrates are not created equal.

Science is just now beginning to realize this. Every type of carbohydrate is different and is metabolized differently by the body. We now have a very useful tool at our disposal for managing blood sugar increases that lead to the body creating and storing excess fats called the Glycemic Index (GI) for foods.

The glycemic index is a projection of the elevated blood sugar of commonly used foods. This chart tells us the amount of influence these foods have in creating fat.

Planning your meals on foods that have an index of 20 or less will help you hit 125 GI or less per day. The higher the GI of any food the more likely it is to be high in carbohydrates and calories, thus contributing to overall weight.

What you need to know about the GI is that the spike that occurs when you consume high GI foods (like a white baked potato or rice) is not going to last very long – only two hours or so. Then, your blood sugar will drop dramatically signaling the brain that you are hungry and need to eat.

This is one of the biggest secrets I use to handle my hunger pangs,

which of course drove my snacking and fast food habit. Now, I reach for a handful of cashews, sugar free pudding, or even a yogurt smoothie and BAM – I am no longer hungry!

The slower breakdown of complex carbohydrates and proteins keep me feeling satisfied and even aid in burning more calories from the digestion process. In other words, I get to snack and win!

Note how high the GI is for starches such as rice, pastas, and potatoes! I will repeat the chart in the table section at the end of the book for your convenience.

Next, you have to deal with STARCHES. Starches are vegetables and grains that the body converts into sugar. Anyone who has or knows anyone with diabetes already knows what I am talking about.

Things like white potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, wheat, and the "meals" made from them to make breads, pastas, and such, are all no no's! The body uses these the very same way it does sugar.

This is where a huge misconception in weight loss exists. People cut out the candy bars, cakes, and cookies for low fat potatoes, corn, and pasta - and don't lose a pound.

Sugar and starch that is converted to sugar act similarly. For instance, the process used by your body to convert carbohydrates to sugar uses some energy in and of itself.

You burn a little fuel to make a little fuel. For those of you who just have a really hard time resisting sugar cravings you will find that eating artichokes or artichoke hearts will suspend those cravings.

Best of all, artichokes are low in carbohydrates and very tasty. Instead of cookies, keep some marinated artichokes in the refrigerator. You will be amazed at how well they work to curb cravings.

Your body also burns fat for fuel. But it is easier to burn the sugar. Change the fuel available and you change what you weigh and how you look.

You are going to learn what you can eat (and it is a lot), things like butter, cheese, meats, and sausages. You're NOT going to be hungry at all!

If you will recall to earlier in the ebook, when I mentioned that some sugar is necessary to life and energy. That is true even with the points I have made above.

However, refined sugar was never a part of the plan. Whole grains and rice's provide a good amount of sugar in the digestive process. An occasional treat like ice cream in a regular serving is not going to cause problems.

Ongoing influx of sugar into your blood stream on the other hand can cause a host of problems we have already covered. Lowering your sugar intake will allow you to immediately drop some pounds.

This is your first simple step. When I cover in detail the PLAN I continue to use to this day, I will help you easily manage this. It will be a snap.

The Truth About Weight Loss

You already know there is a whole lot of information out there right now that is down right confusing. There are all kinds of diet plans and diet plan companies, some that have been around for over 30 years.
There are prescription drugs and over the counter products that "catch the fat", "burn the fat", and help the fat just "melt away". Yet, the percentage of overweight folks just keeps on skyrocketing!
In the early 1990's, a study revealed that when comparing the baby boom generation (those in the 55 – 64 age range) to their counterparts, there were 28% more overweight folks in the current generation than the previous one! Gee, I wonder why?
Just take a good look around you when you're out and about sometime. We have surpassed being a fast food society. There are a multitude of burger and fries places, pizza places, Italian to go, Starbucks with its 500 calorie coffees and those 24-hour Krispy Kremes!
There is something to eat on every corner when it used to be the joke that it was a bank or gas station. While the government continues to make changes to the food pyramid and food companies rush to stock grocery stores with low-carbohydrate and low-calorie foods, these places continue to proliferate our great nation.
Who are we really kidding? What is really happening here?
I mean WHO IS EATING ALL THAT STUFF?
It's not just the baby boomers struggling with their weight however. If you find yourself losing the battle, frustrated and confused…YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

On a recent trip to Ireland visiting a few of my famous friends, I made a shocking discovery while cruising the streets of Dublin. Europe was now becoming the next fast food haven. It was crazy!
Just 10 years ago in London, one would be hard pressed to find even the McDonald's. Here it was 2004 and I found myself telling Dubliners as we entered one well-known packed fast food place, "That stuff will kill you!" My famous friends not wanting to be embarrassed whisked me away.
I still noticed that as a whole, Europeans were in really good shape. I was hard pressed to find any grossly overweight person let alone someone at the obese level. Everyone looked good.
Maybe they had a better handle on their eating habits than we did. It was while rubbing my sore feet after an extensive day of touring that I realized why. They walked. They walked everywhere!
That's not to say folks didn't use cars or take the subways, they did. However, as on the whole they walked. In fact, since I was on vacation I had made a decision not to disallow myself any food I wanted.
Though I kept the portions reasonable, I ate bread, fresh Irish butter, dessert, and wine with dinner. I expected to gain about 5 pounds while on that trip.
I didn't have the time to do my regular light workouts so I really believed I would pay for my overindulgence. However, due to my discipline, I knew I would shed any weight gain quickly as soon as I got back.
When I got home and unpacked the first thing I did was hop on the scales to check the damage. I was totally shocked! I had actually LOST 9 pounds!

Now, clearly, I am not going to pretend to say that I never touch fast food. As much as I am admonishing it's strangle hold on our society, I believe it has its place. Just not as a staple of how we nourish ourselves.
I have learned that by making good choices about what foods and snacks to stock our homes with, we can significantly impact not just our weight but our overall health. I have also learned that these changes are easy and less expensive to make than eating junk food and hitting the drive-through everyday.
In this ebook, I am going to share with you how to do this for yourself and make a huge difference in your life. And, only YOU can decide how much of a difference you will make.
It all begins with why you are making a change. For most people, the reason to lose weight is to improve how they look. However, there are a lot of other reasons to lose the extra weight. For instance, if you are overweight you are:
􀂃 15% more likely to develop osteoarthritis
􀂃 72% more likely to have/develop hypertension (high blood pressure)
􀂃 50% more likely to develop/have erectile dysfunction (men)
􀂃 49% more likely to have high cholesterol counts
􀂃 20% more likely to die of a first heart attack
􀂃 65% on average more likely to develop certain kinds of cancer such as throat, stomach, colon, and of the kidneys.
􀂃 85% more likely to get gall and kidney stones
􀂃 350% more likely to get diabetes
22
􀂃 20% more likely to have asthma and breathing difficulties
􀂃 20% more likely to have ovarian and cervix problems
If that were not enough, sports medical science has also shown overweight people are five times more likely to have bodily injuries from day to day activities and develop lower pain thresholds than their normal weight counterparts.
As you can see, gaining optimal health and normal weight is worth a lot more that just your looks. It will help to keep you from having many different illnesses, and even help you overcome many of the medical problems described above.
So what is your ultimate goal with my ebook? SUCCESS!
Yes, I want you to be successful this time. You have to want it too! Over the years, I have learned that to be successful at anything you must begin with the truth. Look at the facts. Begin at the bottom line.
I believe most folks struggle and ultimately fail at getting to their ideal weight because they don't understand how they gain the weight, what makes weight loss really happen, and are so full of misinformation, both consciously and subconsciously, that they seem to set themselves up for disappointment.
So I am going to share with you what are in my opinion the "truths" about weight loss. This way you can end some of the craziness that steals your focus and motivation.
First let's look at how many calories you really need per day to maintain a certain weight as an average with a minimum activity level. We will use the New England Medical Journal for our source.

Women
100 pounds 1200 calories/day
110 pounds 1200 calories/day
120 pounds 1200 calories/day
130 pounds 1300 calories/day
140 pounds 1400 calories/day
150 pounds 1500 calories/day
160 pounds 1600 calories/day
170 pounds 1700 calories/day
180 pounds 1800 calories/day
190 pounds 1900 calories/day
200 pounds 1900 calories/day
200 pounds + 2000 calories/day

Men
120 pounds 1500 calories/day
130 pounds 1500 calories/day
140 pounds 1600 calories/day
150 pounds 1700 calories/day
160 pounds 1800 calories/day
170 pounds 1900 calories/day
180 pounds 1900 calories/day
190 pounds 2000 calories/day
200 pounds 2000 calories/day
200 pounds + 2100 calories/day
Do you know how many calories you consume each day?
Truth Number 1: ALL DIETS do not work for ALL PEOPLE.
In fact, it is my belief that diets do not work period. A diet is something you start and finish which is why the people on them lose and regain their extra weight. Think about it, how could any ONE diet work for everyone?
It is impossible because every individual is different. People gain weight for different reasons and different components play a part in the weight loss process. For some it is a metabolic enhancement that is necessary, and for others simply cutting calories helps.
Some have radical surgery to lose weight. If you want permanent weight reduction you have to have a plan to follow. A plan to keep you going forward for life. A plan that is right for you!
Truth Number 2: You must create a caloric energy deficit to lose weight.
It doesn't matter which diet you're on whether it's low carb, no carb, or sugar free. It doesn't matter how many points you're counting, what zone, or beach you are dieting in. It doesn't matter one bit.
To lose weight you must have a caloric deficit. There are a number of ways to effect this "deficit" that you are all familiar with.
A. You can eat fewer calories on an ongoing and consistent basis. The keyword here is consistent.
B. You can exercise and burn off extra caloric energy to create the deficit.
C. You can enhance the creation of the caloric deficit by augmenting your diet with certain supplements and compounds.
D. You can "retrain" your metabolism to create the deficit for you.
E. You can add lean muscle to help you burn off fat when you are even just sleeping!
Remember our chart of calories above? By adding light physical activity to the weekly routine the average person can now consume the following amount of calories per day and stay the same weight!

Women No Activity Light Activity
100 pounds 1200 1600
110 pounds 1200 1600
120 pounds 1200 1700
130 pounds 1300 1700
140 pounds 1400 1800
150 pounds 1500 1800
160 pounds 1600 1900
170 pounds 1700 1900
180 pounds 1800 1900
190 pounds 1900 2000
200 pounds 1900 2100
200 pounds + 2000 2200
Men No Activity Light Activity
120 pounds 1500 2100
130 pounds 1500 2100
140 pounds 1600 2100
150 pounds 1700 2200
160 pounds 1800 2200
170 pounds 1900 2300
180 pounds 1900 2400
190 pounds 2000 2500
200 pounds 2000 2500
200 pounds + 2100 2600
You will notice that on average, as a person becomes leaner with just a light amount of activity, they can consume more calories without adding weight. Later in the ebook, I will detail what you can do to achieve this effect.
I ask that now you take a moment and think about what you consumed yesterday. Write it down. Then go and look at the labels of each food, assign the calories to your list, and add it up. Where does what you eat fall? Is there a clear connection for you in the amount of food you are eating and your weight?
Truth Number 3: Only consistent change over time will create and maintain results.
Once you understand why you have gained the weight and what will be necessary to take it off and keep it off, you must turn to building consistency in your actions. This ebook is going to help you do just that.
We are going to peer into every corner that contributes to your weight gain. We are going to remove the pillars of habit that hold that weight in place.
We are going to create a new floor. As with all construction we must first look at the foundation. The foundation to weight gain and loss is FOOD.
More than just food, however, it is necessary to look at and understand the components of the food you eat that is contributing to your weight gain. The first component we will look at is in many foods and is the root of a lot of your troubles. It is SUGAR.
Now some sugars are certainly necessary to life. They give energy to move, think, and live. However, not all sugars are the same.
Not all bodies handle sugars the same either, one of the reasons why the diabetic problems are on the rise among the very young and the elderly. In the next section, I will try to give you an understanding of sugar and its functions…both positive and negative.