Monday, January 30, 2012

Protein Benefits: Real or Hype?


Protein has been shown to benefit people in a number of different ways, from increasing metabolism (thermogenic effects) to de-greasing and repairing a fatty liver.  One of the important benefits that increasing your dietary protein seems to deliver is the benefit of increasing lean muscle mass.  Even in a calorie deficit, it has been suggested that increasing your protein will preserve your lean muscle so that the majority of weight will be lost from fat.    You see when you go on a diet, eating less than your body needs, then “what” you are eating will result in you losing certain amount of muscle and a certain amount of fat.

An ideal diet, has you burning the greatest amount of fat, but preserves as much lean muscle as possible.  Many people go on diets eating anything that they want (including junk food) but just less of it.  What they do not understand is that they could be losing as much if not more muscle than fat, a fact that they will not be aware of simply by looking at the scale.  Do you think that that would make a difference in your body composition and how you looked? Imagine if you were to lose 50 pounds of weight, but in one scenario you lost 50 pounds of fat compared to another scenario where you lost 25 pounds of fat and 25 pounds of muscle?  Which scenario would you prefer?

A study that was just conducted this year, looked at the effects of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure and body composition during overeating. This was an excellent study because it was all performed in a controlled setting.  This means that all the participants were observed, monitored and fed under the control of the researchers.  Basically they were under house arrest for the duration of the study so all food eating was accurately recorded.

The results were interesting.  This was an overfeeding study so all subjects, who were between the ages of 18 and 35, were fed more than their daily energy needs. One group was fed a calorie surplus that had 5% protein (low group), another had 15% protein (normal group) and the last group was fed a diet that had 25% of its calories coming from protein (high protein group).  All groups were overfed an average of a thousand calories over their daily requirements.

The results proved that you can gain weight regardless of the macronutrient profile, of course.  But it also proved that the higher the protein intake the greater the acceleration of fat burning and the increase in lean muscle mass. The low protein group gained the least amount of weight, the normal protein group gained more weight, and the high protein group gained the most. But, the interesting thing is that all 3 groups had gained the same amount of fat.

  • The low protein group experienced no increase in energy expenditure (thermogenesis) and no increases in lean muscle mass.
  • The normal group had an increase both in lean muscle mass and energy expenditure.
  • The high group had even a greater increase in both!  

The bottom line just looking at calories is that eating more than your body needs will increase your weight.
But, more importantly, this study proves the benefit of protein as it relates to thermogenic properties and retaining or increasing lean muscle even in a calorie deficit diet!  Said differently if you want to have the body of your dreams it involves losing fat and retaining or increasing your lean muscle.  To do that protein in the right amounts are key.

1)Bray, GA.  Effect of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition during overeating: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2012



Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Key to Achieving Your Health Goals



Sitting up straight or lying down, close your eyes for a moment and imagine what you would feel like, if you had your ideal body and perfect health. Really take a few moments to let yourself imagine this. Let go of your current self, your present self-image, health and body... and imagine the new you.

Imagine yourself with toned arms, flat 6-pack abs and legs and butt to die-for.

What would you do with all that extra energy, how would you dress differently, how would you feel about yourself?

Experience the confidence you would have, how your self-esteem would soar and how others would perceive your attractiveness and confidence! Imagine the limitlessness to all the activities you could participate in with your healthy, fit body. Imagine an evening of feeling sexy, sexually confident and attractive with your significant other. How would that affect your relationship or your ability to attract your ideal soul mate? Envision your perfect body and the way it would make you feel! Think of it like this: This vision is the “authentic” you – the person you have always wanted to be with the body and health that you have always known you should have!

Do you ever say to yourself, “If I just lost the weight, got healthy and took care of myself, then I would feel like […]”

That is the person you should be …the True or “authentic” You.

Now, open your eyes and realize where your health truly is. How much weight could you stand to lose or how much farther do you have to go before you have the lean, flat stomach of your dreams? Take a look at the harsh reality of what your body has become and consider the effect it has had on your self-esteem and self-image. Think about how your poor body image has negatively impacted your life.

Has your confidence become less than it could be?

Are you less sexually confident and is your sense of attractiveness diminished?

Do you feel great in a swimsuit or revealing outfit or do you hide from your mate or from yourself?

This is an excerpt from 'Mindset for Weight Loss' by Michael Mountain. The answers to these questions and more can be found by opting in to the free diet in the right hand sidebar.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sorry Dr. Oz… You Missed This Important Part to Weight Loss!


I was recently watching a part of Dr. Oz’s show, this particular episode was on weight loss, and something he said caught my attention.  It immediately registered as a red flag phrase because in its simplicity it was at best only partially correct. Dr. Oz’s statement was on will power.  He said, “will power cannot compete with biology.”  Let me explain that further so that it makes sense because I agree with this.  What he was saying is that people’s will power cannot compete against food cravings from falling blood sugar or chemical messengers like the fat hormone leptin and the gut hormone ghrelin.  These two hormones sends messages to tell our brains when we are hungry and full.  When they aren’t working properly they make us hungry all the time.

And in this he is right… but, here is my problem.

If you start to eat certain healthy foods, quickly and I mean within 3-5 days for most, some as long as a week, those craving go away.  It is the reason I created the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet; to give people the direction in their food choices so that they quickly get rid of these annoying cravings. You know what it is like to always be thinking about food or struggling with these misunderstood desires for salt, chocolate or a gallon of ice cream; it doesn’t help you with your goals and in fact nothing will sabotage your diet faster.

It is also the reason that people who instead of actually going on a diet of healthy food choices, just try to eat less of fast food and other processed junk, fail…the cravings will be turned on to overdrive.  Their battle will be a perpetual craving to eat more and more of the same crap that will fight their will power every moment of every day.  It is a recipe for disaster, so if you have not read it, down load the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet now, from this blog and find out how to end those cravings.

So part one of what I didn’t like about what Dr. Oz said was because the solution to the biology question is an easy fix.  The second part was where the good Doctor completely missed the boat.  By far the number one challenge for people’s will power does not come from our biology, but comes from ourselves, our sub-conscious habits and our emotional connection to food…our food addictions. Having been on seven different diets over the course of a lifetime before discovering the secret to permanent weight loss, and having helped countless people end their own struggle with weight, I can tell you that our mind is where the battle is won.
The battle with biology, cravings and repairing hormonal imbalances is the easy victory, unfortunately this victory does not lead to automatic six-pack abs, toned arms and legs and great health.

The development of the Mindset for Weight loss Transformational program is the blueprint for winning your own war against unhealthy eating and lifestyle choices.   If you want a body to die for and the health of a 20 year old athlete, then you need both…diet and a shift in your mindset. Speaking of athletes…even elite athletes recognize that success is part preparation (diet, rest, training) and Mindset (sports psychology), a winners belief, attitude and resolve.  They need it to win and you need it to experience permanent weight loss!

So, with all due respect for Dr. Oz, don’t ever forget that successful and permanent weight loss is found in changing both your psychology and your diet!




Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The "F" Word: FEAR


These are the Top 4 fears that stop people from taking the road to success.

Fear of Failure – “What if I can’t lose the weight?” Ultimately, some people would rather not try to lose the weight due to the looming possibility that they might fail. Previous failed attempts only strengthen this fear! They can become so overwhelmed and fearful of letting themselves or others down that they never actually start.

Fear of Success – You’re thinking, NO WAY, why would anyone fear success?! Because people with this fear think, “If I lose the weight, my life might change or friends might judge me and not want to hang out with the new thin me.” Some people have friends and family that are overweight and they fear that if they are successful that it might negatively affect their relationships. This leads us into the next fear people have…

Fear of Rejection – These people fear being judged or rejected by the people they love the most. Some peoples’ lives revolve around food and social situations; they can feel that if they change how and what they eat, then their friends might not enjoy their company because this person is not participating in the usual and customary way. They also can fear that their friends might not like to hang out with them if they are fit and healthy because their friends might feel uncomfortable or feel compelled to change themselves.
We so often don’t realize that those who love us, who genuinely wish us well, want us to be happy and most of the time are prepared to join us on our journey!
And then, there's...

Fear of Limitation or Restriction – These folks can feel like they are going to somehow miss out; they often say things to themselves like, “I don’t want to deny myself life’s pleasures like Friday Pizza Party, Saturday Beer and BBQ, Sunday Nachos & Margaritas!" They even justify it, “I work hard and this is some of life’s simple pleasures,” or some people feel that life is already full of restrictions or limitations. These feeling can come from many issues - big ones especially, such as money struggles - and these folks commonly feel that food is the one thing that they can go crazy with, without limits.

Yes, these are all head games, but fear is the number one reason people fail to even start to lose weight. These people can be terrified into inaction. Please be aware... these fears are NOT REAL, and otherwise known as "Inauthentic Fears"; friends and family will not run away because you are getting healthy…
These fears do exist in some people's heads, and they do hold people back. You may recognize yourself in some of these fears or situations. And that's OK. But what you need to understand is that this is your psycho-cybernetic mechanism messing with your head! Remember the weight gauge we talked about towards the beginning of this book? … That gauge will resist change by sending you these feelings of fear! That thermostat is kickin' in!

To read more about how to beat fear in your weight loss program check out Mindset for Weight Loss by Michael Mountain. You can also opt in for a free diet from Michael right here by filling out the form to your right!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Think And Get Lean



Initially the title of this article might strike you as a bit ludicrous, “in order to lose weight you just have to think”?  You might be asking yourself; what about diet and exercise,  and if you watch the Biggest Loser or use a personal trainer, somebody potentially yelling at you? But, indeed the key to long term weight loss can be found more in your thoughts than in any amount of information on diet and exercise.   The title of this article should of also rang a bell for some of you and its similarity to the title of another famous book, a book that has helped more people become wealthy than any other book ever written!

So let me help you to understand, how by thinking differently you can in fact completely change your health and your weight. Think and Grow Rich continues to be the quintessential book on wealth creation ever written.  Did you know that within its pages the author, Napoleon Hill, never once discussed investment opportunities or the mechanics of making money?  There is not page upon page of information as it relates to savings, stocks, real estate, passive streams of income, etc. 

The success that people have experienced after reading the book had nothing to do with the mechanics of savings or investing, but had everything to do with getting the reader to think differently.  It explained in detail how to develop a wealth consciousness, how to set and move towards the accumulation of wealth by taking action, and how to attract wealth into your life through a positive mental attitude and an enthusiastic approach to serving others.   
Napoleon Hill provided the inner strength strategies necessary to succeed in increasing the reader’s wealth.

How does this relate to weight loss?  Knowing what to eat or the best way to exercise, basically diet and exercise, is merely the mechanics to losing weight; just like job advancement, stocks or real estate is the mechanics of increasing your wealth.

The real key to losing weight can be found within yourself.  Not by thinking but in fact by thinking differently, you can achieve your goal of increased health and having your dream body by making that small mental shift. You must realize that changing anything begins with changing yourself.  Your thoughts, feelings and actions of the past have created the level of health and weight that you now enjoy.  If you are not happy with your weight and want to change it completely, start by realizing that lasting change will come from thinking differently and changing your relationships with food.

This simple change will lead to a health consciousness; it will develop the inner strength and drive to take action towards your goal.  Through that small mental shift you will literally magnetize your new body and health to you!   It will also help you to develop the self-motivation and positive mental attitude that will empower you to take the action necessary to attain your dream body!


Think and Get Lean!

About:  Michael Mountain is a transformational author on health, weight loss & personal growth and is featured on Amazon.com. He is the author of the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet which is available presently free of charge at www.michael-mountain.com.   He is also the author of Mindset for Weight Loss transformational program - a revolutionary step-by-step program designed to provide the “inner-strength strategies” to take any diet and make it effective for permanent weight loss.  This program allowed him to end his own personal 20 year struggle with weight and poor health!  You can sign up to receive his blog updates on weight loss and motivation at www.michael-mountain.com

Friday, January 13, 2012

How to Maintain Weight



There is so much discussion on how to lose weight that the question on how to maintain weight is grossly ignored.  Yet, if you were to look strictly at the statistics of the number of people who lost weight and kept it off, it is a little disheartening. 

Approximately 95-97% of all people will fail to maintain their weight after achieving their weight loss goals.  So indeed this is an important topic of discussion.

Here is a generalized way to understand the difference between weight loss and weight maintenance. Weight loss is 75% psychology and 25% mechanics - learning what is healthy nutritious food and eating it in amounts that lead to consistent weight loss, as well as exercising or not in a way that works for you. Maintaining weight is 100% psychology because you already know what you should eat and in what amounts.  There is no new information to know in regards to exercise, diet or nutrition unless you are just furthering your education.  But, it is not necessary for maintaining your weight.  

Unless…

…if your diet was so extreme that you find yourself without a working knowledge on what is healthy and how much you should be eating, in other words you are ill-equipped to begin living health as a lifestyle.   It would benefit you to look into continued information on diet and nutrition.     This is why so many diets out there make no sense and have such a high percentage of their clients gaining the weight back…they are too extreme and have them eating ridiculous types and incredibly little amounts of food, amazingly many of these are found in hospitals or are doctor supervised!

Moving forward, regardless of the diet you used to lose the weight,  it would be inaccurate thinking if your idea for maintaining your weight was to quit on your diet completely.  To go back to the very habits that caused the weight gain in the first place and attempt to control how much you eat is a recipe for disaster…you might as well pull out your “big clothes” and start banging your head against a wall right now. What is necessary for a while is keeping your health and weight in your present mind consciousness.  For how long… for as long as it takes for your new healthy lifestyle to move into your unconscious mind.  The second it does, that is when the entire system will run itself.  That is correct, when all of the new healthy patterns; what you eat, when you eat, how much you eat, and daily exercise have gone from conscious disciplined thought to become ingrained habits in your unconscious mind, that is when you can relax. 

If you have not learned how to accelerate this process then you may have to forever run yourself through checks and balances.   On the other hand if you learn some key strategies that accelerates the formation of new unconscious habits, freedom from policing yourself can be yours very fast,  learning these inner-strength strategies will lead to easy permanent weight management.
 Until then you have got to be aware of yourself and the priority of health in your life.  Take the time to create a process to monitor your weight, your exercise and your food choices.  It’s as easy as… in the morning; weigh or take a look at yourself in the mirror, plan your days meals and what exercise you will do in advanced, and in the evening re-evaluate your follow through.


About:  Michael Mountain is a transformational author on health, weight loss & personal growth and is featured on Amazon.com. He is the author of the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet which is available presently free of charge at www.michael-mountain.com.   He is also the author of Mindset for Weight Loss transformational program - a revolutionary step-by-step program designed to provide the “inner-strength strategies” to take any diet and make it effective for permanent weight loss.  This program allowed him to end his own personal 20 year struggle with weight and poor health!  You can sign up to receive his blog updates on weight loss and motivation at www.michael-mountain.com

Thursday, January 12, 2012

WHY You Eat is the Key To Permanent Weight Loss

Hunger, social situations and the myriad of reasons one eats is not the topic of this article. The larger, broader picture of what leads us to gaining weight is, because within its understanding lies the solution to permanent weight loss. An important part to realize in the broader picture of things is that what we eat and how much we eat is an action, as is whether or not we exercise. These actions have lead to the level of health you know have. Your past actions (food choices) or lack of action (exercise) have created the results, your weight, you presently enjoy. If you want to change your results than all you should have to do is change your actions.


Since going on a diet is a change in action, it would make sense if the results were to follow and success was easy to achieve. We can summarize it in the following way…

Unhealthy Actions => unhealthy results/being overweight

Change the action or go on a diet/start to exercise…

New Healthy Actions => New Results/Weight Loss

That is what a diet in fact is supposed to do, it gives you the information necessary to hopefully carry out new actions. But, here is the problem and why 95-97% of all people fail to lose weight and keep it off when they simply follow a diet. All actions that human beings perform are initiated by their thoughts and their feelings. Unfortunately, your thoughts and feelings are linked to old patterns. These learned patterns or habits are associated with unhealthy actions (unhealthy food and no exercise). Picking a diet book up off the shelf reading it and then following its recommendations for diet and perhaps exercise, does nothing to change your thoughts and emotions; the very thoughts and emotions that drive you towards your unhealthy patterns of eating and not exercising.

Here is an analogy, you can think of going on a diet just like taking an aspirin for pain, it does not treat the underlying condition or cause of your pain, it just masks it. Similarly while on a diet, you have not broken the cycle by treating the cause of your weight gain, as a result you will inevitably gain the weight back or sabotage your own weight loss efforts.

We can summarize things further in the following way…

Thoughts/feelings => unhealthy actions=> unhealthy results

It should be obvious by looking at that line above that real, lasting change will come from having strategies in place that direct your thoughts and feelings. By creating a simple and slight shift in your mindset towards food and exercise, you will engage the most powerful ally you could ever have in your goal to lose weight… YOU!

New thoughts/feelings =>New healthy actions=> New Results!

New thoughts and emotional connections with food will treat the cause of your problem and free you to achieve your dream results. Knowledge on what is healthy, nutritious food and why exercise is vital to your health is going to give your new mindset the opportunity to make new associations with that information. When your mind and your new actions are congruent and “on the same page” towards achieving your goal, then permanent weight loss becomes effortless. But, if you ignore the power of your mind, it will fight you all the way. That is why people struggle with will power and why up to 97% of all people don’t achieve lasting results. If you want to end your struggle and want to feel a sense of incredible self-empowerment, then know the following… When you change your mind then you will change your results, because changing your mind is the key to following through with new action!

About: Michael Mountain is a transformational author on health, weight loss & personal growth and is featured on Amazon.com. He is the author of the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet which is available presently free of charge at www.michael-mountain.com. He is also the author of Mindset for Weight Loss transformational program - a revolutionary step-by-step program designed to provide the “inner-strength strategies” to take any diet and make it effective for permanent weight loss. This program allowed him to end his own personal 20 year struggle with weight and poor health! You can sign up to receive his blog updates on weight loss and motivation at www.michael-mountain.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Power of The Mind

The power of the mind is amazing! If we come back to the law of opposites, we recognize that there are two sides to everything. In this case the other side of the coin is what is called the nocebo effect. That is the detrimental effect of negative thoughts. It is so powerful that people can die from their own thoughts within weeks. A tribe in Africa believes that if someone points at them, then they are cursed and will surely die. They believe it so completely that they often die in weeks. Looking at things closer to home, researchers tell us that the average person thinks negative thoughts more than 70% of the time. It’s no wonder, with the unlimited amount of negative junk that is on T.V. The news shows us only the bad things that are happening in sensationalized ways; we hear continual political spinning, bickering and posturing. Add to that dis-empowering approaches to stress, health and financial struggles as well as tendencies for negative people or victims to find others just like themselves... I can see why the number is so high. That certainly won’t benefit our health, will it? It is now well embraced that many human ailments are either the direct product of stress and energy draining negative thoughts, or at least greatly exacerbated by it. The list of problems created by stress are impressive: Obesity, asthma, allergies, skin disease, hypertension, strokes, cardiac disease, arthritis, colitis, stomach ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome... the list goes on and on.So here is an idea for you - and for everyone. How about not watching the rubbish on television? How about staying current with the affairs of the world and community but not drowning yourself in it? How about realizing that stress for any reason can be managed through healthy eating, exercise, meditation, directed thought and personal self-conscious reflection? How about embracing the fact that true health begins in the mind as well as a lifestyle choice on activity, exercise and diet? Health is an expression of the mind-body connection; your thoughts, your feelings and your actions (actions meaning diet and exercise)! Don’t ever forget: the healthier you are mentally and physically, the faster you can lose weight.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Habits vs. Willpower: the 10,000x Rule

Your bad habits are 10,000 times stronger than your desire or will power!

Yes, 10,000 times.

But, here is the good news!

The key to permanent weight loss is using your subconscious mind, literally tapping into this immense power, by creating new habits.

But wait - before you start creating new habits - there is more. You also may have certain "BELIEFS" that you "bought into" at some point in your life. These beliefs, too, can literally get in the way of you ever achieving permanent weight loss.

For example, if you have failed on previous weight loss attempts you may have a strong belief that you can’t lose the weight.

You may have looked at yourself so many times in the mirror that your internal dialogue changed from "I need to lose some weight" to " I am fat" or "I am a fat person".

Worse - someone, usually someone who’s opinion you value (a parent or significant other), has told you that "you are FAT" or worse "you will always be fat, that’s just who you are" and you believed them.

I have even met people who have created associations of comfort and emotional support to food from their parents, who in return label their kids as fat, even though it's really their design. Let me elaborate...

Imagine being fed a lifetime of junk; unlimited ice cream, potato chips, fatty foods with not a vegetable to be seen. You sit down with the people you love, your siblings and parents, and share good times while eating all this junk. Even when your friends come over, your mother lays it on thick with ice cream, cakes and cookies, and you feel all this sense of love. But, as soon as your friends go home, your mother looks at you, disgusted and says, "You’re fat! How come you can’t be skinny like your friends?"

Talk about mixed messages and head games!

As you can see, these situations were created by your parents, but there is zero benefit of blaming them and living in the past, other than to recognize how these things came about.



The above is an excerpt from Mindset for Weight Loss by Michael Mountain. It is currently available on amazon.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Change Your Attitude To Change Your Weight!

Are you interested in losing weight this year?  Is the realization of the goal of being the healthiest, fittest you ever just become a top priority? Do you want to look great and feel great like never before? If you answered yes to any of these questions then the following information is going to be crucial to your success! 

Changing your attitude is the preamble to successful weight loss.   A shift in your attitude must come before the changes to your diet and exercise… or those changes won’t even matter!  This is fact because your attitude is what will dictate your actions and behaviors; it is what will allow you to follow through with your diet and exercise plans.

You see, your attitude is composed of; your thoughts, your feelings and your actions.  Your actions are a product of your thoughts and feelings.  If your goal is to take new action as it relates to diet and exercise, then your attitude must be the first thing to change.

You may not have known it, but you have in your control at all times the ability to choose your attitude; positive or negative.  Regardless of the circumstance, situation or goal; you have within your powers the ability to choose your attitude.  Most people don’t realize the incredible opportunity for control and self-improvement they have.  They merely need to exercise it.  Think of your attitude as the first muscle you need to develop if you want to reach your weight loss goal.  In the beginning of your weight loss journey, exercising your mental muscle is more important then exercising your physical muscles.

Your attitude, if negative, can lead to inactivity or self-sabotage like binge eating.  A positive attitude can lead to seeing all the opportunities; to exercise, eat healthy, talk about health, live in a healthful frame of mind and of course act upon those opportunities towards the new healthy you.

A negative attitude will affect all of you; your mind, feelings and actions.  Here is an example; if you have thoughts of self-doubt, that you can’t lose the weight, those doubts will create feelings of fear, those feelings of fear will lead to anxiety and inactivity.  You will fail to even act or move towards your goal.  Even worse, for many, such feelings of worry and fear can
turn-on poor coping mechanisms; this can lead to binge or emotional eating that will completely sabotage any forward progress!

On the other hand a positive attitude; the belief and faith, that you can and will lose the weight creates a whole different cascade of positive feelings, desirable actions and behaviors.  It is the key to success and the difference between the 5% who do lose all their weight permanently and the other 95% who fail.

Here are some steps you can take to “change your attitude to change your weight.”
  1. Realize that you have the power to choose, either a positive or negative attitude in all situations, including weight loss!
  2. Practice flexing your mental muscle by seeing the good in all situations.  Remember that nothing has any power except for the power you give it.
  3. Write down all of the benefits that you will experience when you lose the weight.  Re-read them daily to keep them in your present mind consciousness, enjoy the feelings that they create.
  4. Write down all of your doubts, fears and what-ifs.  Then on the right hand side of the page; write down the opposite perspective or positive spin on everything that you have written; turn doubts into certainty, turn fears into unwavering beliefs and courage, and erase all what-ifs from your mind.  Re-write only the right side and re-read those every day.
  5. Be aware of your inner-dialogue, realize that you have the power to choose and create empowering self-talk.  Put into place simple steps like outlined in steps 1-4 that create positive self-talk and watch your weight and your life change!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

How to Create Your Own Weight Loss Diet!!!

It is the New Year and you have decided to lose weight and get healthy!  That is awesome…but just how are you going to do it, and how are you going to make it your own so that you can stick with it long term? Realize that successful weight loss is 75% mental and 25% mechanics – mechanics being diet and exercise.  This blog is dedicated to predominantly helping you with the mental aspects of the weight loss formula. 

In this article we are going to focus on the 25% side of the formula.  If you take the mechanics of weight loss and look at what is more important, diet or exercise; diet makes up 80% of the process where as exercise is only 20% of what will lead to success.   So we will focus on the diet, today.
Now, I know that you know you can down load my diet program, the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution, free of charge at any time.  But, today I want to give you some ideas of setting up your own program.
The key to a successful diet is creating simple rules that you can follow.

First, decide what is realistic for you, will it be a simple guideline or will it be set in stone? 
Loose guidelines are more apt to create an abundance of situations and occasions that can trigger a loss of control; this inevitably can prevent you from losing weight and have you living with regrets.  Remember that eating, for most of us, is an emotional response and what has gotten you into the situation that you find yourself right now.  You need to get control back. 

A more stringent approach with flexibility factored in works better.  For example I like the 90-10 rule.  90 % of your week’s meals should be spent eating foods that adhere to the diet strictly.  10% of your meals give yourself the flexibility to eat things that you enjoy in moderation.  10% does not slow weight loss…any more cheat meals than that and it will affect your results.

Eating perfectly 100% of the time for a short amount of time; let’s say 4-6 weeks is a good way to jump-start your progress.  But is it realistic for you? Do you want wiggle room for dates and social situations?  After that how many meals will you give yourself some freedom, one-three? Eating like a saint 100% of the time for the rest of your life is not realistic, for anyone! Here is another approach…you might decide to control ¾ of what is on your plate.  The other ¼ can be what you like.  Example..might be ½ a plate of vegetables, ¼ plate of lean protein and the rest…what ever you want.

I don’t like this method because I look at certain foods as triggers for food cravings and binge eating, and caloric intake is very difficult to control!

The next thing is to decide what you will eat and what you won’t eat.  Will you cut out all processed foods and refined sugars?  Will you cut out all transfats and products with high fructose corn syrup?  Will you eat only grains and vegetables, or lean protein and vegetables?  The list is vast and the opinions vary from guru to guru; low carb, low fat, high healthy fat, low protein, vegan, vegetarianism, just to name a few.  I would base your choice on what is healthy and makes you feel great when you eat that way. 

Here is what I don’t suggest you do…eat out every meal and just try to eat less.  The majority of restaurants and fast-food joints create combinations of food that lead to food cravings that will sabotage your efforts.  Even eating regular processed foods, which is made up largely carbohydrates, fat and salt, and just trying to eat less of it…is a formula for failure.  You are not improving your health and are again setting yourself up for powerful food cravings.  Calorie counting becomes hugely important and no-matter how hard you try, even with a trusted calculator, hard to do and not much fun; doesn’t work long term.

Here is a simple suggestion – eat generously from the following list: 
  • Healthy proteins – Poultry, fish, lean meats, cottage cheese, eggs.
  • Healthy fats – Nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil.
  • Healthy Carbs – all vegetables, legumes, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, buckwheat. 
When you eat solely from this list, you don’t have to count calories!

You could add in limited amounts – Fruits, Whole grains, potatoes, wild rice, low sugar-high fiber cereals. That’s it you only have to make two decisions or rules to create your own diet plan;
  1. Which meals will you stick to the plan
  2. What type of foods will you eat

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Is The Cost of Eating Healthy Foods a Legitimate Excuse?

One of the common excuses I hear from people who say they want to lose weight but can’t because of “blah-blah-blah” is because of the cost of eating healthy.

Commonly, this is stated by people who buy their Starbucks every morning,  and eat out breakfast, lunch and dinner at fast food joints.  There is no way that these people are spending less than I spend on an average day to eat 5 very nutritious meals a day.  My average daily expenditure is well under $10 dollars for all my meals total. 

Even on a cheap, fast food diet – it would be very difficult to eat 3 meals, let alone 5 meals for under $15.00.  The truth is that eating healthy, especially if you prepare your meals at home and take them with you, is very inexpensive.  My wife and I figured it out;  when we began to eat healthy we were saving $200-400 dollars a month by not eating fast food or low end eating out- we still have occasional date nights at nice restaurants.

 The reality is that the cost of eating healthy is just an untrue excuse. Similarly, all excuses like cost of food, no time, bad influences or no-support are just that, excuses. 

Excuses and blame are cut from the same mold.  Neither one can exist if you are to be successful losing weight.  Excuses and blame create a prison within the mind of the person using them.  By pointing your finger at things outside of yourself as to why you just can’t lose weight, you are robbing yourself of power you possess.  This power - your personal power is the very key to personal freedom and permanent weight loss. 

Even when you lose weight on a diet and then gain the weight back; if you blame that diet for your lost result, then you are positioning yourself in your prison as a victim. In my past, I lost and gained weight back on seven different diets, so I know how easy it is to play the blame game.
So how did I begin the process of changing my result? I took responsibility!

Permanent weight loss will never be achieved until you take responsibility for your life and your health.

The second you start to tell yourself that you and you alone are responsible for your health and the weight your presently have, you will get your power back.  By taking responsibility for your present state of health, you place the responsibility for action likewise upon yourself and will start actively finding a way to move boldly towards your goal! 

When you blame, make excuses or justify – you accomplish the other, weakening your position and shutting down appropriate action!

Taking responsibility for your health and your results are one of the keys to permanent change and successful weight loss!

Here is something that you should begin to say to yourself with emotion everyday!

“ I am responsible for my health, I am responsible for my feelings, I am responsible for my weight loss results!” 

Try repeating that 5-10 times each day and see if your life doesn’t change dramatically!



Your Past Does Not Equal Your Future!



























The key is to…..

….change your perspective, start looking at the past and the present as a reference for guided improvement, look at the future as something that you create.  You have a choice to do and become anything you choose when you start realizing that you can create your life!  

Nelson Mandela after being wrongly incarcerated for over 25 years could of come out of prison an angry man, hell bent on exacting revenge upon his captors.  But instead he chose to create his future and to find good in all human beings, even the ones who put him in prison.  Of course when you can foster a philosophy like that in such a situation, you are destined for greatness.   Upon his release form prison, he became the president of South Africa and an inspirational leader for all humanity.  To guide his thoughts and vision towards creating his dream future, he often read a poem entitled Invictus, the last two lines of that poem read….  “ I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”  He chose his beliefs and created his future!

Achieving permanent weight loss begins with changing your beliefs.  Adopt beliefs that provide you with the opportunity for success.  Believe that “Your Past does not Equal your Future.”

The answers that came from that question; the direction of study and learning that blossomed from asking the right question, created the Mindset for Weight Loss Transformational program, a solution that you can model to create your own permanent lifestyle change! 
I realized that asking myself “why can’t I lose the weight,” was not going to give me the answers.  So instead I asked myself “what has to happen, what do I need to change in order to reach my goal of permanent weight loss?.
The next step in finding the solution was to ask myself the right question.
As for myself, I failed seven times to change my weight and my health permanently over a 20-year period!  I had gotten to the point of giving up, but then I decided to choose this belief that my past does not equal my future, and as a result I was able to take the first step in finding a solution. 
Thomas Edison failed 9,999 times before he figured out how to make the light bulb work.  If he had stopped trying because he believed the past equaled the future and any future attempt would end in yet another failure, you and I would still be using candles.  He had empowering beliefs!
I recommend adopting the belief that “the past does not equal the future” as a great place to start!
While it is good to look at the past as an opportunity to learn from your previous experiences, in fact I have come to believe that all of my past weight loss failures and frustrations were actually laying the foundation for the understanding that has created the new level of love, health and fitness, I now enjoy, it should not get turned into a predictor of failure for any weight loss attempt on-going or in the future.
Many people who are trying to lose weight and create a new and healthy future for themselves struggle with dis-empowering beliefs.  One of these beliefs as it relates to dieting and weight loss is that “I have not been able to do it in the past, so why will this time be any different?” 

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Breaking Through the Obstacles that will Sabotage Your New Years Resolution

The number one reason people don’t reach or realize their New Year’s Resolution to lose weight is that they don’t know how to break through the obstacles that they will inevitably have to face.
The problem lies in the fact that people think that the obstacles that appear in their lives are just life getting in the way of their goal.  They feel that the obstacles are like Murphy’s Law, “whatever can go wrong will go wrong”, unforeseen forces are actively trying to prevent them from exercising or from eating healthy.   This conspiracy theory places them in the role of being a victim and acts to spare them of all personal responsibility.
In fact, it is nothing more than a way to blame the outside world for the struggles they are experiencing with weight loss,  instead of seeing the truth.
 The reality is that these obstacles are nothing more than the manifestations created by their own mind.    What is the difference between someone who is very busy and who can’t find the time to exercise and eat healthy, and someone who is very busy but makes the time to exercise and eat healthy? 
·       The person, who makes the time, has made health a priority!
·       The person, who makes the time, has made a commitment to themselves!
·       The person, who makes the time, has no mental baggage that creates obstacles that would sabotage their health.
Now, compare that to the person who just can’t find the time or energy to eat healthy or exercise; things just keep getting in their way of them being able to live their desired healthy lifestyle.
·       Health fails to be a top priority!
·       They fail to reach the level of commitment necessary to achieve their healthy and body goals!
·       They have learned doubts, fears, beliefs and habits that create opportunities to stop trying to lose weight and blame outside influences beyond their control!
·       Their own mental baggage sabotages their lives and their ability to follow through where their desired goal to lose weight.
This problem exists in 95% of all people trying to lose weight and it is why the Mindset for Weight Loss transformational program was created; to help all those who find that life keeps interfering with or messing up their diets. 
It is the information that will free you of all your unwanted, learned doubts and fears, negative beliefs and poor eating habits, and negative relationships with food!    It will show you how to break through all obstacles that would lead to self-sabotage, and it will show you how to make your weight loss resolution come true!