Weight Loss or Gain – some principles remain the same!

What’s this all about? Everybody knows that weight loss and gain are to completely different things! So what am I on about?

 

Well, it’s just that there are some things that will be consistent with either goal, and among the things you will see is one major principle which, when applied, has the power to literally remake you!

 

So what is this principle?

 “The Principle of Recording Caloric Intake” 

You see, one thing that most people don’t have a clue about is how much they are actually eating! Someone who is trying to lose weight may complain about how little they eat, while another who is fed up with being skinny moans about how they just can’t eat any more!

 

Let’s forget about the hype from the supplement and drug companies, and those fad diets, and think straight for a second!

 

I mean, it makes sense to think that if you want to lose weight and aren’t losing weight, then you must be taking in more than you think you are! And in the same way, for someone who wants to gain weight and yet can’t – you must be eating a lot less than you think you are!

 

So what am I to do?

 

Simple really – start cataloguing everything that goes into your mouth.

 

But that’s a lot of bother!!!

 

Yeah, well…nobody ever said this ‘weight loss / gain thing’ was easy. Think about it…if it really was that easy then everybody would be walking around all buff and lean and toned and fit and healthy right! But just a cursory glance at the general public when you’re in the city tells you exactly where everybody is at.

 

So, arm yourselves folks, because you are about to embark on a journey that will transform you, should you step off the wharf and into the boat!

 

There are two basic truths that I want you take and start applying to your life right now…

• Note down in a notebook EVERY SINGLE THING that goes into your mouth
• Learn the caloric values of the various food items you ingest

 

Remember the Simple Weight Loss article? Now is the time to put that into practice, right from your very next meal.

 

One of the first things I advise clients to do is to actually do this for a period of at least 2 weeks, and see what your personal intake is like. Note down everything you eat and see how your weight fluctuates during this period.

 

From there you can actually map out a goal for yourself, and get moving on that. And the rest, they say…is …just elementary!!!

 

Cheers!!!

The Truth About Calories

If you have ever looked in the mirror and not liked what you saw, then without a doubt you have thought about things like diets, exercise programs, and such like. One of the first things folks come across is the idea of calories. Don’t worry – it’s not some monster that will make your life difficult for the rest of your days. On the contrary, a proper understanding of this will ensure that you meet every single weight loss / gain goal that you set for yourself.

 What are calories?

A calorie, simply put, is a unit of energy. It is energy that our bodies may use or store. Usage is pretty simple, but storage is another problem. You see, when we begin to talk about calorie storage, we need to see how the body stores energy (calories). Yes, for those of you who are jumping up and down shouting the big ‘F’ word…you are absolutely right. Our bodies are designed to store excess energy as ‘FAT’.

 So why do we store fat?

The body is given more than the amount of energy it requires to exist. So it must store that energy. Why can’t we store energy as protein, or carbohydrates? Well, the short answer is, fat has more calories per gram than both protein and carbohydrates. So it is simply easier for the body to store 1 gram of stuff that will one day give it 9 calories (which is what 1 gram of fat contains), rather than 4 calories (both protein and carbohydrates have this).

 What’s that got to do with me looking good?!

Well, if you know first of all why your body stores fat, then you would also know why your body has stored so much fat already i.e. why you are fat. The simple thing is that you have been consuming more calories than your body needed – for those who are quite fat, perhaps more calories than you needed for a loooong time. You see, whenever you consume more than you need, the body has a tendency to store most of the extra energy that you took in. which by the way means that even if you eat completely fat free foodstuff, if you eat too much, you WILL get fat! Try it for the next 2 months if you don’t believe me J.

 So what do I do?

First and foremost, you need to educate yourself. As I have stated before…in knowledge lies power! Arm yourself with these for starters:

• Calorie count of various food items
• Calories burned in activities: running, jogging, gardening, weightlifting, or any other thing that you enjoy and can think of.

 

The next step would be to start applying that knowledge, by seeing how much you take in, and how much you expend per day (of course a weekly average would be good). Then simply tweak the balance so that your energy intake is less than what you use up – this will mean that in order to maintain your activity the body will have to turn to stored energy in order to complete simply tasks, and lo and behold…fat starts to melt.

 

In time to come I will take you through a real life example of how this simple but explosive information about calorie intake and output can be used to basically pursue any physical goal you desire, whether it be weight loss or gain. Cheers!

Why can’t I lose weight – part 3

What do I mean???

Listen…why are you fat today (oops)? It’s because of your LIFESTYLE, not 2 extra pieces of pie! It’s not your bones, it’s not your genes, and for goodness sake, it’s not your neighbor’s fault!!!

All the things you have been doing have been adding up. What you are today is a sum total of what you have done for the past 10 years. What you will look like a year from now will depend on what you do EVERY SINGLE DAY from here onwards!

Think about it!
• What are you eating?
• How much are you eating?
• Are you making good food choices?
• Are you taking the time to plan your meals?
• Do you know how much food your body actually needs? (We all know how much our stomachs, and sometimes our minds want!)

The fact is, when we ‘go on a diet’, we automatically think of when we will end the diet, and what happens next? We go right back to eating the way we were before the diet; meaning, (listen closely now)

WE GO BACK TO WHAT MADE US FAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

There, I said it finally.

So, do you want a diet, or do you want lasting changes? Do you want to keep on going up and down the rollercoaster, or do you want to stay in that place that you like so much, ‘the land of slim and lean’?

Whichever one you choose is up to you. Just realize that ‘diets don’t work, lifestyle changes do!

Why can’t I lose weight? (part 2)

Well, I guess we got rid of the slackers! So let’s map out a way to make sure you don’t end up on the “yo-yo” path ever again.

 

Major PowerUp Lesson!!!

Forget about diets!

 

Yeah you read that correctly…I said, forget about diets!

 

I hear someone saying, “This guy is crazy! Everybody knows you have to diet to lose weight!”

 

Not really. You see, as soon as you talk about a diet, a picture begins to form in your mind about what things you have got to give up, when you have to start this ‘diet’, and how long it’s going to last for. You tell yourself, “in three months I will be back to the size I was when I got married’ or “2 months is all it’s going to take for me to get my 6-pack back’!

 

Listen, I’m all in favor of goals and deadlines, but sometimes they backfire on us! We lose the weight and get back the shape, begin to enjoy yourself, and before you know it, you’re back to the same as you were. The only thing is, you put yourself through so much pain, and that makes you even sicker!

 

So, what should you do?

 

Get a grip! It’s not a diet you need! It’s a LIFESTYLE CHANGE!!! (Repeat this 30x a day (10x per meal)

(part 3 tomorrow)

Why can’t I lose weight???

One of the toughest questions to answer is “why can’t I lose weight?” From the stay at home mom busy all day long, to the professional who practically lives and breathes his or her ‘career’. It’s a question that stumps the best of us.

 

Sometimes we begin, and initially are extremely excited at the changes we ‘see’ are taking place in our bodies almost on a day to day basis. For the rest, it seems we have tried everything, and filed dismally. A month after the ‘specialized diet program’ we are right back where we started, and for some, even fatter than before.

 

Introducing …… the ‘Yo-Yo Syndrome”!

 

The “Yo-Yo Syndrome” is characterized by constant fluctuations in our physical state, and mostly revolves around the losing and gaining back of weight. Each time we gain the weight back, we swear we will never touch another diet book or program again, resigning ourselves to the ‘fact’ that we:

 

• Have a big structure
• Are genetically destined to be fat
• Have hormonal problems
• Don’t have the time to do what it takes (we think it will take superhuman amounts of will power, and insane amounts of time to fulfill our dreams of being slim)
• Don’t have the equipment or space to do any kind of training
• Have too many injuries that hinder us from training (for some of us, surgeries that we had 20 years ago still remain an excuse)

 

Well folks, I’m here to tell you that…IT DOESN”T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY! (Tarzan shouts in the background).

 

You can, and WILL break you out of that rut of losing and re-gaining for good. The method may be rather drastic for some, but I daresay you are at the stage where you are absolutely sick and tired of whatever has happened before, and are willing to do what it takes to PowerUp your fat loss and chop your path through the jungle to a fitter, healthier, better looking you!

 

Oh yeah, and if you’re one of those who is not at the ‘absolutely sick and tired’ stage, then maybe you should come back in six months time eh?!

(Come back tomorrow for part 2)