The Key to Achieving Your Health Goals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Has your confidence become less than it could be?

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

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

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

The "F" Word: FEAR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Diet and Weight Loss – Confused Yet!?

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! 

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

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!

Do You Crash or Have Low Energy Right After Lunch?

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

Pleasure and Pain

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

Calling All People who Want to Lose Weight

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?

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.

Watching TV can make you Fat

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

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

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.

 

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

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

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

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.

Welcome

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!