Michael Mountain

One Key Habit of the Lean, Fit and Healthy

2012-02-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

Just think of how much better your life would be and the world would work if you were truly committed to 100% excellence? Maybe you don’t think it would make a difference, or may be the difference is just not clear to you.You see one of the key habits of people who are always lean, fit and healthy is that they hold themselves to a certain standard. It is seen in their level of 100% commitment to; what they will eat, how much they will eat and daily exercise. They are completely unwilling to compromise on that pact they made with themselves. Ever meet someone like that?

There is no partial commitment, no forgetting about it because of rain, busy day, social event or any other thing that might try to de-rail their plans. No person, situation or event will stop them from holding to the 100% commitment they made within themselves! They know that a moment of question, even a 99.9% commitment, will open the door to rationalize, make excuses or de-prioritize their health priorities. Here is an example of what can happen when you soften your commitment even a drop. Did you know that if doctors only held themselves to a 99.9% commitment to excellence then; 500 incorrect surgical operations would be performed each week and 50 newborn babies would be dropped at birth each day…just for starters?Think about it, what if your heart took on a less than total commitment and worked only 99.9% of the time? Your heart would fail to beat 32,000 times a year! Does this sound hard?

Is it unreasonable to be 100% committed to something? Let me ask you, are you anything less than 100% committed to being faithful to your spouse or significant other, less than 100% committed to protecting your kids? When you think about it, you are that committed to a lot of things aren’t you? Remember 100% commitment is easy, 99% commitment is a bitch! If you give yourself even a moment of wiggle room then it can lead to an increase in excuses and rationalization. You will talk yourself out of it more and more, especially if this is a new habit for you. What if every day you had to decide if you were going to be faithful to your spouse, or whether or not you were going to protect your kids. Imagine weighing the options, the pros and cons, imagine the internal struggle. It would be a bitch wouldn’t it?

That is why committing 100% is easy; there are no questions, no decisions, no room for excuses…you just do it.When it comes to your weight and health, being 100% commitment does not mean 100% abstinence from foods you enjoy. It means that you hold yourself to your rules and standard. It might be..• Exercise daily for 1 hours...or• Exercise 3 times a week for 30 minutes…or• Ice cream one time a month.• Pizza once every two weeks• Healthy breakfast every day• Lean protein and vegetables every lunch mon-Friday.Take the time to design your health rules and then once decided, commit 100% to them! You will see your life and health change!

To Lose Weight You Must Fill the Void

2012-02-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Everything we do is driven by our personal demand to fulfill some of our needs. One of our important needs is that all people have a need for variety or spontaneity. Unfortunately, there are a large number of methods that people use to fulfill this need that aren’t healthy; junk food or food in general, alcohol and drugs - these fulfill this need but could hardly be considered a healthy choice.

How we try to fulfill our needs can be broken down into two different types of behaviors…

The first type is the most fulfilling: the behavior fulfills our basic needs, it is good for us and it positively impacts others. Exercise, contribution, loving relationships and serving others are some examples.
The second type is not beneficial: the action or behavior fulfills our basic needs, but it is bad for us and it is not beneficial for others. Using food in this way or alcohol are examples.

Eating foods that we know is unhealthy for us; that make us gain weight, that make us feel bad about ourselves long after we are done eating, that leads to a low level of self-esteem and health – and that negatively impact people around us - are type 2 actions. It is not a healthy choice for us but unfortunately it is fulfilling a human need.

Let’s say that you have decided that it is time to make a change, to lose weight and get healthy!

When you decide to take charge and make a change, what you must embrace is that this is not only an opportunity to change your diet, but to also change the method you are using to meet some of your needs. It is a chance to change behaviors from type 2 to type 1.

If you go on a diet and you don’t fill the void in the fulfillment of your basic human needs created by the diet, then you will quickly feel overwhelmed. You can’t ignore the human need. You will experience this loss or void as; feeling uncomfortable, feeling uncertain on how to feel good, and you will also feel like things are boring, a lack of variety in your life. When you begin to sense that your needs are not being met you will sabotage your diet.

If you don’t want this to happen, then…

…to lose weight - you must fill in the void. Replace it with a positive, type one behavior. Find your variety, your spice of life in other ways…exercise, books, conversation, living fully and outrageously. These are the things that increase your quality of life. Let’s face it, when we die…we only get to take our memories with us. Do you really think that you will remember the dumb T.V. show you watched or the fattening meal you ate while watching it because you were sad or bored? No!

So fill the void by doing things that enrich your life, increase your health and create a better version of you. Those types of behaviors will fulfill your needs, are good for you, and will affect others around you in a positive way.

Why People Fight For Their Right to NOT Lose Weight!

2012-02-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

Many people who are overweight, feel the pressure to lose weight from outside influences, but fight for their right not to do so, why? Is it ignorance because they don’t know what the repercussions of their weight will be on healthcare and life expectancy? Or is it that they aren’t self aware enough to evaluate the cost of their weight as it relates to; their self-esteem, their self-image and the effects it is having on themselves, others, and their relationships?

If it is ignorance, then for these rare few there is but an awareness of discontentment, and that discontentment is pushed deep into the recesses of their mind. It is usually not ignorance that has someone fighting to stay overweight, but protection. It is common for overweight people to hide behind a defensive veil, aggressively standing up for their right to be themselves and to be accepted by others for who they are. Watch out if any of these loved ones suggested losing weight or a healthier lifestyle to these people. It is unfortunate that it is not clearer to these people that any change that their love ones are suggesting comes from wanting the best for them. It is not non-acceptance that drives a loved one to want the person they care about to be healthier, be more confident and live a fuller more rewarding life… but love.

This defensive veil is their protection, it is the outer shell that hides their true feelings. Take the veil and draw it back and you come face to face with a person that wants to change, and who in fact struggles with accepting and loving themselves. But, with an inability to know exactly how to change, a self-protecting mechanism kicks in and they stand vehemently up for their right to be any weight they choose and that they should be loved and accepted as they are.

Some use weight as the ultimate protection, a way to push others away. Some use it specifically to push away opposite sex or the interests of others. There is no threat of rejection if you don’t make yourself available to being rejected. By staying overweight and unattractive to others they protect themselves from others. It is not unusual for people in unhappy marriages to keep their spouses at bay by holding on to excess weight, for them it is easier to push their husband or wife away with how they look then by working through the relationship problems.

It might have become apparent, that being overweight is a selfish thing that affects everyone, it is also a thing that can be manipulated and can be used to push others away. Regardless of whether someone is defensive because they are hurting inside and wish terribly that they could lose the weight, or if they feel that way but have learned to use their weight for their own manipulation and protection, it is very sad. People should never fail to realize that the love and acceptance they fight for from others is not what they want. That love and acceptance is and always will be there from the people who love them… but this will never take away the pain they feel inside.

The love and acceptance they really desire, the one that can take away all the pain is not from any of the outside sources they look to, but is from within themselves. The second they take responsibility for their feelings, their attitude and their self-esteem they will be on their way. They will stop looking to others for acceptance and start taking the steps necessary to create the love and acceptance they so very much need from themselves.

It is only when we love and accept ourselves does one’s relationships with others soar to new heights and does our own self-mastery begin to blossom!

Protein Benefits: Real or Hype?

2012-01-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

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

The Key to Achieving Your Health Goals

2012-01-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2012-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

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!

The "F" Word: FEAR

2012-01-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

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!

Think And Get Lean

2012-01-16T07:59:00.000-08:00

Initiallythe title of this article might strike you as a bit ludicrous, “in order tolose weight you just have to think”? Youmight be asking yourself; what about diet and exercise, and if you watch the Biggest Loser or use apersonal trainer, somebody potentially yelling at you? But, indeedthe key to long term weight loss can be found more in your thoughts than in anyamount of information on diet and exercise. The title of this article should of also ranga 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 everwritten!

So let mehelp you to understand, how by thinking differently you can in fact completelychange your health and your weight. Think andGrow Rich continues to be the quintessential book on wealth creation everwritten. Did you know that within itspages the author, Napoleon Hill, never once discussed investment opportunitiesor the mechanics of making money? Thereis not page upon page of information as it relates to savings, stocks, realestate, passive streams of income, etc.

The successthat people have experienced after reading the book had nothing to do with themechanics of savings or investing, but had everything to do with getting thereader to think differently. Itexplained in detail how to develop a wealth consciousness, how to set and movetowards the accumulation of wealth by taking action, and how to attract wealthinto your life through a positive mental attitude and an enthusiastic approachto serving others.

NapoleonHill provided the inner strength strategies necessary to succeed in increasingthe reader’s wealth.

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

The real keyto losing weight can be found within yourself. Not by thinking but in fact by thinking differently, you can achieveyour goal of increased health and having your dream body by making that smallmental shift. You mustrealize that changing anything begins with changing yourself. Your thoughts, feelings and actions of thepast have created the level of health and weight that you now enjoy. If you are not happy with your weight andwant to change it completely, start by realizing that lasting change will comefrom thinking differently and changing your relationships with food.

This simplechange will lead to a health consciousness; it will develop the inner strengthand drive to take action towards your goal. Through that small mental shift you will literally magnetize your newbody and health to you! It will alsohelp you to develop the self-motivation and positive mental attitude that willempower you to take the action necessary to attain your dream body!

Think andGet Lean!

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

How to Maintain Weight

2012-01-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

There is somuch discussion on how to lose weight that the question on how to maintainweight is grossly ignored. Yet, if youwere to look strictly at the statistics of the number of people who lost weightand kept it off, it is a little disheartening.

Approximately95-97% of all people will fail to maintain their weight after achieving theirweight loss goals. So indeed this is animportant topic of discussion.

Here is ageneralized way to understand the difference between weight loss and weightmaintenance. Weight lossis 75% psychology and 25% mechanics - learning what is healthy nutritious foodand eating it in amounts that lead to consistent weight loss, as well as exercisingor not in a way that works for you. Maintainingweight is 100% psychology because you already know what you should eat and inwhat amounts. There is no newinformation to know in regards to exercise, diet or nutrition unless you arejust furthering your education. But, itis not necessary for maintaining your weight.

Unless…

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

Moving forward, regardless of the diet youused to lose the weight, it would beinaccurate thinking if your idea for maintaining your weight was to quit onyour diet completely. To go back to thevery habits that caused the weight gain in the first place and attempt tocontrol 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 isnecessary for a while is keeping your health and weight in your present mindconsciousness. For how long… for as longas it takes for your new healthy lifestyle to move into your unconsciousmind. The second it does, that is whenthe entire system will run itself. Thatis 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 disciplinedthought to become ingrained habits in your unconscious mind, that is when youcan relax.

If you havenot learned how to accelerate this process then you may have to forever runyourself through checks and balances. On the other hand if you learn some key strategiesthat accelerates the formation of new unconscious habits, freedom from policingyourself can be yours very fast, learningthese inner-strength strategies will lead to easy permanent weight management.

Until then you have got to be aware ofyourself and the priority of health in your life. Take the time to create a process to monitoryour weight, your exercise and your food choices. It’s as easy as… in the morning; weigh ortake a look at yourself in the mirror, plan your days meals and what exerciseyou will do in advanced, and in the evening re-evaluate your follow through.

WHY You Eat is the Key To Permanent Weight Loss

2012-01-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

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

The Power of The Mind

2012-01-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

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.

Habits vs. Willpower: the 10,000x Rule

2012-01-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

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.

Change Your Attitude To Change Your Weight!

2012-01-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

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.”

Realize that you have the power to choose, either a positive or negative attitude in all situations, including weight loss!
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.
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.
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.
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!

How to Create Your Own Weight Loss Diet!!!

2012-01-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

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;

Which meals will you stick to the plan
What type of foods will you eat

Is The Cost of Eating Healthy Foods a Legitimate Excuse?

2012-01-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

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!

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

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?”

Breaking Through the Obstacles that will Sabotage Your New Years Resolution

2012-01-03T07:59:00.001-08:00

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!

January 1 - Time to Start Your Weight Loss Plan is Coming Up!

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

But, are you ready? Do you have everything you need to make certain that you will finally achieve lasting weight loss in the New Year?

You see it is a pattern in the majority of people’s lives to include in their New Year’s Resolutions, the goal of becoming a leaner, healthier version of themselves. But unfortunately, research does show us that 88% of all people who join the gym at the beginning of the New Year will never actually set foot in the gym. The other statistic that doesn’t create a lot of optimism is the fact that 95% of all people who are trying to permanently lose weight, will fail.

So what do you need to make sure that you don’t become an ugly statistic?

Come January 1, you are going to want to hit the ground running, to have all your ducks in a row, so that you immediately start the process of improving your health and transforming your body. But, the question that you should be asking yourself is “what do I need in place to make sure that my goals come true?”

The following is a list, that when followed, will make certain that you are one of the 5% that is successful in creating permanent changes in both health and how you look!

1. You will achieve lasting success when you create a daily schedule that lets you do and take all the steps you must for your new healthy lifestyle…

· A time put aside to prepare meals.

· A time put aside for exercise.

· A time put aside to focus on your health.

2. You will be successful when you follow a nutrition and diet plan that works for you.

· The diet should focus on health first.

· The diet should promote healthy metabolism and weight loss.

· The diet should increase lean muscle mass.

· The diet should have wiggle room and forgiveness built into it for social situations.

· The diet should not make you count calories or points, since that is not congruent with long term change.

3. You will be successful when you take charge of your mind and the influences it has on - when and what you eat!

· 90% of why we eat is because of our feelings and emotions.

· These feelings and emotions trigger unhealthy habits that include emotional eating, boredom eating and binge eating.

· Overcoming these negative relationships with food is achieved by putting strategies and reminders in place daily, so that you take charge of your thoughts and feelings.

4. You will be successful when you spend your free time discussing and reading things that keep you motivated on health!

· If you focus on negative things like gossip and the bad economy, you will attract more of that to you. On the other hand if you focus on health through conversations or what you read, you will attract more of that to you.

· Find health and motivational material and engage in it, daily.

· Stay away from situations that destroy motivation or that create emotional triggers. For example; reading the news or gossip magazines that fill you with stress, going on the scale everyday is another example of a motivational killer.

5. You will be successful when you embrace that even one small step is a step in the right direction.

· Every day you have a choice to add one more opportunity to exercise, be active or move. Choose to move…take the stairs not the elevator, walk to the grocery shop-not drive, etc.

· Every day take one unhealthy item out of your diet and add one new healthy item to it!

· Reward yourself for every baby step you take, not with food but with self praise and positive self-talk! Reward should not come from the outside but should make you blossom from the inside-out.

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 http://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 http://www.michael-mountain.com/

Article submission list

How We Gain Weight – Looking at Lifestyle Patterns!

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Waking up one morning and facing the harsh reality, that at some point in time you lost control of things and are now unhealthy and overweight, is tough to take! Immediately, feelings of frustration, sadness and insecurities can start rushing in. You are not the woman or man you wish to be and you stand there wondering, “how did I get here, OMG, I am fat!” Of course, both your decreased activity level and slowing metabolism contributed to your weight gain, but much of your problem is also behavioral.

Losing track of your health and weight; because you didn’t give it any thought, or it was not a priority, or you didn’t give it the time or attention it needed, and you got caught up in just living life day to day, is very common. It happens in other areas of our lives as well. Have you ever been driving somewhere, begin to daydream, and arrive at your destination not knowing how you got there. It is the same thing, it is just that weight gain takes a longer period of time, we don’t realize that it is happening until the dreaded day that we see the changes in the mirror or on the scale.

Here is how it works when it occurs while we are driving…..

……as your conscious mind is day dreaming or busy thinking about something else, your subconscious mind takes over and starts operating on auto-pilot. In essence, you might think of your sub-conscious mind as a vault filled with tape recordings. Those recordings are your past habits, and certain triggers will play certain recordings.

That is the way we are designed, our conscious mind is left free to imagine, create and problem solve, while the sub-conscious mind plays the appropriate recording for handling the simple tasks of daily living.
That’s why when you are driving and you start to daydream, your recording for driving will start to play. Have you ever arrived home, realized that you hadn’t given driving any thought and wondered how you didn’t crash? Thank your sub-conscious mind for that.

How does this apply to gaining weight? You might think that you are making choices about what you are going to eat every day but, in reality, you don’t. You have learned recordings or habits that actually are directing your choices. As you run through the process of your busy day and realize you need food, your sub-conscious recording for food will start to play. What ever is your learned habit will just be repeated. All of the choices that you make concerning food; from eating something out of convenience, to what you are going to eat, from what places you will entertain to get food from, to how much food you end up eating is all being influenced and directed by your sub-conscious recordings.

Your bad habits are the foundation for failed diets as well as yo-yo weight loss and rebound weight gain.
Your sub-conscious mind is like an auto-pilot. If a plane is headed to a destination and the captain puts the plane on auto-pilot, then we know that the plane will continue to head in that same direction. Even if someone was to turn the plane all the way around and head in the opposite direction, the auto-pilot would eventually get that plane back on the original course, wouldn’t it? If you want the plane to go in a different direction then the only successful way to do that is to turn off the auto-pilot, change the direction or heading, and turn the auto-pilot back on. Now the auto-pilot has a completely new heading and direction it is traveling.

If you are trying to lose weight and you only go on a diet or exercise program, then what you will find is that just like our plane with the auto-pilot engaged, you will always return to your negative habits or sub-conscious patterns. You might be able to circumvent your habits temporarily with your mind and will power but at some point in time you will relax, become distracted or day dream and your original auto-pilot or recording will start playing again. Returning you back to the same old bad eating habits That is why you continually hear about celebrities who lose weight and then gain it back. If you want freedom from the struggles associated with losing weight, then changing your auto-pilot for food, eating and exercise must be apart of your effort.

These tape recordings that make up your auto-pilot for food can include; emotional eating, binge eating, over-eating, unhealthy eating and food addictions. The Weight Loss Success formula involves changing the following; your poor eating habits or sub-conscious tape recordings, and diet and exercise.

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 http://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!

Want Motivation While on Your Diet - Throw Out The Scale!

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

People who are on a diet continually look for ways to stay motivated. One of the most common and self–destructive ways that is used both for accountability and motivation is to get on the scale daily or every other day. Although it seems like a good way to measure progress, it couldn’t be farther from the truth, this is what this article will be focusing on. But, first here is a leading question.

Do you want to be successful?

Do you want to have a stress free experience with weight loss or are you into frustration and obsessing over every fluctuation in your weight? Your weight can change day to day based upon many variables, the smallest of which being your weight. The scale literally creates the opportunity for you to become demoralized and sabotage your weight loss efforts each and every day. Each and every day you step on a scale you create the anxiety surrounding success or failure based upon the numbers. Just so you know, stress creates cortisol and cortisol is a hormone that increases the amount of fat in your belly…so how does getting stressed every time you approach the scale help? It doesn't, it helps you gain weight!

The scale also has you evaluating your health, self-image, how you look and feel, based solely on what the scale says. In the blink of an eye you can go from looking at yourself in the mirror, thinking “wow, I am really looking leaner, I am wearing clothes that I have not been able to get into for years. I feel good and even a little sexy….let’s go see what that scale says” POW you're two pounds heavier and now you feel like crap! In a second your thoughts shift to, "What’s the point, I give up?" Where is your motivation now?

Here is another example of how the scale doesn’t create a clear picture of your body composition. Do you know that every year as you get older you lose 1 pound of muscle and gain 1 pound of fat?

As a result, many people look at the scale each year and inaccurately feel that because their weight has not changed, that their health and body has not changed either. Yet they are weaker and fatter every year.

The scale is toxic for people who are trying to lose weight if you obsess on the daily fluctuations that the scale tells you. The problem is that the scale doesn’t take into consideration muscle increases, water retention, menstrual cycles, body fat changes, etc. A simple evening meal that has more salt in it could change the scale 2-3 pounds the following morning due to water weight and destroy your motivation in the process. Weighing yourself first thing in the morning can be off as much as 5-7 pounds compared to the rest of the day.

The Scale is NOT your friend!

You love it when it tells you what you want to hear and hate it when it tells you otherwise. A number should not dictate your self-esteem or effect your motivation. If you are to be successful in weight loss, you must remove things that would create a negative emotional response that could lead to binge eating or self-sabotage! How you look, how you feel, your diminishing waistline, your level of cardiovascular fitness, your body fat measurement, your resting heart rate, blood pressure, a full blood panel and how your clothes fit; these are indicators for health and weight loss.. The scale should only be used in conjunction with evaluating all these other indicators.

So, throw out your scale or at least put it away! Do yourself a favor, if you must weigh yourself do it only once or twice a month. You have a better chance for success, if you always create a weight loss environment that promotes positive feedback and makes it easy to stay motivated.

Diet and Weight Loss – Confused Yet!?

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Don’t you get tired of all of the conflicting information out there about diet and weight loss?

Some people recommend a low fat diet, some recommend low carb, some high protein, some high fiber, some cabbage soup and the folks that like to make things easy - boil it down to a simple formula; calories in vs. calories out i.e. eating less than your body burns each day. Then, there is the question of when to eat; eat every 2-3 hours, eat the normal 3 times a day, fast during the day and eat one big dinner….I mean there are a never ending number of options. Then there are the quick fix solutions like all the diet pills that are available or the option of lap bands, liposuction and other surgical procedures.

It would appear that it would be easy for someone to get caught up in over- analysis paralysis…..or said differently, getting so confused with conflicting information that you end up doing nothing. But, here is the reality from a different perspective: they are all right and they are all wrong. You can lose weight on any of these approaches and of course some are healthier than others, but what should also be pointed out is that they are all missing very important information. None of these options address the entire problem and are therefore an incomplete solution.

Wouldn’t you agree that the problem is in part, knowing what food is healthy for your body, and the other part is knowing how to make and follow through with the healthy choice!
The problem in reality, is our own internal struggle with sticking with and following through with healthy choices, eating the right foods in the right amounts, for life. We struggle with our own feelings, habits, desires, motivations and will power to not stray from the healthy food choices each and every time!
The weight and health you have now is a result of all those struggles. If you don’t like what you see and you truly want to lose the weight permanently then you need more information, you must make some internal changes.

Unfortunately, all of the options listed above only address an option for physical change – diet, pills or surgery. They might change how you look and feel temporarily but, none of these options will change you!
This is the number one reason that 95% of all people on a diet, taking a pill or after surgery fail to keep the weight off! You haven’t changed on the inside.

The only way for a fat loss and diet solution to truly be just that…a solution, is for that program to address all aspects. Diet, nutrition and exercise information is the beginning, but most importantly that information must include; how to stay motivated, committed and focused on achieving your goal. A true solution must show you how to break free of your negative beliefs, emotional relationships and unhealthy habits surrounding food!

A complete weight loss solution will self-empower you by providing not just the nutritional and dietary information you need but also the inner-strength strategies that lead to certain permanent weight loss!

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 http://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!

What You Must Know before You Switch to Veganism - as seen on Oprah!

2011-12-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

I watched the Oprah Show some time back. The guest was the wife of a personal friend of Oprahs’ who was preaching the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. I say preaching because vegans certainly do take a hard lined, almost evangelical stance to their diet. I knew that I needed to comment because people commonly don’t question or judge the message; they only judge the messenger.

When Oprah endorses anything, it carries some serious weight; the fact that the guest was a thin “Barbie” blonde would only add fuel to the fire. People would inaccurately think that if they eat like her then they will look like her, people would think that this is the next dietary breakthrough.

This guest says that she chose this lifestyle because she feels that it is healthier for her body and that it is a personal choice, she feels that it is inhumane to kill and eat animals.

They had a representative of the meat industry there to show that the production of animal based protein is being carried out in it’s most humane way. This representative was from Cargill one of the biggest manufacturers of meat and hamburgers in the United States. All other meat manufacturers declined to be on the show, obvious to the fact that it would be bad for business and that they would be racked over the coals.

The video inside Cargill’s plant, showed livestock being fed high amounts of slop made up of corn, protein, fillers and anti-biotics to fatten them up..while they stand fairly stationary on a pile of dirt and manure. It appeared not very healthy and certainly not very appetizing. Whether you think that it is humane or not will be a personal choice for you.

This is a good reason to try to buy your meat from organic grass-fed livestock from small farms.

The question is really, is eating a vegan lifestyle a healthier choice.

The guest recommended that we should eat a diet of cereal and whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits and getting the majority of your protein from soy based products. That’s right all protein sources were soy protein sources…things like; tofu, soy sausages, soy hamburgers, soy yogurt, soy everything. That brings me to my 3 points.

A recent study looked at the effects of eating soy products on the fertility in men. Here is what they found. Eating just ½ a serving of soy products in a day decreases a man’s sperm count up to 50%! That’s only eating ½ serving. This gal wants you to eat much more than that. If any of your children are boys or if you are a man and are planning on having kids, or if you are planning on having kids with your husband – stay away from the soy!

Another recent review study looked back at 18 previous studies to look at the connection between soy products, increased estrogen and breast cancer. 13 were conclusive that dietary soy products increase estrogen and the risk of developing breast cancer. 5 tried to prove that eating soy products actually prevented breast cancer. 3 of those failed to prove their hypothesis and the other 2 showed that Asian woman who began eating high amounts of soy product in their adolescents did seem to prevent incidence of breast cancer. But this was seen only in Asian women. The overwhelming majority of research proves that high intake of soy products is not healthy. Ladies, it is important to realize that anything that increases your estrogen can make you estrogen dominant. This can mess up your progesterone levels, it can affect your mood, energy, sex drive, cycle and even heart rhythm.

Side Note: I have met many women whose health and cycle were in a bad way due to a vegan lifestyle. The second we took them off of the soy products and back onto animal based protein, their cycle became regular and their health returned.

Animal based sources of protein are our very best or only source for a huge number of vital nutrients; including creatine, carnitine, B-vitamines especially B12, Zinc. Animal proteins are our only source of extremely important amino-acids including Taurine, and our only source for Omega-2 fish oils of which DHA and EPA are crucial to our health.

Side note: This was a pro-vegan diet show…why was Cargill there…just to be abused. The representative stayed positive and took a stance that we are doing our job the best and most humane way possible. But, still I couldn’t help but scratch my head…why did this company not do what all the other meat companies that were contacted had done and just be unavailable. To bring a camera into a slaughter house/meat packing company was asking to lose business. But, my skepticism was rewarded…Cargill is also the biggest manufacturer of soy products in our nation. They are also notorious for putting more fillers and junk into their products than almost all the other companies.

So, there you have it just a few things to consider before you jump into the vegan lifestyle. Remember we have evolved eating meat over the last 2.4 million years…it is what our physiology responds best too and when mixed with vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, a small amount of tubors and whole grains represents our ideal diet. Not some fake, created meat like substitute that messes up our bodies and robs us of our health.

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 http://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!

Fats and Carbs: The Good? The Bad? The Confusing?

2011-12-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of confusion out there when it comes to understanding good fats vs. bad fats as well as good carbohydrates vs. bad carbohydrates. Really, what is the truth and what do you really need to know in order to have great health? Are all fats bad or just the saturated fats like steak and eggs? Are all carbohydrates bad or just the simple carbohydrates like sugar and high fructose corn syrup, or products like bread, pasta, rice, cookies and cakes?

Do we really need to memorize all of the different types of food groups and which foods fall into the “good” category, or is there an easier way to make choices that will serve our purpose.

Well if you believe the no-fat, low-fat supporters then all fat is bad and just about all carbs are good. That certainly makes it easy, and you can lose weight that way if you limit your calories. But, history has shown us that eating very low levels of fat is very detrimental to our health. It leads to decreases in brain and nervous system function, decreased sex hormones and libido, decreases in lean muscle mass, and increases in diabetes, dry skin and brittle hair, just to name a few.

On the other hand if you believe the no-carb, low carb groups and supporters, then all fats are good and all carbs are bad. The research shows that there are some positives found in this claim like weight loss, decreases in cholesterol at least short term, as well as increased feelings satiety and more controlled blood sugars. But, long term over exposure to only fat and protein is questionable for health, especially for the heart and has been shown to increase inflammation in the entire body. Beyond that it is important to realize that the brain needs a minimum of 70 grams of carbohydrates a day to function properly, and your muscle and liver glycogen needs to be replaced each day or at least every other day if you want to keep your energy up. Case in point; there is less than a hand full of athletes, especially professional and elite athletes who eat very low carbs. The reason is because their bodies need energy from carbohydrates and so does yours to work well!

You might be able to get away with eating almost no carbs for a while but if you want; unlimited energy, a high functioning brain and the ability to exercise, and at the same time don’t want to invite heart disease or chronic inflammation into your life then low carb is not the way to go.

So instead of looking at the extremes let’s look at the reality; humans need energy to function, energy is created out of both fat and carbohydrates. Your heart prefers fat as its major energy source but your brain prefers glucose or carbohydrates. Your muscles can operate satisfactorily off of either source of energy but prefers one over the other for optimum performance dependent upon the situation. This means that we need to eat both. But how do we do that if we are trying to be healthy and trying to lose weight?

Knowing the good fats over the bad fats can have value, just as the same applies to carbohydrates. You can find the complete breakdown of this list in my free diet available at Michael-mountain.com. Here is a simpler and more important point, we use both sources for energy but utilizing one source at any given time is easier on the body and more efficient for creating energy. In fact, if you eat fat and carbs at the same time, it will usually result in fat storage. So, start to realize the most important rule is not what is good or bad, but to try to separate the two sources at any given meal.

We need energy but we don’t need a ton of it! Eating fat and carbohydrates together nine times out of ten provides too much energy for the body to burn so it stores the surplus as fat. The typical western diet and its ill effects is a perfect example of these fat-carbohydrate combinations that make us obese and destroy our health. Pizza, hamburgers, French fries, meat pies, steak and potatoes…the list is endless. To maximize weight loss, simply limit each meal to one source of energy. It is a perfect beginning to know how to choose certain foods in healthy combinations.

Research has proven that the winning combination of foods for health and weight loss is lean sources of protein and high fiber, nutrient rich vegetables. That is where you start. To that you can add either a fat source or a carbohydrate source but not both together at a meal. Here is an example using breakfast; you might begin with a vegetable, egg-white omelet (protein and vegetables) and to it you might add fat such as the egg yolk or avocado to the omelet and cream to your coffee. On the other hand you might add a carbohydrate such as a bowl of oatmeal or a slice of whole grain toast, such as Ezekiel bread. At each meal, just make a choice as to which energy source, fat or carbohydrates, you will be adding.

It becomes quite easy as a way to make healthy food choices. Separating your energy sources will not only trim down your waist-line it will also increase your health because you will be giving your body both the energy sources it needs to function optimally! Special tip: the best time to add carbohydrates to your protein and vegetable meal is right after your work-out!

Learning to Re-Condition

2011-12-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

You can re-condition your beliefs and habits by accessing your sub-conscious mind

We are self-reflective. We can actually choose what we put into our brain and what habits we would like to have. So you see, you really are the driver of your destiny. You can change any belief or create any habit you want and make it a part of your sub-conscious... If you know how.

How long does it take to change a bad-eating habit and replace it with a good one?

NASA conducted an experiment on its astronaut trainees. It took the astronauts and fitted them with glasses that flipped their field of vision 180 degrees, quite literally everything was upside down. They had to wear the glasses 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. The trainees struggled along seeing things flipped and feeling disoriented. On the 26th day one of the trainees found himself able to see normally again and the others also found that they were seeing normal by the 30th day. Their brains had corrected for the changed external environment (glasses) by re-wiring some of the nerves or neural pathways. We call the development of new neural tissue or networks - neuroplasticity.

That tells us that it will take approximately 30 days to create new habits! Not by just eating differently but by an actual daily process that deals with your mindset. It is not as simple as replacing one for another, you need to actively condition the mind to change the programs that are creating your habits. As you recall, your eating habits are a product of a lot of different learned "bad" programs. It is these programs that the re-conditioning process will change by creating new programs and strengthening them through neuroplasticity.

You will re-condition to the point that anytime you are hungry or whenever you are going to exercise, your new programs will run or play and make the choice of going to the gym or eating healthy completely effortless. No need for willpower and no presence of an internal battle. Can you see how this is VERY different from just forcing yourself to follow a diet or exercise program?!?!

The above is an excerpt from Michael Mountain's book Mindset for Weight Loss which is currently available on Amazon.

Do You Crash or Have Low Energy Right After Lunch?

2011-12-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

When you think of the period of time ½ hour to 2 hours after lunch what comes to mind? Is it a time of energetic productivity or do you find that your energy takes a dive right after lunch? Does the thought of a nap, a half hour after lunch sound like the best thing in the world? If you do, then you most likely need to change what you are eating.

Scientists have now proven that we have certain cells in our brains, in an area called the hypothalamus, that wake up the brain or put it to sleep. These cells called orexins and they actually communicate with a network of command nerve cells called hypocretins.

These cells can be stimulated to be turned off or turned on depending on what you eat. When they are turned off, you feel sluggish, sleepy and just want to lay down. They even slow down your metabolism, so that it is negatively affects your weight and body composition. The foods that turn these specialized cells off are carbohydrates!

When these cells are turned on then you have tons of energy, are motivated and driven to be productive. It will also increase your metabolism so that you will burn fat and positively impact any weight changes you are working on. The type of foods that turns these specialized cells on are proteins! This can make a world of difference between a productive afternoon and an afternoon of dread and dreaming of a siesta!

So what this means is that if you want to keep your energy consistent then protein must be included in your lunch. If you find that even when you combine carbohydrates and protein, such as a roast beef sandwich, that you still feel that you are sluggish, it means that you are extra sensitive. You would do better to have a lunch that is predominantly protein and fibrous vegetables…it is superior for energy at that time and for weight loss! Kicking the morning off on the right foot is always a great way to start, this is why I recommend protein with breakfast because it’s benefits to health, energy and body composition.

Some people can get away with the combination of protein and carbohydrates at lunch and still be energetic, others will have to look for combinations that include limited to no carbohydrates. This recommendation of carbohydrate restriction does not include vegetables. For many people carbohydrates are best eaten at dinner time right after your workout!

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

The Power of Directing Your Feelings

2011-12-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Your thoughts along with your feelings create your actions. Your attitude can direct your thoughts and your feelings, just like your thoughts and feelings can create your attitude. So therefore it could be fair to say that your attitude is the key to creating your actions. But before we discuss that, we need to realize the relationship between actions and feelings. When I started evaluating myself and why I just couldn’t lose the weight, let alone have a 6-pack stomach... I looked at what it was that made me eat. Hunger, sure… but looking deeper than that, things became interesting.

I realized that I was like so many others. I linked food with emotions and feelings.
Much to my dismay and attempts at denying it, I had to admit to myself that I mostly ate for the wrong reasons. I ate when I was stressed, frustrated or unhappy. I even ate to deal with nervous energy or boredom.

If I was home frustrated and trying to escape my feelings by watching senseless, negative television… watch out! 2,000 to 3,000 calories of junk food could go down my throat in less than an hour's time!
I realize now that I had a food addiction. Something quite recently that Oprah admitted to suffering with herself.

In fact that is really the definition of addiction, isn’t it? Doing something -- drinking alcohol, smoking, taking drugs or eating -- in order to change an emotional state, to escape from a feeling, and/or life’s daily stressors. I was using food as a coping mechanism to feel better.

Do you ever do that?

This negative emotional connection with food, this powerful impulse to reach for unhealthy food, was a conditioned response and had to change, if I was ever going to release the shackles that bound me and reach my dream health or an overall better version of myself.

I also realized that these responses were conditioned responses, a reflexive response to stress or negative emotions. Emotions are normal and healthy, so I didn’t want to deny these feelings; but rather I could do things to prevent my disempowering responses, or in fact, change my responses. I could also start to exercise my "emotional muscle" and take control of the situations causing the stress.
So, I began to do things to change my negative relationships with food.

This is an excerpt from my book Mindset for Weight Loss which is available on Amazon.

Pleasure and Pain

2011-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

Your desire to seek or experience PLEASURE and…
Your need to avoid or not experience PAIN.

These are things that bring us pleasure we are attracted to --- and things that cause us pain we try to avoid. Plain and simple. And almost all our daily decisions are based on these two simple needs. But, let’s clarify some important points beyond your initial thought that chocolate, pizza and ice cream give you pleasure….and… Exercise, lean chicken and broccoli give you pain. (LOL)

You see, it goes much deeper than that... In fact, YOU really didn't create your own likes and dislikes.
Mostly during childhood; your culture, family, friends, personal experiences, the media and advertisements directed what we have linked to pleasure.
And for clarity…
There is Short Term Pleasure and Long Term Pleasure
There is Short Term Pain and Long Term Pain
Pain is not always bad… for example, the pain of being overweight, unhealthy and wanting more has driven you to The Mindset for Weight Loss program and to finally losing the weight for good. So, that's good.
People who get healthy and stay healthy for a lifetime have associated pain with being OUT of shape. They have also linked pleasure with respecting their bodies, feeding it health, and exercising daily.
So that being said, we can, by choice, learn from others and change our behavior by changing what we LINK to pain and pleasure.
Here is an example using ice cream… Have you ever eaten a bowl of ice cream that brought you pleasure at the time, but as soon as you were finished, you felt Pain? Let me elaborate… Let's say that you ate the ice cream because of the immediate pleasure it gave you; not only did it taste good, but you had always been given ice cream as a reward or treat by your parents and you linked that feeling of reward, connection and love to ice cream anytime you ate it. Also, it lit up the taste buds in your mouth just like the advertisement said it would.
But after, it caused you pain because you knew that it would make you fat, you would feel bloated which in turn would make you feel unattractive… ultimately you had let yourself down. Now as a second option, have you ever chosen not to eat the ice cream?… which caused you some pain because you were denying yourself that immediate pleasure - But after the pangs for the ice cream go away, you feel great about yourself; you realize that you have taken one more step towards your goal, you feel more attractive and confident in yourself and are empowered because of your own self-discipline! Two similar scenarios with dramatically different actions and interpretations, right?

The above is an excerpt from my book Mindset for Weight Loss. You can purchase the full book at http://tinyurl.com/7vbxkjo

Fast Food And Why We Are Becoming Fatter And Fatter!

2011-12-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

The Fast Food industry is smart. They are killing it in regards to profit and they are killing us in the process!
Never before has more unhealthy, nutrient poor food, laden with combinations of fat, sugar and salt been served up in such huge quantities. It seems that even Starbucks has decided to join the long list of food retailers that provides no inherent restraint to portion size or calorie control. They have begun introducing their new line of “supersized” coffee drinks beginning with the frozen blended drinks. Guess who the large consumers of those drinks are? Kids between the ages of 12-25!

These "trentas", as they are being called, hold 31 ounces of your favorite blended drink. What is interesting to note is that the calorie intake of one of these drinks could be as much as 1200 calories plus! Way over half of the calories that people that age should be eating for the whole day!

Why did they do this? It would appear that McDonalds has been giving them a run for their money, or said differently McDonalds has been stealing away customers from Starbucks because McDonalds has been offering supersized blended coffee drinks.

We all know that McDonalds and most the other fast food chains out there do not consider the public’s health a priority when creating it’s products, but instead looks at the scientific research of what ratios of high fat, high sugar and high salt creates the strongest cravings for people to go back for more and more! It would appear now, that the all mighty dollar has motivated Starbucks to likewise forgo any thought as to what is O.K. for its consumer’s health... 31 ounce drinks filled with sugar and fat! That is insane!

When is enough... enough? Many years ago, before this huge obesity epidemic, it used to be that getting a 10-12 ounce soda (140 calories) was a real treat and more than enough… Even though my family's eating habits weren't necessarily in the "healthy" category, I remember as kids, we were lucky to get a soda more than once a month!

What has happened? As much as we would like to blame the fast food companies who are motivated only by money, ultimately blame must go on the consumer because WE are buying this crap!

But…why? Why do people feed their faces to such excess? Even in the presence of increased rates of; obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and Diabetes?

Some would suggest that it is because of our evolutionary experience. That, in Paleolithic times, we ate in a feast or famine way. We did not get fat then because the availability of the food was limited and sporadic. We also didn’t get fat because the type of food that made up our diet was mostly lean meats, nuts, seeds, vegetables and some fruit.

It is suggested that we continue to eat in a feasting pattern based on that preserved behavior, the only problem now is: there is food available everywhere and at any time. Others would blame the agricultural age and the increase in production of grain, flour and cereal consumption as well as the more contemporary addition to our diets of preservatives, increases in sugars, salt, and manufactured syrups and fat. It is very true that these types of food create chemical and hormonal changes that lead to powerful cravings to want to eat more of the same. And certainly much of that has lead to poor health and disease, but is that REALLY why we are driven to consume outrageous amounts of food?

The answer is that all those things together have contributed to this time in history… a time where obesity, Diabetes and heart disease run rampant. But… they are not the biggest reason.The truth is that for the majority of people, they eat without much thought. So yes, we can consider as part of the problem our learned feasting patterns, exposure to unhealthy, nutrient poor foods and effects of bad, even toxic food that trigger cravings in the body. But all of that pales in comparison to the one truth... eating for us is a habit. We have learned to eat a certain way, eat certain types of food and consume a certain amount of food. It occurs over time and is handed down from the previous generation to generation. Each generation is teaching the younger generation that there is no such thing as too much of a good thing!

Have you ever been told…”finish what is on your plate.” Even better, that learned habit is reinforced with even more food. “If you finish what is on your plate, then you can have dessert!” This bad habit is accentuated by the fact that the general serving size has been getting bigger and bigger. Regardless of how much you give us, we keep “finishing what is on our plate”. This is just one example of how poor eating habits are learned. We learn them from seeing, doing, participating and modeling from sources like parents, family, friends, culture, television etc.

Unfortunately, with each subsequent generation the bad habits, the negative patterns, the shear amount of consumption increases! We have been trained to think that bigger is better and more is better, like we are “getting our money’s worth”, and it is killing us.

McDonalds and now Starbucks is simply added fuel to the fire of an out of control flame of over consumption built on bad habits and poor diet choices. If we are ever to stop the insanity we are going to have to do two things….

Change our eating habits and stop handing bad habits down to our children.
Learn what foods in what amounts our body truly needs to thrive and be healthy.
Ignore the insanity that is seen in advertising and make smarter choices in restaurants and fast-food establishments.

Most importantly we must realize that the beneficiary of over consumption is the bank accounts of the fast food companies and they are not going to grow a conscience. You will be dead long before they start serving healthy, balanced food products served up in reasonable amounts… So, it is up to us to stop the insanity!

Article Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/weight-loss/fast-food-and-why-we-are-becoming-fatter-and-fatter

Calling All People who Want to Lose Weight

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Calling All People Trying To Lose Weight!

Finally, a Way to Elevate Your Self Esteem, End the Guilt and Lose the Weight!

Guilt, self esteem and being overweight are intimately linked, there is no denying it.

The fact that this is established and well understood should be the foundation for a complete solution that ultimately addresses all these factors.

Unfortunately, Diet books and “Gurus” only ever talk about nutrition, diet and exercise.

As a result the documented success rate for people on a diet is about 5%. Well there is no doubt that that is a pathetic statistic. What it really helps us identify is the fact that diet and exercise alone are an incomplete solution. It proves that you can’t ignore all the things that are going on inside your head and hope that it will all change because you are forcing yourself to eat healthy.

Here is why.

The choices you have made about food and exercise in the past have created the health and weight you have now. These choices are ingrained within you….that is why you have struggled to break the pattern. You literally eat based upon learned patterns of emotional behavior and bad habits. They can include daily fast food, boredom eating, emotional eating, weekend binge eating, etc. In essence, prior to going on a diet, you had a pattern of eating behaviors that created what we can call your food and health “Autopilot”.

This autopilot or negative patterns of eating and dis-empowering relationships with food are very powerful. It is the reason that people struggle with weight, binge eat, cheat on their diet and why the majority of folks fail to ever reach their dream weight. This struggle of course wreaks havoc on your self esteem as does the fact that you are not happy with your appearance.

It is no wonder that substantially overweight people or the obese feel like they weigh much more than even the scale tells them… all that guilt and negative self image must feel like the weight of the world on their shoulders. So what do we need to understand?

Think of it this way, a plane can be set on autopilot so that it is set for a certain direction.

That setting can be circumvented by someone steering the plane off course, but the second that that person releases the controls then the plane will eventually return to it’s original heading because of the autopilot.

That is how it is for you. You ate a certain way with certain patterns, associations and emotional relationships that created your negative autopilot for food and health. Your autopilot has given you the weight and health you have today.

By going on a diet, it is like you steered your plane off course, the autopilot is still on and it will take you back to it’s original heading whenever it can. That is why people who have lost tons of weight regain it back. They have been eating healthy for months, even years and yet that did not create new habits or change their autopilot because changing what you eat is not enough.

In order to lift the weight of the world off of your shoulders, raise your self-esteem, end the guilt and finally lose the weight forever you must reset your autopilot for a whole new course or direction.

Only changing what you eat will not change your autopilot…but, just like a plane, if you turn off the autopilot, turn the plane in the NEW desired direction and then turn the autopilot back on then you will reach your destination with ease. The same thing will happen to you when you change your present negative food and health autopilot to a positive, empowering food and health autopilot.

Your self-esteem will soar and you will reach your weight loss goal with ease!

Yours in health, weight loss, and plain old happiness!

Is There Such a Thing as Good Calories and Bad Calories?

2011-12-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

There is a common question that I hear and that is, “is there such a thing as good calories and bad calories? Well the answer would be yes and no.

You see, a calorie is defined as the approximate energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. Oh geez, that doesn’t make it any clearer either, does it?

Now that you are totally confused, let’s cut to the chase and let me try to make it clear.

A calorie is a calorie, as long as you ignore the overall benefits or ill-effects the calorie has on health and metabolism. Said differently, and this was tested quite recently by a man who lost approximately 25 lbs eating nothing but Twinkies, that a calorie equals a calorie regardless of what the calorie is made of. This is why, simply from a calorie breakdown perspective the answer is that there are no good calories and bad calories.

Many people preach that weight loss is simply nothing more than a calorie deficit, energy in has to be less than energy out or expended. In essence, as long as you eat less than your body needs – it will burn calories stored as fat, the type or quality of the calories being irrelevant. And this is true if you don’t care about; health, energy, body composition, and stagnant weight loss! That is why that man could lose weight on a Twinkie diet, and the same can happen eating nothing but cookies, cabbage soup, subway sandwiches, cardboard, etc. As long as you eat less than your body needs, you will lose some weight.

The problem lies in that the type and quality of the calories have an effect upon the body; those effects lead to increases or decreases in energy and health as well as facilitate weight loss or inhibit weight loss. That is why I said that indeed there is such a thing as good calories and bad calories!

So, we could say that Good Calories are nutrient dense calories that promote a health and weight loss advantage, whereas bad calories are nutrient poor calories that diminish health and create a weight loss disadvantage.

Good Calories accomplish the following that Bad Calories do not…

Increases the health and function of the liver – the liver is the major organ for burning fat in the body, when it works better you accelerate fat burning and weight loss! Bad Calories decrease the function of the liver.
Decreases inflammation in the body – the number one problem of fat in the body is the production of inflammatory chemicals that lead to heart disease, thickening of the arteries, chronic pain and a whole slew of other stuff you do not want. You can lose weight eating crap but your body will continue to suffer with ill-health and disease due to inflammation.
Burns mostly fat – Good calories burn the largest percentage of fat compared to muscle, bad calories do the opposite!
Maintains and Increases the formation of new lean muscle – lean muscle burns more fat, so that your new muscle very quickly starts to accelerate fat loss. Dieting while eating only Bad Calories will have you losing as much muscle as you do fat, the scale might say that you lost weight but your body will be weaker than ever!
Increases your energy and the health of your entire body – By increasing the health of your body by giving it the vitamins, minerals and nutrients it needs to function better, it will affect all aspects of your body! Dieting while eating only Bad Calories will have you feeling terrible regardless of any weight change!
You don’t have to be obsessed with counting calories when you eat good calories – They all increase health and increased health accelerates fat loss. Dieting while eating bad calories means you have to be obsessed with every bite. One too many French fries can tip the balance and screw up a day’s dieting efforts! Do you really want to bring a calculator to every meal?

Please review the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet for a list of Good Calories vs. Bad Calories at www.UltimateFatLossSolution.com.

4 Keys You Must Know to Prevent Weight Loss Plateaus

2011-12-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

It is very common for people who are trying to lose weight to experience a stall in their progress. This weight loss plateau can be what stops people from continuing on with their diets, they become emotionally frustrated and lose their will to continue.

Surely there must be something that can be done?

Unfortunately, the usual responses to these plateaus are to eat fewer calories in hopes of shocking the body into burning fat. This is on top of an already calorie restricted diet. The other way is to change or increase your exercise program. But, are these smart changes and for that matter….is a plateau an inevitable part of losing weight or can they be avoided all together?

Let’s look at why this happens and the 4 Keys you must know to prevent a weight loss plateau.

When someone goes on a diet and they begin to eat less than they were, then of course weight begins to fall off. Depending on what you are eating and how much, you will be losing a percentage of weight from; water, fat and muscle. The capacity to lose almost all fat and preserve lean muscle mass is hugely important and is discussed in a different article. For now let’s focus on plateaus.

Likewise, if someone begins to exercise or increases their exercise or energy expenditure then again they begin to burn calories.

So, we know in a simplistic way that calories in/eaten – calories out/energy used = calorie deficiency and weight loss. …..if you are eating less than you are burning.

But, what we also see in the human body is a continual and perpetual attempt to minimize body functions and activities. Said a different way, your body is inherently lazy, it tries to be as efficient as it can so it can use the least amount of energy possible in it’s functions.

When you start eating less you put yourself into an energy deficit. Your body needs more energy than you are supplying it with (eating), so your body starts to metabolize fat and release energy from your bodies storage shed (fat cells).

So what happens with plateaus?

Your body, being efficient (or lazy depending on how you want to look at it) starts decreasing it’s metabolism to meet the new amount of food or energy being supplied. It is trying to become efficient in energy needs to the point where it no longer needs extra from the storage shed.

Unfortunately when you go on a diet, you of course want your metabolism to speed up but your body is trying to slow it down so it can hold onto it’s storage (fat) shed and learn to be comfortable using only the calories that you are supplying it with. So your weight loss slows and stalls.

Here are some things that you should avoid because it is an easy way to reach a plateau, really fast.

Eating too few calories. More of a deficit is not better.
Not exercising.
Not eating often enough.
Only doing cardio for exercise.
Not eating enough protein in your diet.

Since nobody wants to experience a plateau in their weight loss, here are the four Keys you must know to prevent them.
Key #1) Diet Habituation: Is the process of eating a diet with a designed calorie deficit and reaping diminishing returns from that deficit. Said another way….eating less than your body requires consistently but seeing the benefits from that calorie restriction become less and less until finally it plateaus.
Here are some solutions….

Eat enough calories to keep your metabolism turned on. More on this in a minute in Key #2.
Exercise – get your body and metabolism moving
Eat an ample amount of protein – it speeds up your metabolism and preserves and makes lean muscle.
And most importantly….Key #2

Key #2) Calorie Confusion: Eating different amount of calories from day to day will prevent Diet Habituation from occurring! Because your body is always trying to efficiently minimize its output and metabolism. You must mess with it, so it doesn’t know what is happening. If you change your caloric intake from day to day then your metabolism will stay on high!

Here is how not to do it…

…a cheat day. You hear of diets that recommend a day off, eating what ever you want. One day a week of unlimited calories, it’s not healthy and if you have read our other articles you know why it is completely counterintuitive to making health and a lean, fit body…a lifestyle.

Key #3) Exercise habituation – is the process in humans where there is a decrease in response to exercise after repeated exposure to that same exercise over a duration of time.

Let me give you an example; if you walk 3 miles a day and that is a struggle for you. Then you will benefit from the exercise at first, but when you get to a certain level of fitness, then your body will start to minimize its effort to walk that distance. It will become so efficient that your benefits will practically disappear. Your body will stop improving and that applies both for weight loss and cardiovascular health.

Why? Well, that leads us into the last key.

Key #4) Muscle confusion – is the process of continually changing the stress (exercise) to the muscular system to maximize gains, cardiovascular health and lean muscle growth.

You have got to challenge your body and change up your Exercise routines every 4-6 weeks!

Have you ever heard the definition of insanity…”doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” It doesn’t happen!

Apply these simple changes and remember the 4 keys to avoid the dreaded Plateaus of weight loss.

Yours in health and weight loss,
Michael Mountain

Watching TV can make you Fat

2011-12-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

Watching TV can definitely make anyone fat. No, not just because it is a sedentary activity, but because the information most commercials are giving is extremely misleading and really confusing, to say the least.
Most people who know me, know I am not a TV watcher. Actually, I don’t even have cable at home (A rare thing these days, I know.) Very often, I have no idea which show is the “latest craze” and which commercials are all the rave.

Last week the TV did catch my attention. I was at my parent’s house and my mom had the TV on in the background. I was helping her cook and I nearly chopped my fingers off because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!

“Eat Cheerios to lower your cholesterol.” “Three or more glasses of skim milk a day are a great way to lose weight”. Then it got ugly “Splenda is just like sugar and is great for kids”.

The worst of them all (the one where my mother had to nearly restrain me from attacking the TV “There is nothing wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup. It comes from corn and can actually be good for you.” I nearly passed out.

I can see why people are totally confused about healthy eating. I can also see why obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes are at an all time high in this country and in many others as well.

After I was done hyperventilating, I decided to first turn the TV off (because my heart just couldn’t take anymore) and then write this newsletter to clear up a few misconceptions.

1. Cheerios biggest claim to fame is that eating them will help you lower your cholesterol. I am here to tell you that eating processed grains, especially in the form of cereal can actually make your cholesterol go up! The cholesterol study done showed how soluble fiber can help the body eliminate bad cholesterol from the body. Cheerios has 1 gram of soluble fiber per serving. Woop-dee-doo. Big deal. I can get 2 grams of soluble fiber from an apple, 3 grams from broccoli and carrots, and more than 4 grams from kidney beans. (Beat that Cheerio Man). Honestly, I don’t think there are many foods in a box that are healthy at all. They have to be highly processed to stay shelf stable, many times loading them up with chemicals and fillers that are making us gain weight. My recommendation is ditch the cereal and pick up some wholesome natural foods like fruits and veggies. Natural grains like brown rice, millet and quinoa are 10x’s better than any boxed cereal.

2. Milk does a body bad! That’s really what the commercial should say. Ok, that is not entirely true. Conventional milk does a body bad. If you have read the Dairy chapter in The Diet Solution Program, you know my stance on milk: Organic is a must and Raw Milk is even better. If you didn’t read my article on milk, you can read it here: http://www.thedietsolutionprogram.com/articles.aspx?article=Is-Milk-really-Healthy?

But don’t go yet until you read #3.

3. Give Splenda to my children? Never! Splenda has not been out on the market long enough to show whether it is actually safe or not. Until then it is a public health experiment (No thanks, I don’t’ want to be your guinea pig). Being the organic chemistry nerd that I am, I know exactly how sugar is converted to Splenda. I will spare you the chem lesson but tell you that Splenda (or sucralose) is a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. Huh? Did you say pesticide? Yup. Many chemists believe this molecule resembles a pesticide much more than it resembles natural sugar. If this is still in debate, I will not be a test subject. I highly recommend you take yourself and your children out of this experiment as well. My tip: Stick to natural sweeteners like whole fruits, stevia and agave syrup and stay away from artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Equal and Sweet & Low.

I could probably go on and on. If I watched TV long enough (or if I actually purchased cable) I could probably find 10, 20, 100 more commercials that are giving us false info, all in the name of selling products.
Now, go shut the TV off will ya?

Read the Real Truth about Healthy Eating and Weight Loss and get started on your own fat loss and health goals right away.

Food, Weight Loss and The Law of Attraction

2011-12-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

It has been said many times in the past that, “You are what you eat!” But what if I was to add also that “You are what you think”?

The first one makes sense to us on some level. Even if you don’t understand the science or the effects of what you eat on your biology or how it works, you know that your body uses what you eat to create the cells and health of your entire body. But what about the second one, “You are what you think”?
I am going to guess that this might be a tough one for you to wrap your arms around. Let me help you to understand this, for it is a key to health.

First, to say “You are what you think” is really incorrect; it is really more accurate to say that, “You are what you think AND FEEL”. Because your thoughts create your feelings and your feelings change everything! Let me share with you what science is now proving…

… have you ever felt sad or depressed, in fact so much so that it lasted all day or more? It would be fair to say that you were in a negative headspace so to speak, yes? Here is what I want you to embrace: the way you felt that day and its effects on the health of your entire body can most easily be compared to… a day or more of eating nothing but; high sugar, high fat, fast food! Both will decrease your health, both will make you fat, both will make you be less appealing to others and both attract more of the same to you!

Now, have you ever felt great, upbeat and excited, or full of unwavering love and connection for at least a day? It would be fair to say that you were in a positive headspace, wouldn’t it? The way you felt for those couple of days and the effects of those positive feelings can be most readily compared to a couple of days of eating nothing but healthy, nutritious foods! Both will increase your health, both will make you a leaner, fitter version of yourself, both will make you more appealing to others and both will attract more of the same to you, if you know how!

Let me make sense of each effect. Here is a simple way to get it!

Food and Health – You are what you eat! Any food that you eat will, based upon its level of nutrition and health, either increase or decrease the health of your entire body. Through digestion and chemical reactions your body uses what you give it to continually re-construct all the cells of your body. Just because you don’t die the second you eat a super-sized meal from your local fast food joint, don’t be fooled… you have taken a step towards the grave.
Food and Weight Gain – When you eat junk and you eat more of it than your body can use, then your body will add it to your storage cells; the fat on your body. Eating junk destroys the organs and hormones associated with metabolism, burning fat and feeling like you have had enough to eat. You stack the cards against yourself every time you have a day of eating unhealthy foods because the system that is supposed to reverse the process and help you lose weight becomes weaker and weaker! Besides that, you feel hungry all the time, even when you truly are not – because the hormones that send that message are not working!
Food and Weight Loss – When you consistently eat healthy foods you will heal the organs and hormones associated with weight loss. Even if you are eating amounts that would not result in immediate weight loss you have taken steps to start losing weight because your body will be working better, and you won’t feel hungry all the time, since you are eating higher quality foods. If you add a calorie deficit (eating less than your body needs) and you eat healthy foods, then you will massively increase health and weight loss.NOTE: Be careful of what diet you choose because some of the fad diets out there help you to lose weight but are also decreasing the health of your body, so that long term you will gain weight because your metabolism and fat burning organs have been further injured.
Negative thoughts and feelings – Your thoughts and your feelings have a direct effect upon the health of your cells, not just of your brain but of your entire body. Science has proven that your thoughts and feelings communicate with all of your cells. Negative feelings decrease the health of your cells; they create a stagnant cesspool within the cell itself. When you feel this way you just feel cruddy all over, don’t you? If you have any body aches or pains they get worse, don’t they? The thing to know is that the less health you have in your cells and throughout your body, the harder it is to process fat and toxins out of the body. It makes it easier for your body to hold on to the fat! Have you ever been on a diet, not lost any weight and wondered why?It has been shown that today more than any other time, people are in a negative headspace over 70% of the time! Truly it appears that negativity has become the default setting in most people. Our obesity epidemic is likewise at an all time high… hmmmm, I wonder – is there a connection?! Most definitely.
Positive thoughts and feelings – When you are in a good headspace and feelings of love or optimism fill your head, those feelings are actively increasing the health of your whole body. Your entire mind and body are vibrating at a higher level! Think back to a time in the past when you had positive thoughts and feelings. When you felt that way didn’t you feel great all over? That is because you not only felt good but you had raised the vibration level in all of your cells and that vibration sent out positive energy in all directions, in your body and outward! The body and the cells also now actively want to get rid of the unwanted fat! Ever been optimistic about losing weight, feeling good about it and the weight started to come off?
The Law of Attraction – the law of attraction states that like attracts like, but think of it as things or people with similar vibrations levels will be attracted to each other. Likewise, things with different vibration levels repel each other. When you are in a negative headspace you attract more negativity and other negative people to you. Do you have bad days regularly? Do you sit around the water dispenser at work complaining and griping with all the other people who complain and gripe? Or are you upbeat and positive most of the time, attracting other positive people and opportunities to you? You attract to you what is in your life based upon your predominant thoughts and feelings! Including regularly eating unhealthy or healthy foods depending on your thoughts or feelings.
The Law of Attraction and Weight – So, now you realize that your thoughts and feelings helped to create the level of health or weight that you now experience. If you are not at the weight you want to be, you must not only change what you eat and create health within your body, but you must make sure that your predominant thoughts and feelings are positive. In essence, you become what you think about most of the time; don’t play the head game of, “I am sad because I am overweight, not overweight because I am sad!” The two are intimately linked; ask yourself why you eat most of the time? Only because you are hungry or because food helps you to change the way you are feeling at a given moment? Unfortunately for almost everyone who is overweight they are linked, you can’t address one without the other. In order for you to change your health and weight you also must change your mindset just a little bit from the inside out!
Thoughts and feelings are the key to health and weight loss; they are as important as the very food you eat! If you are going to achieve your perfect weight, true health and a life that is fulfilling and full of passion you must embrace that the changes you need to make will begin on the inside! From there, a diet that is founded on health will only help!

Why do you think that losing weight raises your self esteem so much? Only because of how you look? No, because of how you feel; it changes the very essence of you! The mind-body connection is the key to an incredible life and you can use the Law of Attraction to strengthen and reshape your very own mind-body connection.

Protein and Resistance Exercise Reign Supreme

2011-12-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Are you trying to lose weight? What is best? These and other head scratching questions and considerations come to mind when people are trying to figure out what diet they should go on.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there that can lead folks into a state of over-analysis paralysis! Diet Guru’s only seem to foster a greater level of confusion because instead of sharing the results of research, they choose only to promote their own agenda by substantiating their perspective.

So here is some unbiased information of 3 different research papers that looked at the superiority of a high protein diet compared to a high carbohydrate diet. They looked at the advantages of protein or carbohydrates with resistant exercise and without. They looked at the effects of a high protein diet on Cardiovascular disease, belly fat, nutrient profile, lipid profiles and weight loss.

The results for all 3 research papers were unanimously conclusive that a high protein diet is a superior way to go. Weight loss was superior in the group that ate high protein, and even more so when combined with resistance exercise. CVD or markers for cardio vascular disease decreased substantially with the high protein diet as did the test subjects amount of belly fat. Important nutrients like vitamin B-6 and B-12 increased with a high protein diet, the same cannot be said with the high carbohydrate diets.

In fact it was found that when you eat protein, you can increase your metabolism more 30% for as long as 12 hours! Fat and Carbohydrates elevate metabolism less than 4 % for less than an hour.

All in all this research is conclusive that high protein diets are important not just for increasing lean muscle mass but also for important health markers: such as CVD markers, lipid and nutrient profiles, as well as losing belly fat, over all body weight and effectively changing your body composition.

Please note that protein is not your only consideration when trying to eat both for health and a lean, fit body.

But, this is a good start to build on.

Why Dietary Fiber Must be a Part of an Effective Health and Fat Loss Program

2011-12-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

To eat your veggies or not eat your veggies…that is the question.

Children and parents alike sometimes find themselves struggling to eat a healthy amount of fiber rich vegetables. You can’t get them at the fast-food joints, sandwich shops or any convenience store.

Yet vegetables and fruit, and the fiber they contain are paramount to health. In this article we are not going to discuss the nutritional content of vegetables, that is well understood and goes without saying, but, we are going to discuss the value of dietary and supplemental fiber.

There have been more and more studies documenting the beneficial effects of high fiber diets. Here are just a few, fiber…

Increases your sense of feeling full (satiety), so that you control your hunger.
Decreases Leptin resistance so that your hormones tell your brain that you are full appropriately. So you don’t eat more than you should.
Decreases your bad cholesterol and elevates your good cholesterol or HDL.
Decreases markers for (CVD) cardio vascular disease.
Buffers insulin responses and normalizes blood sugar levels. Helps prevent spikes, resistance and all of the associated effects like low energy and mood swings.
Increases the absorption and removal of toxins in the body. As you lose weight – you release toxins stored in your fat cells, it is very important for health and well being that these toxins are removed quickly. A toxic body will not burn fat efficiently!
Increases your fat burning – butyric acid is released in association with the fiber…butyric acid accelerates fat metabolism.
A boat load of studies shows us that when fiber intake increases, that the subjects lost the greatest amount of weight compared to isocaloric diets (same calories eaten) with less fiber.

So I think we can all agree that fiber is important for our purposes of getting healthier and losing unwanted pounds quickly. It is incredible effective when eaten with lean protein. So what are our sources?

Vegetables are the number one source, next comes enriching your food or protein shakes with supplemental fiber like psyllium or ispaghula husks, then comes fruit. Fruit, because of it’s glycemic response should be eaten in a calculated way to maximize fat loss like right after your exercise.

In these studies it was found that weight loss increased in direct proportion to the amount of dietary and supplemental fiber taken. When considering how much you should eat.

Begin by eating all of the fresh vegetables that you can, then after a week or so start adding supplemental fiber into your shakes or meals. Add the fruit at the appropriate times…for example an avocado with breakfast or an apple right after a workout…and you should have the makings of a fast-track to health and fat loss!

Yours in health and weight loss,
Michael Mountain

Weight Loss Diets for Women

2011-12-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

To know what diet will best assist a woman, first we should talk about a woman’s life:

Women are busier today than at any other time in the history of humanity. Some women work, some women raise children, most do both; all women carry the burden of taking care of the household, all members of the family and contributing to society. Women much more so then men, feel and burden themselves with the stress of their own responsibilities, as well as the struggles and stress that they share with their significant other, children, friends and the world.

After a day that is spent from the wee hours of the morning till well after the family is fed and all have been put to sleep, they finally get to a point when they can actually consider themselves and their own needs.

But, here lies the problem; by that point their energy has gone, their motivation is spent and there is no-time to even begin to take care of themselves, let alone exercise. Some will reflect on the day and recognize that the food choices they made throughout the day were not the best for health or their weight, most if not all of those choices were driven by convenience and cravings. So they find themselves by the end of the day; unhappy with their health, their body, their lack of energy and motivation, and struggling with how to change it. This will negatively affect their self-image, their self esteem, their relationships and most all aspects of their lives.

So gals, how do you change it? How do you stop this from occurring each and every day when all of the responsibilities and stressors are not going to disappear? How do you get back the control of your weight, your health and your energy? How do you jump off the insanity train and start feeling great about your body and yourself once again?

Look for the solution in the problem. When your life is that busy, hectic and full of stress, two things will drive you to eating the wrong things in the wrong amounts; convenience and most importantly cravings.

Eating the wrong things purely out of convenience is easily changed; it boils down to preparation and scheduling. So, do you have the motivation for each and would you know where to begin? If not….then you need a little more information than just diet. Don’t forget to read the authors box for more on that.

Cravings is really where choice of diet begins to become important. There are two types of cravings; there are cravings created by the type of food you eat and there are cravings created by your responses to stress, boredom and emotions.

Cravings created by food – We now know that high fat, high sugar and large amounts of salt made into food products in just the right ratios feeds the chemical cravings that lead us to eat more and more of the same trash. The junk food manufacturers and fast food companies know this and that is why they employ it against the unknowing public, to keep them coming back day after day. I know that might make you feel a little bit like a pawn, but that is the reality. Your body’s hormones and chemical balance is all out of whack because of these food products and these changes create cravings for more of the same. As a result it destroys the organs that metabolize fat, create inflammation and disease, mess up the balance of your female hormones and leads to poor health, diabetes and unwanted weight gain.

That is why trying to eat just less of this same junk never works because you just can’t compete with the power of these cravings. But a healthy diet can, in fact a healthy diet can heal most of these problems quickly!

When I evaluate any diet it has to meet certain criteria…

It can’t be extreme…extreme does not work, especially not for long term weight loss.
It has to be based on sound nutrition that focuses as much on increasing health as it does on consistent weight loss!
It has to be a diet plan that can be followed as a lifestyle and it should not require you to count calories or points! Reason coming shortly.
It has to be comprehensive; in that it provides all necessary information including the do’s, don’t and sometimes of eating certain foods and provides recipes that make it easy to follow!
It has to quickly repair injured hormones and organ systems so fat can be burned. And it must massively increase energy and restore chemical balance so cravings disappear. I have seen this happen within 5 days with the Ultimate Fat Loss Solution Diet.

Cravings created by responses to stress, feelings, etc. - It might or might not surprise you to find out that you eat less than 25% of the time because you are hungry or because of food cravings described above. You eat most of the time because of the way it makes you feel; if you are stressed, sad, depressed, overwhelmed, bored, they can all create the cravings for food. This occurs because food will at least temporarily remove those painful, negative feelings or emotions. It is a brief moment of reprieve from how you feel or your daily stress. Of course we know in the long run, emotional eating just adds more stress and guilt, but unfortunately the short-term benefits most often wins out.

Now just think about this for a moment. These responses or cravings are the biggest contributors to weight gain in women, but many diets would have you count points or calories as a solution. The reason this fails 95% of the time in achieving permanent weight loss is because counting is an analytical, mathematical, left-brain activity. Your cravings or responses to emotions and feelings are a right-brain phenomena. The two will not cancel each other out, in fact it will only create internal turmoil. You can count all you want while all is well and peaceful in your life, but the moment stress from your busy day, screaming kids, conflict of any kind and emotions start to surface…your right brain will take over and it will sabotage your counting, your diet and trigger a craving for food not found on your diet!…ice cream anyone?

Successful weight loss Diets for women begins with:

a nutritious, health focused diet that can be followed as a guide for a lifestyle and that quickly rids the body of unwanted cravings.
While on the diet you must also have other critical information that is available that will lead to permanent change! This information will help you create the small mental shift or change in thinking that will not only give you the motivation and inspiration to prepare and schedule your food. But, it will also give you the key tips and strategies that will let you end your negative emotional connections with food!

It has been my experience when helping countless women lose weight permanently and it has been echoed by other leaders in the personal growth field; that anything a person wants to change in their life can be broken down into changing two things - 25% mechanics and 75% psychology.

In the case of women permanently losing weight - the 25% you must change… is picking the right diet, the 75% psychology you must change… will give you the motivation and inspiration to do what you need to do, and it will release you from your negative habits and emotional connections with food!

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 which is available presently free of charge at http://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!

How to Stay Focused and Motivated While On a Diet

2011-12-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

All People Struggling with Weight Loss Want To Know How to Stay Focused and Motivated While On a Diet!

Staying motivated and focused, while on a long-term diet plan to lose unwanted weight, is one of the top challenges for people trying to lose weight.

It is the topic of continual conversation on weight loss forums and is the overwhelming reason that people go there in the first place.

Yes, diet and exercise (D&E) is discussed but the reason that thousands flock to these forums is not so much about D&E, but is more about sharing the challenges, frustrations, set backs and victories associated with weight loss.

It is about connecting with others with similar goals and similar challenges on a forum where they can feel comfortable and not feel judged. There is huge value in this type of implied team effort and the comfort of feeling like you belong and share a common thread or goal with others.

This sharing in other’s progress and interacting with others is a way to stay motivated and focused. Especially considering for some that…

….their weight loss journey may take over a year.

Unfortunately, even with the forum groups – these dieters will still experience an approximate 95% failure rate! And here is where the problem lies….

….because although these forums are a good thing, the understanding of the limitations of motivation are not understood.

Motivation is and should always be considered temporary in regards to weight loss. Motivation by definition is short lived. It comes and it goes.

It should be considered temporary because it is needed in the beginning to actuate change, not change in weight but change in habits.

The food, exercise and eating choices you have made in the past have created the body and level of health you have today. So the question comes down to … how did you make those choices?

You made those choices based upon ….

•Your learned bad eating habits!

•Your negative patterns of eating!

•Your Emotional relationships and connections to food !

Motivation can override such habits but only for a short, temporary period of time.

Motivation should always be a stepping stone used to accomplish the goal of changing these bad habits, negative eating patterns and relationships with emotional eating!

What people do instead is not identify these issues, do not try to replace them with empowering habits but try instead to simply eat healthier and hope it becomes a habit.

To eat healthier, while your bad habits keep trying to jump up and sabotage your weight loss efforts requires a never-ending supply of motivation to accomplish it. Not only that, but the second that they are distracted (from their motivation) or not focusing on their diet, then these inner issues and habits will rise up and they will find themselves reverting back to these inner demons or bad habits.

You see, simply trying to force your self to eat healthy will not change your eating habits.

Unfortunately on the forums, you hear this happening on a daily basis….. people having a weak moment and binge eating on junk food with all the associated guilt that goes with it.

Luckily, supporters are quick to get them back on track with a suggestion, kind words or a pat on the back.
The only true step they take towards habit changing is keeping a daily food journal. Although it is a good step…it is but a single step in an entire multi-flight ascent to the top of the building.

The greatest use of motivation is to use it appropriately, as a short term tool to focus your will power on taking action steps to change your negative eating habits.

When the right steps are followed then the old negative habits are replaced with new, empowering healthy habits that allow you to stay on a diet without effort and with out any need for a continual supply of motivation.

How to Stop Emotional Eating

2011-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Human beings are always creating coping mechanisms, ways to deal with stress and emotions. We create these patterns of coping to give us a temporary reprieve from the stress or negative emotion we are experiencing.

Some coping patterns are healthy, release the stress and help us to think clearly… to find a positive direction towards that which stressed us out or affected us emotionally.

Responding to a emotional trigger or stressful situation with some exercise is a healthy coping mechanism that will help foster a positive outcome. It will….

Release bottled up stress and anxiety.
Relax you and calm you down.
Make you feel good about yourself…this will help you to approach the situation with a positive outlook.
Create a positive self-image that allows you to move forward.

On the other hand some ways to cope do not give us a clearer perspective but make us feel better at least for a very short period of time, some of these actually do more damage than good.

Emotional eating is an example of a coping mechanism that doesn’t serve us, in fact it falls into the same category of coping with drugs and alcohol. When you realize that, it might help you to recognize the importance of changing.

To take a stressful situation or negative emotion and start eating junk food to deal or cope will do the following…

Give you a momentary break from stress and anxiety, but does not get rid of it or release in anyway.
It will make you fat and unhealthy.
When you are done eating…all of the feelings return plus now you feel guilty for the food you just needlessly ate. In essence, you have added to your stress!
You now feel bad about yourself….this does not foster a positive approach to finding a solution to the trigger or stressful situation.
This creates a negative self image and magnifies the problem so that it grows in your own mind.

There you have two different coping mechanisms with dramatically different impacts upon your psyche, self image and your ability to respond to the situation.

To understand how to use positive coping mechanisms in our lives instead of negative ones like emotional eating we need to discuss one more aspect to this powerful human response.

We live most moments in our lives habitually, meaning we do most things as a habit. We have patterns of eating that are learned and become habits, this is true likewise for exercise.

Lean, fit people have a habit of eating healthy foods in reasonable amounts most of the time. They prioritize exercise and fit it in whenever possible, habitually.

Overweight people do not.

Likewise, any particular coping mechanism is a learned response that you go to habitually to deal with emotional stress or triggers.

In order to change your coping mechanism you need to first change your eating and exercise habits. It is much more probable that someone who eats healthy and exercises daily will respond to a stressful or emotional situation with exercise.

But, even more than that….the methods that are used to change unhealthy, bad eating and exercise habits can then be used to change deeply ingrained coping mechanisms.

So what really needs to happen to end emotional eating; is that someone who responds in this way needs to understand healthy foods and eating, best ways to exercise, be motivated to eat healthy and exercise, turn these into powerful learned habits and then use the same methods to retrain themselves to cope with emotional triggers in a positive way.

All this is very possible and in fact is easy once you know how.

The Ultimate Fat Loss Solution (www.ultimatefatlosssolution.com/download) is your resource for learning the very best in healthy eating, accelerated weight loss, efficient exercise approaches, as well as habit and behavioral re-conditioning.

Yours in health and weight loss,

Michael Mountain

I Can’t Stop? Understanding Binge Eating

2011-11-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

Trying to prevent binge eating is a major struggle for many people trying to lose weight. There is nothing more self-esteem destroying and guilt creating than to eat healthy for a short period of time and then flip a switch in your brain and go crazy eating everything in sight. For some the binge can be over in a single meal, but for others it can last for days!

What causes this unknown power that drives people to binge and sabotage their own weight loss efforts?

Well, there are physical reasons that cause people to binge as well as mental/emotional reasons….let’s discuss them both.

The number one contributor to binge eating from a physical stand point is hunger. When you go on a diet you are eating less than your body is use to or wants. If the diet plan is poorly designed then you may be very hungry at times. So in moments of weakness you finally relent to the hunger pangs. But, before you beat yourself up for being weak, keep reading, because it gets a little more complicated than that.

People who have been overweight for a long period of time develop something called Leptin Resistance. Leptin is a hormone in your fat cells that is released to tell your brain that you have eaten enough. High sugar/carb diets or being chronically overweight create resistance to leptin so that no matter how much you eat….you still feel hungry.

Mental/emotional reasons for binge eating require that we understand ourselves at a deeper level.

Throughout the world an abundance of food is readily available. We can go to the cupboard or refrigerator (ice box) and grab something whenever we want it. Likewise we can reach a drive thru, convenience store or fast food joint in very little time and eat for very little money. Yet, this in of itself is not the problem because lean, fit people don’t binge eat. So what is the problem?

Unfortunately, it is our own baggage…..or said differently it is our own emotional connection with food, our negative patterns of eating behavior and learned bad eating habits. Now, that is a mouth full so let me explain.

We eat based upon patterns of behavior. Through modeling (from parents, friends, and cultures), observing (patterning ourselves after others) and participating as well as linking food to stress, love and emotional comfort, we have created our own eating patterns or habits.

The problem is that in most cases these are bad eating habits.

Binge eating is a knee jerk response to either an emotional stressor or a trigger that initiated one of your negative patterns or bad habit.

You see these behaviors and patterns function like a bad recording that just keeps replaying itself over and over again. Any emotional stressor, feeling or incident can trigger the recording to play or run and you will binge.

So, what can be done about it?

Two things:

1. Eat foods that create a sense of fullness, that control changes in blood sugar and that repair leptin resistance and function!

2. Learn how to replace negative eating patterns, emotional triggers and bad habits with empowering ones!

Yours in health and weight loss,

Michael Mountain

Calorie Counting – The Pitfalls of Micro-Managing Your Daily Meals!

2011-11-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Calorie Counting every meal absolutely sucks. So, what if there was a better way?

We are bombarded with the idea that we have to eat less than our body needs in order to lose weight, to create a calorie deficit. We then are lead to believe that the only way to achieve this daily deficit is to account for and mathematically analyze each and every ounce or calorie of food we eat.

This left-brained approach to eating is supposed to be the way that we will successfully lose weight – and not only lose it, but hopefully lose it permanently.

That, in and of itself, is the inherent problem with calorie counting: it is a left-brained activity. The problem lies in the fact that we as human beings eat predominantly because of emotions and feelings. We eat sometimes because we are hungry, but we eat most of the time because of the way it makes us feel, mostly a right brain phenomenon.

We eat because we are bored, and often because we are sad or depressed; to deal with stress… we eat to feel better. In essence, we eat largely for emotional reasons.

Counting calories is so polar opposite to the very reason we are eating, that it is only a matter of time before our brain rebels against this dichotomy and sabotages our diet plans. You will take all of the joy out of eating and because of that your brain will say, forget this…this sucks! And you will sabotage your diet! Here is the proof!

How successful do you think calorie counting is? This approach will lead to permanent weight loss in about 3% of all those who are using it to lose weight! The statistics prove that this method doesn’t work; a 97% failure rate is not exactly inspiring, is it?

So what do we do when it is important to be able to evaluate whether or not we have eaten an appropriate amount of calories at a meal? How do we make that assessment easily, in a split second – to know that we are on track with what we are eating?

Firstly, because we are eating largely to enjoy the experience, we should not destroy that enjoyment by counting calories or points. That way we don’t create more stress and turmoil in our brain that may lead to self-sabotage.

Secondly, a smart diet is one that creates a calorie deficit by design not by counting. Through easy to use eyeball assessments and combining the best of health restoring and fat burning food combinations you should never have to count.

On the flip side if trying to eat less of high fat, high sugar, processed foods in the amounts that will let you lose weight is your way of getting healthy, then count away! Try to figure out whether or not you should eat 3 French fries or 4… two or two and a half bites of your Big Mac… that is when you have to count calories.

And that is a lesson in frustration and leads to certain failure!

I suggest you embrace both your mind and your health by finding a smart diet plan that throws out the calorie counting all together.

Weight Loss Camps for Adults

2011-11-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Weight loss camps for adults exist because diets are an incomplete solution for addressing the problems that people who are overweight face.

In America, the National Institute of Health tells us that the failure rates for people who are trying to permanently lose weight is 95%. Only one out of every twenty people will be successful at changing their health and weight permanently by taking weight loss pills, going on a diet, etc.

The reason being is that a diet only changes what you eat; It does not change WHY you eat.

If the why is not addressed then permanent weight loss can never be achieved. We are not like animals, eating only because we are hungry. Human beings eat for a multitude of reasons of which hunger is only the start; we eat for pleasure, we eat to connect with others, we eat to push others away, we eat out of boredom, we eat out of habit, we eat to cope with stress, we eat because we feel good, we eat because we feel bad, we eat to protect ourselves and we eat because it (food) is there!

When you look at that long list of why people eat, the predominant reason why we eat has nothing to do with hunger and more to do with our feelings. Going on a diet does nothing to address this relationship we all have between food and our emotions or feelings. That is why the failure rate of only going on a diet is so high!
Weight loss camps for adults are a way to attempt to address these relationships. Unfortunately these camps become nothing more than mini-vacations focusing on short-term accountability and motivation. When you consider the cost of such a short term effort (often $3000 – $20,000) and the fact that lasting change comes from the inside out and requires more than the average length of time of these camps, we must conclude that weight loss camps seem to be an ineffective solution for the growing obesity epidemic that the western world is facing.

Obesity is the number one contributor to health related deaths in the world!

There is no doubt that a successful solution must be comprehensive. It must address the why – issues that include bad eating habits, limiting beliefs, and negative relationships with food and replace them with behaviors that lead to a healthy expression of emotion and greater sense self. Love and acceptance must be the foundation that these changes are built upon.

A successful solution also must address the what by helping people make healthy food choices and give them the understanding of the importance of daily exercise. Personal responsibility for health must be the foundation that diet, nutrition and exercise is built upon.

How To Want To Lose Weight

2011-11-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

Are you asking yourself, “How can I want to lose weight? I know I want to, but I don’t know how to make myself REALLY want it.”

The question that the above thoughts are truly covering up for you is this: How can you elevate your motivation and commitment level towards a goal of self improvement, in this case for your body and health, so that you take the actions required to get you to your end goal?

Well, if you have a lukewarm attitude towards losing weight it means that you feel that there is more to lose by going on a diet, than there is to be gained by going on one and losing the weight. You might have to do some self-reflecting and ask yourself…

1) What are you afraid of losing if you lose the weight or said differently, what is to be gained by not losing the weight?

Do you use weight as a way to protect yourself, as a way to push people or someone away? Is it a way for you to protect yourself from potential rejection or putting yourself in a vulnerable situation? Do you feel that you could be rejected by loved ones if you change? Do you use food as a coping mechanism for stress, sadness or depression and fear losing your crutch? Is food so important that energy, health and living life fully is less of a priority?

We eat predominantly due to feelings or emotions; if you want increase how much you want to lose weight you are going to have to learn to love and appreciate yourself for more than what you eat. You should try to embrace the fact that if you live to eat, food has taken on an unhealthy level of importance in your life. There is opportunity to end these dis-empowering relationships with food.

2) What could be lost if you don’t lose the weight or what can be gained by losing the weight?

Take a moment and approach this question by looking at what you have missed out on in the past because of your weight or your lack of energy. What has it cost you? Missed opportunities to live fully, love fully or to participate fully?

What will not changing your weight cost in the present? What is it costing your right now? How does your weight affect your life and your self esteem?

What will it cost you in the future – your health? Obesity is the number one reason for health related deaths in the western world! If you die an early death, what could you potentially miss out on?

If you want to raise your level of motivation and commitment, you must get leverage on yourself and use it to raise the huge importance for health. When you realize what it has cost you and realize that you are holding onto your weight for unhealthy reasons, you will begin to increase your “want”, and to develop the commitment that leads to permanent weight loss.

This is the key to knowing how to want to lose weight.

The Best Belly Fat Burners

2011-11-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Belly fat, also known as “visceral fat”, is associated with increased risks of heart disease. It presents us with abdominal distention that is commonly referred to as a Beer belly, even if the affected person doesn’t drink beer.

To understand how to get rid of it quickly requires a little bit of understanding about what is happening below the surface of your tummy. What you should know is that not all of a big belly is fat! A lot of it is fluid retention, that is why it gushes around.

Let’s get right into it, so it all makes sense and then I will give you a list of how to burn the belly fat as fast as possible.

When you are gaining weight, the first place that the fat goes is of course into your fat cells all over the body. As the fat cells begin to expand with fat and toxins (there are toxins in most fat) then the amount of inflammation in the fat cells starts to increase. It will increase until the fat cell is so engorged that the inflammation will start to spill out into the circulation, raising the overall inflammation in the body.
This inflammation can lead to other health problems, but it will also raise the amount of cortisol (a hormone) in your body and start increasing the accumulation of fat specifically in the belly. As cortisol elevates it shuts off your HES1 protein in the liver, that turns off the liver from being able to process fat and leads to fat accumulating in the liver.

The struggling fat cells will send the fat storage problem back to the liver, the liver then begins to become further congested with fat and toxins and stops functioning properly. As a result you start to spill triglycerides or fat into the digestive track and you begin to retain fluid in the abdomen and produce more inflammation in the gut. This situation is made worse by eating high carbohydrate meals.

The fat cells have something called leptin and as it rises, the amount of Adiponectin inversely decreases. A low level of Adiponectin causes insulin resistance in your liver!

Now your blood sugars start to rise, raising the release of insulin… unfortunately, practically all carbohydrates that you eat will be converted into belly fat. A fatty liver raises your chance for type 2 diabetes by 500%.

If you have ever had a weekend when you drank too much alcohol and ate a lot of unhealthy carbohydrates, you have experienced this at least temporarily. The alcohol shuts down the liver, you start retaining water and it is made worse because likewise carbohydrates makes you retain water and you can’t process the carbohydrates properly.

So what do we do about all of this?

The following are some simple steps to reverse this process quickly.

Decrease your carbohydrate intake dramatically until the liver is de-greased. Eat nothing white or processed.
Eat smaller meals to decrease the effort on the liver.
Limit your calorie intake.
Increase your intake of lean healthy proteins; it will accelerate the healing within the liver.
Increase your intake of nutrient-rich fibrous vegetables. Fiber will absorb excess fat, toxins and cholesterol out of the body at a faster rate; vitamins and minerals will promote healing.
Stay away from high fat diets so that the liver can detoxify and de-grease!
Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Burst training or high intensity interval training are shown to be best for belly fat. Hot-box yoga is great for dumping toxins as well.
Take at least 500mg of green tea extract – decreases belly fat.
Take 900-1200mg of DHA – it de-greases the liver.
Take 200mg Resveratrol and 200mg Turmeric – as anti-oxidants to combat the inflammation.
Take a Probiotic 8-12 billion active cultures – heals inflammatory effects on the gut.

I recommend doing much of the above as a lifestyle, but especially at the very beginning of a belly fat burning program – because it will virtually guarantee that you will lose the belly fat, very quickly.

5 Tips on How NOT to Gain Weight This Holiday Season!

2011-11-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

Through all of the many holiday seasons that I experienced during the years I spent struggling with my weight, there was always something that I could count on. Gaining between 20-30 pounds by the time New Years Eve rolled around!

I got just as sick and tired of gaining weight throughout the holidays as I am imagining you are. So when I figured out how to not let that happen and how to continue to enjoy the holidays I felt it was something that I should share.

Holidays don’t need to be a time of weight gain and they don’t need to be a time of not enjoying the cheer that goes with it in the form of eating and drinking. You just have to set up some rules or tips…so you can negotiate your way through it without any damage!

Here are some tips for the holidays so you can still lose weight and enjoy holiday food in moderation:

Plan for which meals you will go off diet to enjoy some of the holiday fair. Limit the number to 10% of your week’s meals. If you eat 5 small meals a day, then your weeks total is 35, plan to enjoy between 3-4 meals without guilt throughout the week! If you eat 3 times a day then 2-3 meals for the week. This is your master plan.
Prepare and snack on veggies and a large glass of water ½ hour before every meal where there will be holiday food in your master plan. By going into those situations already with a semi-full stomach you will be able to control how much of the goodies you eat!
Increase your activity and exercise on the days you are going to go off diet in the master plan. By burning more calories, it will give you a little more wiggle room to eat holiday treats in moderation. It will also free you of any guilt!
Don’t write off the entire day because of one meal or act of indiscretion. It is common for people who are trying to lose weight to want to write off the entire day when they have eaten something that is not on their diet. “I already blew my diet when I ate (X) at the office, I might as well enjoy the rest of the day, and start again on my diet tomorrow.” If you act impulsively and eat something outside of your master plan, immediately get back on track, do not give up on the day…every meal counts!
The holidays are filled with more temptations, more stress and more opportunities for emotional eating! You must have in place; simple strategies and reminders to keep you motivated and focused on the big picture…you achieving your weight loss goals!

If you’re interested in putting simple strategies and reminders in place so that you don’t go overboard this Holiday season – click here for instant access to a great tool that many people are using for just that.

Welcome

2011-11-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Let me introduce myself! My name is Michael Mountain and I want to provide you with all the knowledge, support, love and inspiration you need to permanently achieve a lean, fit body and to live a life full of health, energy, vitality and passion! I will be posting great information that will help us on our journey to your ultimate goals. I am so glad you have joined me! Please feel free to ask any questions you may have or share your stories. I hope we can create a wonderful and supportive environment here to help us all achieve our goals and create the life you dream of! Welcome!