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Category Archives for "weight loss"

Is your inner voice a nice person?

Our inner voice is a very powerful thing.  It drives our mood and feelings, and it can determine whether we will be successful in our health and fitness journey.

I'd like you to take a few minutes to do an inner voice audit.  Answer the following questions (you may want a pen and pad to write down a few notes):

  • Think about your current health or fitness.  What words come to mind?
  • What are your health and fitness expectations in one, three, and ten years?
  • When you slip up, what is your tendancy?  Do you stay focused on that or do you look to move on?

Now take a few minutes to think about this.  Would you use the same words to address someone you love?

The good news: you can change your inner voice.

I'm currently reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, PhD. Yes, I actually read more than just health, fitness, and weight loss books. This best-selling book has been out for a while and has gotten a ton of praise in the business and education fields. That said, I think there are some very practical applications for someone on a health and fitness journey. I'll include a link to the book at the end of this post.

In the book, Dr. Dweck explains that mindset typically takes one of two natures:

  1. Fixed Mindset – People with this mindset believe that we are who we are and cannot change.  They believe intelligence is fixed and cannot be improved with effort.  They believe we are who we are and cannot change our behavior, habits and thoughts. When they fail at something, tend to stick with things they're good at and avoid the challenge.
  2. Growth Mindset – People with this mindset believe that we can change and improve.  They believe intelligence can be improved with effort. They believe we can change and become better people. When they fail, the see it as an opportunity to learn and improve and relish the challenge.

Maybe you feel you have a little bit of both. Or maybe you think intelligence can be improved but we can't change who we inherently are deep inside.  That's okay.  Rather you're squarely in one or the other, or have some of both, you can move into a growth mindset, which in the end is the inner voice you need.

How do I change my inner voice?

You can improve your inner voice with a few practices:

  1. Awareness/mindfulness
  2. A proof-based mantra – I know I will be healthier because…
  3. Gratitude
  4. Immediate return to plan

So, is your inner voice a nice person?

If isn't, now you know you can fix that.

The love diet | Dr. Connie Gutterson

Naked in 30 days | Theresa Roemer

 

September 14, 2016

Mindfulness eating with Lynn Rossy

In this episode, we meet Lynn Rossy, PhD.  Her book, The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution explains how mindfulness eating is the key to weight loss. With thousands of diet books on the market, you would think there wouldn't be a need for another one. Yet one thing stands true: diets don't work.

We may change how or what we're eating, but once we revert back to our old ways, the weight just comes back.  What we should be looking for is something more sustainable.  That's where mindfulness comes in.  Being in the moment with your food allows you to enjoy it more and make sure your body gets appropriate signaling for when you are full.

Lynn has three steps to address health:

  1. Diet – Don't bother with a particular diet unless prescribed by your doctor.
  2. Scale – Avoid the scale.  It won't satisfy you and is needless beating up on yourself.  Instead, focus on how you look and feel.
  3. Goal setting

Mindfulness is about being in the present moment.

There are three components for mindfulness:

  1. Intentional
  2. Attention
  3. Attitude (without judgment)

Approaching food and our bodies without judgment will allow us to get healthy and maintain balance in our lives.

The basics of mindful eating:

B – Breathe and belly check

A – Assessing your food

S – Slow down

I – Investigate your hunger half way through your meal

C – Chew thoroughly

S – Savor

Mindfulness eating allows you to enjoy your food completely, be in touch with your body's signaling, eat less, and feel full and satisfied.  Mindfulness eating takes some practice, but with everything that takes effort, the payoff is significant.  Give mindfulness eating a try and let me know how it went in the comments below.

Links:

LynnRossy.com

Finding mindfulness with Bruce Langford

Breath and breathing for better health and fitness

Baths for health with Paulette Sherman

Health and Fitness Foundations

When I first launched 40+ Fitness Podcast, I posted an episode each Monday for the first ten weeks that was a lesson that touched on each of the health and fitness foundations in my Forever Fitness Personal Training Program.  These are the principles I share with my clients to help keep them progressing and meeting their health and fitness goals.

Commitment

I start with commitment because without it, you'll never see success.  Willpower fails, motivation wains and resolutions are dropped.  When you know your “why” and a vision of what health and fitness looks like for you, you can put these together to make a vow.  This vow paired with self-love makes all the difference.  If you really want it, go past making a decision and commit.

Sugar

We get fat because of sugar.  The average American eats 150lbs of sugar per year.  Sugar raises your insulin, which is the core hormone for fat gain.  The only way to successfully lose weight is to reduce your sugar intake.   Aim for 50 grams or less per day and you're going to see great results.

Success Keys (Persistence, Progression, Patience)

Persistence is what keeps you going, Progression is what keeps the results coming.  Patience is where you're going to face this challenge over the long-term.  Applied together, these three keys are what all successful people have.

Sleep

Our body goes through some very important functions while we're asleep.  Our hormone cycle is driven by our sleep.  Memory development and muscle repair also occur during this time.  You'll want to get 7 – 9 hours per night, but focus on quality rather than quantity.

Water

The liver is responsible for dealing with toxins.  It makes its job easier by pushing the toxins into the fat.  Now that we're losing weight (aka burning fat), we're releasing these toxins and the liver is forced to deal with it.  Beyond not adding more toxins, it is important to give the liver plenty of water.

Our brain, joints and skin all use water to perform well.  If you are dehydrated you're going to look and feel worse.  Your

Plateaus

Our bodies were built to find balance.  For this reason, we will often find ourselves hitting plateaus. You can build in strategies to break through plateaus or avoid them all together.  Periodization can be effective particularly in muscular strength, muscle mass, or endurance.  Or you can look for a way to push past it.  Just don't quit.

Lab Rat

You are a unique individual.  As a result, what works for someone else may not work for you.  Don't be afraid to experiment to find the things that will work for you.  Take the time to educate yourself and then apply and tweak your programming and food.

Fitness Modalities

Recognize that there are different fitness modalities and you should consider most of them.  Focusing on one at the detriment of the others will keep you from meeting your goals or accomplishing your vision.  A few fitness modalities to consider follows:

  • Muscular strength
  • Muscular mass
  • Mobility
  • Endurance
  • Balance
  • Agility
  • Speed

Strength

Of all the fitness modalities, the one I almost demand my clients do is strength training.  Strength is the most important factor to being healthy and fit.  Heavy lifting boosts testosterone production (libido) and helps maintain strong bones.

Lifestyle

Once you've seen success, it is important to shift from this being a project to it being a lifestyle.  If you've made good healthy habits, this becomes easy.  Avoid language like diet.  Diets are temporary and when you go back to eating the way you did before, you'll go back to what you were.  Health and fitness is a continuum.  You can always get better.

Health and fitness is a state of being, not a destination.

We are 100! Best of the past.

 

A funeral for my fat | Sharee Samuels

In her book A Funeral For My Fat, Sharee Samuels chronicles her 100+ pound weight loss over a five year period.

Self Love

One concept that Sharee recommended was for you to write a letter to yourself.  This letter should demonstrate the strength you have and the love you have for yourself.  Documenting this self-love is valuable because you are able to go back and read this letter to yourself when you're down and out.

Find something you love

Sharee also recommends you find something you love.  For her, workout out was a drudgery, and she could never motivate and push herself.  That was until she found Zumba.  She loved Zumba and that helped her stay motivated and on track with exercise.

Know yourself

Sharee is a big proponent in knowing yourself.  She knows she is not one who can handle moderation.  Therefore she can't approach food and have just one chip.  She now focuses on her strength, which is planning.  Knowing yourself allows you to take your own path to health and fitness.

Plateau

Sharee uses an acronym – EFFORT to break through a plateau.

  • Exercise – Are you doing enough?  Are you doing too much?
  • Food – Are you eating too much?  Are you eating enough?
  • Focus – Are you focused on your goal?
  • Organization – Planning and setting yourself up for success.
  • Rest – Are you giving your body the rest it needs?  Are you resting too much?
  • Time – Are you rushing the process?  Do you have realistic expectations?

 

Links:

A Funeral For My Fat

Sharee Samuels

 

Todd loses over 300lbs

Ketogenic diet for weight loss

My weight loss while on a ketogenic diet[/caption]

In this episode, I discuss how I used the ketogenic diet for weight loss.  Ketosis is a physical phenomenon, where your body adapts to using fat for energy instead of sugar. Susan, who you met on episode 142, joined me on this conversation so she can ask questions as I went.  I switched my eating to allow me to go into ketosis so I could drop some weight I'd gained over the past few months.

To get into ketosis, you lower your carbohydrates (carbs) to 20 grams or less and you increase your fat to make up the calories. You'll keep your protein moderate to ensure it doesn't spike your blood sugar.

In ketosis, your body burns the fat and produces ketones.  These ketones can be used by the brain as fuel.  In fact, most of the science on ketosis shows that the brain favors ketones.   I know I feel better when I'm in ketosis.

Concerns with Ketosis

  • Ketoacidosis – This is a dangerous condition that is typically limited to type I diabetics. In this condition, your ketone level gets dangerously high and the blood sugar is also high.  This is a very rare condition and not something you'll
  • Compliance – The ketogenic diet is difficult.  It is not easy to go from being a sugar burner to a fat burner.  Staying at 20 grams of carbs per day is very limiting.  Fortunately, once you're in ketosis, you may be able to ratchet up your carb intake.
  • Carb withdrawal/Keto flu – During the transition, you'll likely have some fatigue, effectively feeling like you have the flu.
  • Medications – If you're a diabetic and take meds to help manage your blood sugar, you should talk to your doctor.  You'll have to monitor yourself very closely.  The ketogenic diet can be an effective way to reverse diabetes.

Ketogenic Diet Tools

You should be able to feel that you're in ketosis, but there are tools to measure ketones.  To be in nutritional ketosis you will have a ketone reading of 0.5 – 7:0.  You can measure ketones three ways:

  • Keto-sticks are a cost effective way to measure the ketone bodies in your urine.  However, once you get fat adapted, you won't be excreting ketones, and they will stop working.  This makes them great for showing that you're in ketosis when you first start.
  • The Precision Plus with ketone strips can measure the ketones in your blood.  This is the most accurate way to determine when you're in ketosis.
  • The Ketonix is a tool you can use to measure ketones in your breath.  This is a pain and mess free way to do the measurement.  I haven't seen any science to prove this tool is as accurate as the blood.

Other Considerations for the Ketogenic Diet

  • Tweak your protein intake based on your exercise intensity.
  • Make sure you're getting enough sodium and potassium.  With a ketogenic diet, you'll lose water weight and with that some electrolytes.
  • You'll likely lose some water weight early in the ketogenic diet.
  • There are extraneous sources of ketones that you can take to increase the ketones.  These can help when you need more energy.
  • Medium-Chain Triglycerides (MCT), which is processed from coconut oil.  Because of the nature of this oil, it increased your ketone level quickly.  Just make sure you ease into using it as it can cause diarrhea.

Whether you choose to use ketosis as a way to lose weight, now you understand what it is when you hear someone talking about it.  More and more people are trying ketosis.

If you have any questions about the ketogenic diet, feel free to comment on this post.

Have a happy and healthy day!

Allan

Below are the links I mentioned in the podcast.

Keto-stix

Precision Plus with Keto Strips

Ketonix

Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore

The scoop on ketosis with Jimmy Moore

 

Why can’t I stop? | Dr. Bruce Odlaug

Brian Odlaug received a PhD from the University of Copenhagen in Public Health. He is knowledgeable about and conducts seminars on the topic of behavioral addiction. His new book, Why Can’t I Stop, takes a closer look at behavioral addiction.

When it comes to eating and nutrition, many people wonder if they’re actually addicted to sugar. If so, this addiction is more of an emotional and behavioral issue than simply a lack of will-power. In fact, behavioral addictions are remarkably common. They are under recognized when compared to substance addictions. Often times, there is shame and secrecy involved, and the addiction will go unnoticed and untreated. Many people will continue to function normally in their work and relationships. Over time however, their lack of presence and financial or health consequences may become evident.

So how is a food addiction diagnosed? It’s actually not a formal diagnostic set, but there are certain questions to ask and specific behaviors to look for. Typically, it’s not just the quantity of food consumed, but it involves food consumed over a longer period of time. The individual knows there are consequences to consuming the food and they have a desire to cut back, but they are unsuccessful in attempts to limit themselves. They may even give up other activities to prioritize eating. Cravings and urges are common. Those addicted to food can even become irritable or restless when they are unable to eat. Essentially, if you don’t have the ability to control your urges, you may have a problem.

So how can one overcome a food addiction? Key strategies include eating only at specific meal times, not eating alone, and removing unhealthy foods from the home. Understand your triggers and fill your time with other fun activities. Family members can also get involved by modeling healthy relationships with food, helping with cooking and controlling meals, and encouraging fun and healthy activities.

If you are struggling with a behavioral addiction, you are not alone. Though the solution may require seeing a physician and taking medication, the addiction can be addressed.

Warrior | Theresa Larsen

The china study solution | Dr. Thomas Campbell

Thomas Campbell, MD, is a board certified family physician and instructor of clinical family medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He coauthored The China Study, which sold more than a million copies and inspired the 2011 documentary Forks over Knives. He also is director of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, a nonprofit organization in Ithaca, New York, which promotes optimal nutrition through science-based education, advocacy, and research in partnership with eCornell, Cornell University's online course provider. He lives in Rochester, NY.

The China Study Solution is based on the book, The China Study, which is based on a very comprehensive study in rural China which showed that a whole-food, plant-based diet has the potential to prevent and reverse many chronic diseases.  The China Study became a worldwide phenomenon, selling more than a million copies and inspiring countless readers to reinvigorate their health by making better food choices.

With Dr. Campbell we discuss his 3 food group concept, which is inspired by nature:

  1. Animals, or animal sourced food group;
  2. whole plant food group; and
  3. processed plants or plant fragment.

We also discuss transitioning to a plant-based diet, whether going cold turkey or a gradual transition over time, as well as the options and health benefits.   Changing our behavior can be hard, but Dr. Campbell discusses his six-step approach which he has developed based on many years of observation in his family practice.

While there is plenty of science-based information in The China Study Solution, Dr. Thomas Campbell’s book also provides practical tools and advice on stocking your kitchen, reading food labels and navigating social situations.

 

The end of heart disease | Dr. Joel Fuhrman

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