Weight Loss and Good Health Doesn't Come in a Pill

When it comes to weight loss and good health, everyone is looking for the quick fixthe magic pill.  If such a thing existed, someone would be incredibly wealthy and obesity would no longer be an issue. 

Want more proof that weight loss and good health doesn’t come in a magic pill? With most drugs, they treat the symptoms, not the cause.  According to scientists, anti-obesity drugs are unlikely to provide long lasting benefit.  Scientists at the University of Liverpool argue that anti-obesity drugs fail to provide lasting benefits for health and wellbeing because they tackle the biological consequences of obesity, and not the important psychological causes of overconsumption and weight gain.

Anti-obesity drug developers focus primarily on weight loss as their end goal, and do not take into consideration the motivational and behavioural factors that most commonly cause obesity. Obesity typically results from eating too much food combined with too sedentary a lifestyle. However, obese people may also have a complicated psychological relationship with food that makes it difficult for them to control their appetite sufficiently to manage their weight.

An anti-obesity drug cannot replace the health benefits of exercise.  An anti-obesity drug cannot teach you how to make better food choices.  An anti-obesity drug isn’t going to help ease the underlying causes of emotional eating. 

Anti-obesity drugs can work in different ways; for example, by suppressing appetite, altering metabolism or inhibiting the absorption of calories. There have, however, been serious concerns over the safety of the most commonly prescribed drugs, leading to the recent withdrawal of the European market leaders Sibutramine (Reductil, Meridia) and Rimonabant (Accomplia).

When patients are prescribed anti-obesity drugs, are the doctors referring them to a nutritionist to become more educated about food and caloric intake?  Probably not.  Are these patients being referred to fitness professionals to get a structured exercise program to help them burn calories and improve their health?  I think not.  Natural Health solutions are probably not discussed with an overweight patient prior to prescribing them an anti-obesity drug. 

In most cases, obesity and weight gain is due to poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle.  Then there are the psychological aspects towards eating such as emotional eating which can be addressed through therapy or hypnosis.  There is also what Dr. Brian Wansink, Ph.D refers to as “Mindless Eating” and talks about this a great length in his book, Mindless Eating.  And lastly, yes, there are some people who suffer from metabolic disorder. 

The key to weight loss and good health is so basic and simple for most people via good nutritional habits and exercise.  Calories in vs. calories out.  End of story.  We all know we need to do this in order to lose weight and become healthier yet, people tend to make this much more complicated than it needs to be.  Yes, weight loss will take time, and no, it’s not going to happen overnight.  Too many people find it difficult to be consistent and committed towards changing lifelong bad habits into lifelong good habits and give up too quickly and easily.  The rest of it lies within the subconscious mind and that’s where therapy or hypnosis can help. I have discussed this aspect in my article Struggling With Weight? You May be Getting In Your Way.  Being more mindful of what you are eating and how much you are eating can help get you more in control of consuming excess calories.

I’m not saying that anti-obesity drugs don’t have their place.  They do, provided the causes of obesity are addressed and not just treating the effect.

Reference: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100316112448.htm

Red Light, Green Light Eat Right FitTalk Interview

FitTalk Interview with

Author,  Dr. Joanna Dolgoff M.D.

Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right - The Food Solution That Lets Kids Be Kids

www.drdolgoff.com

Click here to listen to Show Podcast

As any parent knows, getting your kids the right foods in the right portions can be a challenge.  More than 18 million American children are at risk for developing obesity-related diseases. 

To help give our kids the tools they need for a healthy future, pediatrician, Dr. Joanna Dolgoff created Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right, a safe, effective plan for the whole family that uses the colors of the traffic light to divide food into three categories.  This program is customizable, interactive, and fun and will help your family lose weight and start living a healthier, together!

Dr. Dolgoff appears frequently on national and local media as a childhood obesity expert.  She is also a contributor to The Huffington Post.

She is the creator and founder of Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh (www.drweigh.com). She attended Princeton University and graduated cum laude with a degree in molecular biology. She was elected to the Sigma Chi International Research Honor Society based on her research done at Princeton. Dr. Dolgoff earned her Reebok fitness instructor certification during this time and taught fitness classes at Princeton University and at various gyms in the Princeton area. Dr. Dolgoff continued her education at NYU School of Medicine, earning the award for Outstanding Student in Pediatrics and serving as president of the NYU Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society. She also founded and ran the NYU School of Medicine Step Aerobics fitness program and taught at Synergy fitness clubs in Manhattan. Dr. Dolgoff completed her pediatric residency at Columbia Presbyterian Children’s Hospital of New York. She has previously worked as a private practice pediatrician, helping many children reach their weight loss goals. She is a board certified fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Most importantly, she is a proud mother of two children, ages 7 and 4. She and her husband live in Roslyn, New York.

The Child Obesity Epidemic

As we know, child obesity is an epidemic.  A recent study showed that Most Parents Don't Realize Their 4 Or 5-Year-Olds Are Overweight or Obese, and as you state in your book, Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right, think that “baby fat” will melt away as their kids get older.  This is a serious misconception parents have about their children.  Our idea of what a child should look like is so skewed, that over 70% of parents of overweight and obese children think that their children are either normal weight or underweight.  The problem with this misconception is that parents are not seeking treatment for their children because they don’t think there’s a problem, so to they’re not trying to get their kids healthier by eating better and encouraging them to exercise.

The emotional side of obesity

Overweight and obese teens and children carry around more than just excess weight. They also carry some oversized emotional and physical worries.  Emotions start with shame, loneliness and embarrassment.  Kids feel awful.  They tend not to have many friends and there’s a much more risk of depression in an overweight or obese child.  The emotional aspects these kids have get carried on into adulthood. 

Acanthosis Nigricians – An early warning detector

Dr. Dolgoff points out something very interesting in her book, Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right that most parents, teachers and care givers may not know about called acanthosis nigricians.  And yes, that is quite a mouth full.  Acanthosis nigricians is a thickening and darkening of the skin in the back of the neck that looks almost like a velvety textured pigmentation in the back of the neck.  It’s a sign of pre-diabetes.  Very few parents know about this and very rarely do pediatricians diagnosis this.  This is the first thing Dr. Dolgoff looks for and she sees this 2-3 times a day in her office.  Children who have this are at a much higher risk for the development of diabetes.  To check your child, look by the hairline at the back of the neck. 

When it comes to nutrition, children are not mini adults

In an effort to help their child lose weight, some parents may put their children on a popular adult diet not realizing that the dietary needs of children are different from adults which can be dangerous.  Children have different nutritional and caloric needs throughout the various stages of development.  The nutritional needs of a six year old are different from the nutritional needs of a nine year old and so on.  When you put a child on an adult diet, you’re not giving them any of the nutrients they actually need.  Children on adult diets can have vitamin deficiencies.  Their growth can be impacted if they are not getting enough calories or nutrients. They’re not going to grow and they are not going to develop normally. 

All of these adult fad diets are unsafe for children, especially the low carb/high protein diets.  Kids need carbohydrates for energy and development.  Not only are these diets not safe for children, they are also ineffective.  Children on low carb diets will cheat.  They binge on carbs behind their parent’s back.  What will happen is that the child will feel like they are failing.  They tried a diet; they failed and will be more reluctant to try something that will help them.

Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right takes into account the child’s age and gender.  You can’t put kids on a one size fits all diet.  They backfire.

Your child knows he/she is overweight - Don’t ignore your child’s weight

As a parent, you know that excess weight creates serious health and social obstacles for your child. You want to help, but you don’t know how. You don’t want to ignore that your child is overweight.  Overweight kids know they are overweight.  If you are not talking about it, chances are the kids on the playground are talking about it. 

Not talking about it with your children can make them feel shameful, thinking you are ashamed of them for not saying anything about it.  “I know I’m overweight, but mom doesn’t say anything about it.  She must be embarrassed.”  These are the kids that turn to unsafe measures to lose weight.  Those are the kids who are bingeing, purging and starving themselves. 

Studies show that if you treat an overweight child in a sensitive manner, you actually decrease the risk of them developing a disorder.  Don’t be afraid to talk to your child about weight.  However, you do want to make sure you are sensitive when you are having that conversation.

Talking to your child about weight

When you talk to your child about his or her weight, you do want to incorporate the word “we”.  “We” need to eat as healthy as possible.  Everyone is in it together.  I think “we” need to eat better.  I think “we” need to make healthier choices so that “we” can be healthier.  We need to make some changes to get healthier as a family.

With this approach, you’re including yourself in it.  You’re not accusing your child of anything, not making them feel like they’re being singled out, and you’re making it about health, not looks.  What you do want to do is pick a time that’s not around food. You don’t want to have this conversation over the dinner table. 

Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right

Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right is a program Dr. Dolgoff created that teaches kids of all ages how to make healthy choices and keep the weight off using a color system that not only makes it fun, but is very simple for kids to understand.  Green light foods are the healthiest, yellow light foods are moderately healthy, and red light foods are the least healthy foods.  Depending on your child’s age, gender and weight loss goals, you pick a certain number of green light foods for your child to eat at certain meals and snacks.  Kids should have three meals and two snacks per day. 

They get two red light foods to use each week as they want so there are no foods that are off limits and there’s no deprivation.  Kids can go to a birthday party and eat pizza or cake and then make healthier choices during the week. 

If you want a yellow food, all you do is give up two green light servings.  There are no counting calories and Dr. Dolgoff’s program has a 90% success rate.

The most important meal of the day

Breakfast is without a doubt the most important meal of the day.  Most adults skip breakfast and kids tend to skip it as well or if they do have breakfast, it’s not one that’ll properly fuel them.  Studies show, children who eat breakfast perform better in school, have more energy and do better in sports.  You want to make sure you give your child protein and fiber to keep them full and you can quickly and easily feed your child a nutritious breakfast.

Not sure what to feed your children for breakfast?  No worries.  Dr. Dolgoff has some fun and simple breakfast ideas in her program.  A Dr. Dolgoff favorite is a Banana Dog which is simply 1 whole wheat hot dog roll, 1 tablespoon peanut butter spread on the bun, a banana, and 2 teaspoons sugar-free jelly on the banana.  Total prep time: 3 minutes

What about snacks?

Snacking has been a big issue for both parents and children.  Most of the time, snacks are shunned upon simply because they’re usually not healthy and parents think snacking will ruin their child’s appetite for lunch or dinner.  There is so much misinformation out there when it comes to children and snacking.

We need to eat every 3-4 hours to keep our metabolism up and keep our energy going.  Dr. Dolgoff tells her patients and their parents to think of your metabolism like a fire.  If you want to keep your fire burning strong all day, you have to put wood on your fire every so often. If you go too long without putting wood on your fire, your fire will go out.  Snacks help keep your fire burning, however, a snack should not be junk food.  Every meal and every snack should contain a little protein and fiber to help keep you full and going strong.

The Chicken Nugget Diet

Changing a child’s eating habits by introducing new foods to them can be frustrating and many children tend to be very fussy eaters and many parents believe that getting their kids to eat better is an uphill battle.  What is a parent to do with a child who is a fussy eater?

According to Dr. Dolgoff, many overweight kids started out as picky toddler eaters, having things like just chicken nuggets.  You need to imagine your child eating just that, every day for the rest of his or her life.  Don’t get your child started on bad habits because you think they are under weight and want them to eat something, no matter how bad it may be.  95% of the time, parents who think their kids are under weight are not under weight.  They may be thin, but they’re not under weight and there’s a big difference.  You don’t want to do the Chicken Nugget Diet for your child.  It’s one of the worst habits.

Dr. Dolgoff’s Two Bite Rule

Taste is a learned process.  If we are giving our children sugary foods, we’re not giving their taste buds a chance to develop a taste for more sophisticated foods.  You have to keep giving your kids the same foods.  Sometimes it will take 15-20 times of trying a food before a child will accept it.  Keep having them try the food even if your child hates it.  Have them take just two bites.  If they won’t eat anymore, that’s fine but stick to the two bite rule so that you’re training the taste buds to accept more tastes.

It’s a sweet and sugary world

We all know, the number one issue in most diets for children as well as adults is sugar and this causes a lot of confusion.  There are many different varieties of sugar.  High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is getting a lot of attention.  HFCS is another version of sugar.  The problem is that the food we feed our children has way too much sugar.  If you have an overweight child, we do know that sugar is the enemy which leads to weight gain and medical problems.   Dr. Dolgoff recommends artificial sweeteners over sugar.  According to the FDA, artificial sweeteners are perfectly safe for children in moderation.  Rather than give your child a lemonade loaded with sugar, you’re better off giving your child a Crystal Lite Lemonade.  Obviously water would be a better choice, but kids don’t want to drink water all the time.  In this case, artificial sweeteners are okay in moderation.

Dinner Dilemma

It’s dinner time.  Many people are pressed for time and on occasion, you may find yourself working later than expected or having to run your kids to an after school activity which can end late.  Many parents will say that they don’t have time to prepare dinner for the family or are too tired and end up ordering take out food.  What is a parent to do?  If you do find yourself in a restaurant, special order your meals. Most restaurants will accommodate you.  Order meals as plain as possible, meaning all sauces on the side.

To help reduce this type of situation, you can pre-plan meals so that you don’t have to end up at fast food places all the time.  On the weekends think about the meals you’re going to make during the week.  Go to the supermarket and get all the ingredients for all planned meals.  If you have recipes that call for chopped peppers, chop them up in advance and store them a baggie so that when you’re ready to make it on Tuesday night, you don’t have to start washing and chopping peppers.  When you plan and prepare, it’s easier to make healthy dinners.  Plan and prepare on weekends and you’ll find you won’t be running out to dinners as often.  Not only will this help improve your family’s waistline, it will also help you save money.

Do get your kids involved

Kids want to be involved.  Dr. Dolgoff suggests you sit down with them on the weekend and have them help plan meals; this way there’s no arguing because they are helping to plan the meals they like.  Be sure to offer only healthy options and let them choose ─ children like choices; however, you decide what they are choosing from.

Let your child help make the meals which gets the child further involved, teaches them how to cook and is great parent/child bonding.

Bring your kids to the supermarket and let them get involved in all aspects of healthier eating and you’ll have a much easier time. Have your child pick the vegetable of the week.  You can say to your child, “you pick the vegetable of the week, so this is going to be your special vegetable.”  When you are making the vegetable, you can tell your child, “I’m making your special vegetable.”  The child will be so much more likely to eat their vegetables if you approach it this way and they will be excited about it.

Life Happens

Life Happens.  Most kids don’t want to draw attention to the fact that they’re on a diet and not feel like they’re part of the group.  Seems like birthday parties are constant, social meals out on the town with friends and then you have holidays.  How do you help your child handle these situations? Well no worries, on this.  Dr. Dolgoff has the solution. 

Each child gets two red light foods per week.  If you know your child is going to a birthday or holiday party, save the red light foods for that day.  Tell your kids don’t a red light food when they’re home alone or when they’re just with their parents.  Save your red light foods for a time when they’re being social and that is when they can eat a cup cake and be one of the group.  If you’ve run out of red light foods and something unexpected happens, have a bite of something and say you’re not hungry rather than saying I’m on a diet; or you can say I don’t really like that kind of cookie even if you do.  These are coping strategies your kids can use after they’ve used up their red light foods.

If you have a teenager, you know that your child will be going out to restaurants with their friends and the best way to handle this is by planning ahead.  Teenagers and adults tend to frequent at least 5 places.  If you have a favorite Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Sushi or Diner, that you end up at, think of a healthy meal at each place so that you don’t have to know where you are going; you already know what the healthiest choices are at each place so you don’t have to worry about it while you are with your friends.  What you are doing is walking yourself through the situation mentally in advance on how you are going to handle the situation which can really make a big difference.

Fitness is for kids

Fitness is for children and it can be fun.  Take your child’s age and personality into account when planning activities.  If your child is very social, a group fitness activity with other kids may be fun.  If your child is more artistic, perhaps your child will enjoy dance or yoga.  Match fitness to your child’s personality.  You don’t necessarily have to put your child on a treadmill.  There are so many other ways to get your child moving. 

WiiFit is a great fun way to get your child moving.  State parks or local parks are great for running, walking, biking and you can do this as a family.  Tell your kids we’re going for fun in the park.  Present fitness as fun.  You want to build enthusiasm and excitement when you talk about an activity.

Getting with the Program

Dr. Dolgoff can work with anyone, anywhere through her on line program, http://www.drdolgoff.com.  Once you sign up and enter your information, it will come up with a program for you to follow and the price is very reasonable.  The program contains a complete data base of foods, tons of recopies, sample meals, nutrition lessons and a forum to connect with others who are doing the program.  This is great for your kids as they can make friends with other kids doing the program and it helps them feel like they’re not the only one doing this.

Dr. Dolgoff’s take home message

The most important aspect of helping an overweight/obese child is not to ignore the issue.  If your kids are overweight, kids do not grow out of baby fat.  You decrease the risk of an eating disorder when you address the issue in a sensitive way and you give your children the tools they need to make healthy changes on their own.

For a truly inspiring story, Dr. Dolgoff and her patient, Tiffany Fellus has lost 30 pounds since last June were recently featured on the local New York Fox affiliate.  http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/good_day_ny/beating-childhood-obesity-20100325

Conacting Dr. Dolgoff

Website:  http://www.drdolgoff.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/joannadolgoffmd

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DrDolgoff

Order Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right: The Food Solution That Lets Kids Be Kids

Hey Ladies, Got Muscle????

Seem like many women have been asking me the same question this past week.  How do I get rid of the flab.  How do I tone up?  The picture above is me.  I'm lean and I do have muscle, however, I'm not as lean and muscular as some of my physique athlete competitors.  That's OK.  I'm no longer looking to do figure competition. At the age of 46, my goal is to be as healthy and physically fit as possible.


Getting back to the question that keeps popping up, in order to get rid of the flab and "tone up", you need to not spend as much time doing cardio/aerobics and spend more time in the weight room at the gym, and I'm not talking about the Nautalus or Cybex machines.  You need to hit the iron.  Dumbbells, Barbells and Cable. 

If you are using dumbbells, let's say for example you're doing bicep curls with 5 lb dumbells and you've been knocking out  15 - 20 reps of those, you're not building muscle.  Actually, you're not doing much of anything.  It's time to move on.  Don't be afraid to get aggressive with the weights.  Pick up a set of 10 lb dumbbells and if you're still able to do 15 reps easily with those, go for the 15 pounders.  You should be doing 10 -12 reps.  You should feel a burn and fatigue.  That's working the muscle.  To get muscle, you need to build it and to build it, you need to get aggressive with the weights.


Then the next comment I hear is, "but I'm afraid I'll get big and bulky".  No you won't.  That's the biggest myth out there.  We don't have testosterone.  We're not going to get big and bulky and I can assure you, you won't look like a female bodybuilder either.


Muscle is metabolic.  Muscle burns fat.  Strength training increases the metabolism 72 hours after exercise unlike cardio.


The other thing you need to remember to do is EAT.  Women tend to eat a diet high in carbohydrates and don't eat enough protein.  You should be having protein with every meal and never eat a carbohydrate without a protein. 


The easiest, most convenient way to get protein in your diet is with a protein shake.  You can supplement your diet with these by having one as a mid morning snack and be sure to have one after your workouts to help your body recover from the workout.  My protein supplement of choice is Eat Smart.



iSatori EatSmart, 30 Servings, Strawberry Cheesecake




Next time you're at the gym, remember to hit the iron to build a beautiful, sleek,body.

Avoid This Food For a Lean Body

Guest Blogger Jamin Thompson
Author - The 6 Pack Secret

If there's anyone who knows about 6 Pack Abs, it's my friend, Jamin Thompson and his picture surely proves it. 

The timing of this article couldn't have been more perfect.  One of my clients recently discovered rice cakes and he was eating several of them a day thinking that these made for a great healthy, low calorie snack.  Years ago, I too had the same misconception about these. 

My friend and colleague, Jamin, recently wrote an article about rice cakes and I am proud to share his article on FitTalkNews as a guest blogger.

Enjoy ~

I was sitting here today thinking to myself, what's the very worst food you can eat if you're trying to lose weight, burn fat, tone up, etc?

One food that is often eaten by dieters, but ironically works against them in losing weight is rice cakes. Yes rice cakes! You are probably eating one right now thinking that you are burning fat and toning right up! Yes, rice cakes are relatively low in calories, but the real downside is that they spike blood sugar and insulin levels.

This is not what you want if you are looking to lose weight, burn fat, or tone up! If you are on a weight loss diet, fat loss diet, etc, your main goal should be to slow the digestion and release of carbohydrate into the blood and to try and controlling blood sugar. This is a critical element of any nutrition program. Amazingly, rice cakes increase blood sugar levels by 50 percent more than eating an equal amount of table sugar!


Rice cakes and other foods that result in rapid digestion and release of sugar into the blood promote overeating, obesity, insulin resistance, and other metabolic disturbances contributing to disease. Have you noticed that with every rice cake you eat, you may feel hungrier and hungrier by the bite?


The glycemic index is a measure of how a given food affects blood-glucose levels, with each food being assigned a numbered rating. The lower the rating, the slower the absorption and digestion process, which provides a more gradual, healthier infusion of sugars into the bloodstream.


On the other hand, a high rating means that blood-glucose levels are increased quickly, which stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin to drop blood-sugar levels. These rapid fluctuations of blood-sugar levels are not healthy because of the stress they place on the body.


One of sugar's major drawbacks is that it raises the insulin level, which inhibits the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system and shuts down the fat burning hormones. This is not something you want to take place if your goals are to become healthy, lose fat, and tone up.


An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body's blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, or rice cakes for instance, you're making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease and increased weight gain.


Complex carbohydrates tend to be absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels. An example of a complex carbohydrate with a slow digestion process is plain oatmeal. In contrast, keeping blood sugar in check is associated with improved weight and fat loss, decreased appetite, and reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer.

TIP: Only consume rice cakes post workout when your body is primed to absorb and use the sugar for growth and recovery.

Jamin Thompson
Author
6PackSecret


Click Here! to visit Jamin Thompson at his site

Struggling With Weight Loss? You May Be Getting in Your Way

Just about everybody wants to lose weight, look better, feel better and be healthier.  The problem is, losing weight and getting healthier is a struggle for most people.  If it wasn’t, the weight loss industry wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar industry, obesity related illnesses wouldn’t be in the news everyday, and health care wouldn’t be the hotly debated issue it is.

As a fitness professional and natural health advocate, I do my part every day to provide my clients and followers with the best information possible to help them lose weight and improve their health.

I can provide you with the best nutritional information to help you lose weight and feel great.  I can tell you about the best workout programs out there designed for your fitness goals. I have the top experts in the health and fitness industry on my FitTalk Show giving top notch advice and information to my listeners.  It’s not like the best information void of hype and myth on how to safely and effectively lose weight and be healthier isn’t available to the public.

Everyone knows they need to exercise in order to lose weight and improve their overall health.  Despite this knowledge, the majority of the population makes excuses as to why they can’t exercise.  If you do “force” yourself to exercise, you’re hating every second of it, or probably not working out as intensely as you should, or avoid getting sweaty simply because “I don’t like to sweat”.

Everyone knows that eating junk food, drinking soda, consuming sugary snacks, etc., isn’t going to help them lose weight and improve their health, yet continue to consume these foods anyway.  Many of us give into the temptations of certain food aromas.  The smell of fresh baked goods, the smell of pizza, nacho’s etc.; it just calls out your name.

In the gym with my clients, I do everything I can to motivate them through their workouts and do my best to give them the best advice to overcome nutritional pitfalls.  I’ve had the experience that despite my best efforts, some people plain and simply hate to exercise regardless of what you do to try to make it fun and challenging; or, they enjoy their sessions with me, are working hard, but really struggle with their diets and overcoming temptations.

I know how frustrating weight loss can be and how frustrating it can be for a fitness or health professional to do all you can to help someone.  So why aren’t you reaching your goals, simply because – when it comes to your weight loss efforts, YOU are getting in your own way.  Well, actually, it’s your subconscious mind that’s getting in your way.

A conversation with a friend

I’m fortunate to have the friends and colleagues I have, and sometimes forget the role some of them play in the field of health, and leading Clinical Hypnotherapist, Steve G. Jones is one of them.

I recently had a conversation with Steve about this topic when he stops me mid-sentence and says to me, “Shari, sometimes to succeed, you need to get out of your own way, and in most cases, it’s the subconscious mind that gets in people’s way.”  Ah yes, the subconscious mind.  It’s what drives our behavior.  Well, if anyone would know about that, Steve is certainly an expert in this area.

In some cases, weight loss failure can stem from a fear of success that you’re not even aware of.  For those who come up with every excuse under the sun as to why you can’t or won’t exercise, according to Steve, it’s the subconscious mind that’s stopping you.  It’s what’s steering the ship so to speak.

Although there are many issues which contribute to struggles with diet, many dieting struggles are due to the subconscious mind which cause people to give in and eat foods they consciously know are bad for them, and end up feeling guilty, frustrated and angry with themselves for having given in and thus repeat the cycle.

Getting out your way with self hypnosis

Steve has been a guest on my FitTalk show, and explained to me how hypnosis works.  Hypnosis talks to the subconscious mind.  It is the subconscious mind that creates all kinds of resistance, self sabotage and negative inner conversations that prevent you from attracting what you want or achieving your goals.

We can hypnotize ourselves all day, every day.   When we talk to ourselves in a certain way, we hypnotize our selves.  Affirmations are vital.  If you have people around you saying “you can do it”, that’s an affirmation.  If you tell yourself “you can do it”, that’s an affirmation and that’s hypnosis.

A lot of hypnosis that happens to us, whether you believe in it or not, happens from ourselves, and our good friends believing in us or doubting our possibilities.  We need to be very aware of what programs us, even though we’re wide awake.

According to Steve, being under our own control can be a lot worse than being under the control of a hypnotherapist’s control.  We have thoughts in our minds that tell us we can’t do this or we don’t deserve this.

Hypnosis is a very easy state to achieve.  All you have to do is relax yourself.  Close your eyes and relax yourself and tell yourself positive affirmations.

Formal hypnotherapy can be more elaborate with induction, a deepening, a script – the affirmations/positive programming – however, with a hypnotherapy session, you’re dealing with the subconscious mind, and the affirmations take effect within a shorter period of time.  Then there is the “amnesia technique” which is designed for you to forget everything that’s in your mind.  The reason for the amnesia technique is that people will second guess themselves.  For example, their mind will tell them, “I know the hypnotherapist told me I’m great, but so and so said I wasn’t so I think the hypnotherapist may be wrong”.  The amnesia technique bypasses that critical factor that undoes everything.

The end of the hypnotherapy session is called Transtermination where the hypnotherapist brings you out of hypnosis.

For someone who make excuses as to why they can’t exercise, i.e., I don’t have enough time, I can’t afford to, or forces him/her self to exercise, hating every second of it, or probably not working out as intensely as they should, or avoid getting sweaty simply because “I don’t like to sweat”, Steve suggests his self hypnosis recording, “I love to exercise Self Hypnosis”.  Basically, what this recording does is tell your subconscious mind that you like to exercise.  By doing this, you’ll want to make time to exercise rather than keep telling yourself that you don’t have the time.  If you truly hate to exercise, you will be programming your self conscious mind that you do love to exercise and eventually, you will stop dreading your workouts, they won’t seem like a chore, you’ll enjoy them and really put yourself into your workouts achieving all the benefits exercise can do to keep you healthy, fit and slim.

How can hypnosis help you with weight loss?  A lot of the struggles people have with weight loss is mental.  There are addictions, cravings, emotional eating, self-sabotage and peer pressure sabotage associated with weight loss.  There is also the mental aspect of feeling like you’re depriving yourself of foods and dieting is like punishment for having been “bad” for allowing yourself to become overweight.  There are many negative thoughts and emotions that weight loss can bring which is within the subconscious mind. Although consciously you do want to lose weight, the subconscious mind will be telling you that you’ll never be thin, you don’t deserve this, why even bother with this, you’ll fail anyway.  Hypnosis can help you if you want a healthy relationship with food, with an end to constant dieting, overeating, and binge eating. Hypnosis can help you reach your natural weight without feeling deprived or hungry and suggests his Lose Weight Hypnosis recording to reprogram the subconscious mind so that you can lose weight safely, effectively and naturally.

Getting out of your own way by being mindful

You can start reprogramming yourself by being more mindful of your actions. If you struggle with weight loss whether your struggles are food or exercise related, the first step is to become more aware of your struggles.  If you gave into a temptation, write down the temptation, what triggered it, where you were or if you were with anyone.  Think about what you could’ve eaten instead of the choice you made, write it down and then next time you find yourself in that situation, you’ll be more aware of it and will make a better choice.  If you’ve been telling yourself that you should exercise, you’ll do it tomorrow and don’t, write down why you put it off.  You’ll become more aware of the excuses you make and how you can best manage your time to fit exercise into your life. 

To learn more about Steve G. Jones and how his self-hypnosis recordings can benefit you, visit his site http://budurl.com/BetterLivingHypnosis

(note: the links posted on this page are sponsored links, however, I do stand by my recommendations.)

Get in the Best Shape of Your Life with James Villepigue

Listen to my FitTalk Show Interview with James Villepigue

  James Villepigue

www.jamesvillepigue.com

www.bodybyjames.com

www.alphamalechallenge.com

A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with James Villepigue and he said to me “the best workout is the one you’re not currently on”.  Think about those words and the truth behind those words.

This is something James would know about.  James has been involved in the health and fitness industries for over 20 years. With one million copies of James’ books sold, he has helped many hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world—of all ages and from all walks of life—achieve extraordinary results to their body’s & their lives.

If you’re looking to sculpt your perfect body regardless if you’re new to fitness, a pro, male or female, James Villepigue’s Body Sculpting Bible series of books, The Body Sculpting Bible for Women and The Body Sculpting Bible for Men will help take you to your next fitness level.  The Body Sculpting bible books provide not only a great workout program, but also a diet that will help you shed those stubborn unwanted pounds or give you the body of a physique athlete. His Body Sculpting Bible franchise has been revered as one of the most successful fitness book lines in history.

James also co-authored the best selling book, Alpha Male Challenge, which was recently featured on FitTalk with his co-author, Mr. Rick Collins.  The Alpha Male Challenge is aimed at restoring men to true Alpha Male status – a state of optimum physical, professional, mental and social performance. This challenge is more than just a diet and workout program for men.  It’s a mindset.

I recently had James Villepigue as a guest on my FitTalk Show to talk about his books and how to they can help you get in the best shape of your life.

Weight struggles and an eating disorder

James was overweight as a child and spoke very candidly about it and how it affected him.  He was bullied and made fun of.  He developed an eating disorder and become bulimic for several years simply because he didn’t know any better.  You don’t generally think of boys/men having an eating disorder, let alone, bulimia.  James was losing a lot of weight in a short period of time.  He went from 270 lbs down to 135 lbs in a year.  He was sickly.  People thought he was doing drugs because he was so skinny.  James had had it with being heavy.  He hated being disrespected and being mistreated by not only his peers, but adults and teachers who were treating him differently from other kids who were athletes, in good shape or average.  In the eyes of other people, James was below average.

Through his experience as an overweight child, James identifies with the current child obesity crisis.  “It’s so sad.  Kids are going through this all the time.  We have an epidemic in the country not just with adults, but with children being obese.” 

Fortunately, James turned himself around and began losing weight in a safe manner.  This is what spawned his passion.  He wanted to help people.  He began to read, got certified as a trainer and went to school.

The Body Sculpting Bible

James went on to create The Body Sculpting Bible series of books.  The Body Sculpting Bible books are based on periodization training.  This is a training style that elite athletes were doing and not something the mainstream knew about.  Although the Body Sculpting Bible is a 14 day program, please don’t think that it’s a quick fix and that you’ll be in shape in 14 days. 

Periodization training is scaled up or down in the way of time.  James changes the routine every 14 days to prevent the body from adaptations and keeping the results flowing.

Weight loss and the subconscious mind

You want to be aware of resistance against weight loss self sabotage.   Be aware of your thoughts on a consistent basis.  It’s easy for the negative thoughts to sneak in and dictate where your day goes.  When you have negative thoughts, you’re directing your subconscious mind to continue on that path. If you change those thoughts to positive ones, you’re directing the subconscious mind to continue in that direction.  The subconscious mind controls your behavior.  James recommends that you map out your wants, your goals and why.  Be specific about weight loss.  I want to lose body fat.  I want to lose 10 lbs in 30 days.  Don’t just say you want to lose weight.

5 Muscular Tiers of Training

James says there are 5 muscular tiers of training that work together.  They are Resistance Training, Cardio Training, Nutrition & Supplementation, Rest & Recovery, and Mental Mindset.  These 5 pieces are crucial in order to obtain the results you expect. 

What you want to do is create a well-oiled machine which will create amazing results provided you don’t cut yourself short.  If you ate perfectly, don’t blow off your training that day or vice versa.  As for rest, you may get only 4 hours of sleep and think that you’ll be fine in the morning.  By doing that, you’re not allowing your body to recover from the workout.

When you throw your body out of whack, you will halt your results.  When you have the 5 Muscular Tiers in balance, then you have a well-oiled machine that is working efficiently and it’s a no-fail type of plan.

The Zone Tone

The mind directs our bodies.  When you’re mindless when you’re training not focused on what you’re doing with every rep and set of your workout, you’re losing energy and not getting the results you should be getting.

Zone Tone teaches you to really make the mind-muscle connection.  Over the years, James has been teaching people this through meditation, visualization, and mental imagery.  By doing this, it has helped people become more aware of the various muscles in their bodies.  Teaching people how to contract those muscles, so that when they go to the gym, they would be able to compound their efforts 5 times more had they not known how to contract the muscle.  When they were in the gym doing a specific exercise for a specific muscle, they would know exactly what to feel.

Have a Plan of Action

Most people who walk into the gym have no idea what they’re going to be doing.  They have no plan of action.  As James describes it, it’s like getting in a car in New York and saying you’re going to drive to California and just winging it.  You may get somewhere, but not to California, and if you do get to California, it may be a long, long, time from now.  When you got to the gym and you wing your workouts, how can you expect to reach your destination to achieve your goal if you don’t really know what it is and how to get there?

James maps out your plan of action in his books, The Body Sculpting Bible and Alpha Male Challenge.  Everything is mapped out for you so from the moment you walk into the gym you know exactly what you’re going to do when you hit the gym.  Follow  the workout, do it, be done, train with focus and intensity. 

Changing up your workouts

If you have been following the same workout program for more than three months and have made no changes to it and continue doing the same exercise, with t he same weights, same reps, etc., your body won’t change.  Making changes to your workout will not only give you better results, but will make a yawn, ho hum workout into one that is not only challenging, but fun.

All of the workouts in James Villepigue’s books not only give you a plan of action, but change so that you are challenged and you will get maximum results.

The Truth About Stretching

Some people say that stretching is unnecessary.  Some people think you should stretch before you workout. Some people say you should stretch after your workout.  I asked James to help set the record straight about stretching. 

Stretching is essential.  Before a workout, your muscles are like taking a rubber band out of the freezer.  They’re not as flexible or pliable.  Before your workout it’s important to get your muscles warmed up and more pliable, however, it’s not necessarily done through a static stretch.  The problem with a static stretch is that if you’re trying to stretch a cold muscle, you can injure yourself.  With a static stretch, you’re also sending a signal to the muscle telling it to relax.  So if you do this before a workout, will your muscles perform at optimum levels?  Probably not.  James recommends doing a dynamic warm up before your workout bringing blood and nutrients into the muscle.  Save the static stretching after the workout when the muscles are more pliable and resilliant.

Alpha Male Challenge

When Rick Collins and James Villepigue teamed up to create the Alpha Male Challenge, they wanted to create something that was tips from the tops in the industry.  Not just a book that says “this works”.  They brought the premiere experts in exercise science, psychology, nutrition, etc., to give their stamp of approval on this book saying “yes, this works and here’s why.”

The Alpha Male Challenge is not only innovative, but revolutionary. The plan provides 27 individual workouts in 10 weeks.  They created a 60/20/20 training principle which they call Alpha Waves.  One wave is allocated to building muscle, 60%, while 20% is directed to strength and 20% to power.  As you move into the next Alpha Wave a few weeks later, 60% is allocated to building strength, 20% towards power and 20% to preserve the muscle you worked to build.  You’re always building and preserving what you did.  

The workouts have plyometric, strength building, muscular building, and muscular endurance exercises.  The workouts don’t make you just all show.  They make you show and go, go, go, so you don’t just look the part, you cant the part.

Is the Alpha Male Extinct?

Testosterone levels of American men have been on the decline over the past 10 years.  Our fathers and grandfathers were physiologically more manly than today’s man.  Studies on this had brought about a “call to action” by the authors of this book, James Villepigue and Rick Collins. 

Let’s face it, men want to be manly.  The Alpha Male is NOT the stereotype that the media created.  He is not a bully or a club wielding man who abuses women or takes advantage of others to get ahead.  James and Rick define what a “True Alpha” is.  So what is a “True Alpha Male?”  It’s a man who has respect, who is a leader among leaders, who doesn’t need to abuse or take advantage of other to get ahead.

The book has attitudinal training such as how to build confidence, chivalry, resilience and empathy.  Men forget how to be men, particularly with the whole metro-sexual trend that was going on. 

Men need to increase and maintain their testosterone.  Testosterone is the hormone that makes men, “men”, and it affects men physically as well as psychologically and a lot of people don’t recognize that.  It doesn’t mean that you’re going to be an aggressive or overly dominant male.  If men want to be in better shape, or a better mood, they need to maintain or increase their Testosterone levels which is done naturally.

Nutrition for the Alpha Man and Woman

Like your workouts, if you really want to be on top of your nutrition, you need to have a plan of action.  You really should be preparing your foods for the week ahead.  By doing this, you’ll stay out of trouble eating the wrong things.  Yes, this does take work and not only will this keep you out of trouble, it will help you eat more frequently throughout the day to make your metabolism more efficient. 

You want to eat every 2 ½ - 3 hours to avoid running on empty and slowing doing your metabolism.  A lot of people are stressed, short on time, and end up eating one big meal at night, and by doing that, you are basically sending a signal to your brain that you’re in starvation mode.  Your body, in an attempt to protect itself from starving, is going to slow down your metabolism.  The last thing you want to do is have 1 big meal which causes an insulin rush or spike of blood sugar in your body and ultimately, your body is going to lay down more body fat.  The idea is to feed your body quality nutrients throughout the day so that your body is running more efficiently and you’re not sending the wrong signals to your brain.

James provided a simple tip when it comes to eating.  In the morning, eat like a king; in the afternoon, eat like a prince; in the evening, eat like a papuer.

You can also eat according to your activity level.  If you know you’re going to be active, eat more carbohydrates 3 hours later.  If you know you’re going to be sedentary, eat more protein 3 hours later.

Alpha Male Diet

The Alpha Male Diet is more stylized towards a Paleolithic diet which means you’re eating as if it were 10,000 years ago  before agriculture set in.  This is the way our bodies were designed to eat.  Lean meats, fish, berries, nuts, etc.  With the introduction of agriculture, over the years, we’ve been bringing all these cereal grains, high fructose corn syrup and sugar into our bodies and that’s when obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease started coming about.

The Alpha Male Challenge talks about the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 ratio – carbs to protein to fat.  Making sure you’re getting the right quality of these foods and eating them in the right timing which is important for losing body fat, building lean muscle and getting in the best shape of your life.

Putting it all together  – The 5 Muscular Tiers

If you walk into the gym with your plan of action  your workout, and you really put your mind into it and really work your muscles with each exercise, giving it everything you got, and properly fueling your body with the right nutrients, non only pre and post workout, but throughout the day, allow proper rest and recovery, you can’t help but build lean muscle and burn body fat, look better, feel better and be healthier.

For more Alpha Male Challenge check out my Is The Alpha Male Extinct? interview with co-author Rick Collins 

 I've done the Body Sculpting Bible Program and The Alpha Male Challenge Program and got great results with both programs.  Ladies, although the Alpha Male program is written for men, don't let that stop you.