Forever Fighting Fat: The Never Ending Weight Loss Journey

On the (Butter)horns of a Dilemma

Here I sit, having face-time with the perennial decision of any dieter, "Do I or don't I?" Somebody said that foods made with salt, sugar, and fat are the most irresistible. Why not just call them what they are, "baked...

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Absolutely Hysterical "Interview" with Doctor About Weight Loss -- FUNNY!

I don't know where this comes from but I found it at Weight Watchers today. I read it to the meeting. I had to share it. Enjoy.
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Q:  Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it… don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a  nap.

Q:  Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A:  You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn.  And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q:  Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A:  No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy  is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way.  Beer is also made out of grain.  Bottoms up!

Q:  How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A:  Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q:  What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A:  Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is:  No Pain…Good!

Q:  Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A:  YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!! ….  Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q:  Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A:  Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q:   Is chocolate bad for me?
A:   Are you crazy? HELLO - Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around!

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?
A:  If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q:   Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A:   Hey!  ‘Round’ is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

AND…..

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans..

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.  Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Newspaper Column: The 3 day diet to lose 10 pounds -- includes Hot Dogs!

Get ready for another diet rant! My column in the newspapers is about a diet that -- you won't believe this -- considers hot dogs as part of what one needs to eat! follow this link

Latest Column

My column this week is a humorous one about an invention everyone needs to lose weight. If you'd like to read it, please see it online at here.

Latest Column

I forgot - yet again -- to post my latest column, "Is Your Diet Making You Fat?"  You can find it at Associated Content here.

Acai Berry Diet, Colon Cleanse and My Tired Old Soapbox

I'm down with the social networking (kinda). I've got four blogs. I'm on LinkedIn. I receive tweets on twitter and I can email my posts via posterous. I have a facebook account. I'm an "expert" on eons.com. I post articles on Helium, Wellness, Associated Content and Wellsphere. And I share my photos on flickr and my presentations on slideshare. For a guy in his fifties, I really need to get out more.

It seems the internet "knows" where I go. Because when I'm on my home page, reading my RSS feeds, and catching up with what's going on; the ads on the pages I visit seem to be related to weight loss. I'll see countless ads from Weight Watchers. Lately I've seen the manly ads from Nutri System.  (You can tell they're manly because the spokesmen are athletes and they're burly and they yell at you and there's loud music.) I am also inundated with banner ads that sell supplements.

So, today, I see this:

I'm kind of intrigued by the reference to Oprah because she's one who's credible and I want to know what the "one flat stomach rule" is. So, I click on the link. I'm taken to this page. On that page, I see this:

As it turns out, good old Melanie Thomas has created her very own blog to talk about how great she's doing on her diet, which she figured out by combining Acai Berry and Colon Cleanse (hopefully not in the blender; yich!). She has posted this blog and her history to show us what a wonderful job it's done and to encourage all of us to try it. She's a very thoughtful, warm person who only wants to help, I'm sure.  to support her statements, she provides "proof" of the changes she has made as shown in these photos:

Owner of Papa John's Pizza Gives Honest & Sincere Advice

I really don't know why this made news. Maybe it's just because he was being honest. Either way, good for the founder of Papa John's pizza.

Review of Weight Watchers Momentum Plan Books: Week 3

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I decided it would be a good idea to provide a very brief overview of each of the new books in the 2009 Weight Watchers Momentum Plan. In case you're unaware, when you join Weight Watchers, you get a new pamphlet/book each week for the first ten weeks that you're a member. Each of these books is designed to help you with some aspect of losing weight. Week two was designed to help with increasing activity. Week three is set up to help you stay ahead of hunger, which is the title of the booklet.

Book 3: Listening to Your Body's Signals
Stay Ahead of Hunger

 

It's been mentioned by several people that the Momentum plan is not a big change from the Flex and Core Plans used for the last few years. As a matter of fact, it's been called the "Flore" plan by some as it incorporates the best of both programs (IMHO).  However, if there has been a shift, it's more in the direction of getting members to eat healthy as opposed to "lose weight." After all, one can be at her correct weight and still be unhealthy. But, if you're healthy, you will naturally be at your correct weight (whatever that is).  One of the reasons I'm such a proponent of Weight Watchers is because they've never been an organization that's out to con people with quick fixes or false promises; it's always been about the health and changing habits. That said, this program takes it the furthest.

Table of Contents

This pamphlet/book/booklet (I don't know what to call it) has several section in the TOC:

• Introduction
• Understand the power of your body's signals
• Recognize hunger, satisfaction, and fullness
• Respond in a healthy way
• Your next steps

Introduction

In this brief section, WW sets the stage for the booklet, pointing out how important it is to understand your body's signals about hunger and food.

These couple of paragraphs set the stage for the remainder of the book. There's also a very brief blurb promoting how Week 5 and Week 6 will be of value too. I think that's clever as it helps people realize there's more on the way.

Understand the power of your body's signals

This section (which includes a recipe for roasted fennel and carrots for zero points!) starts getting the reader to be aware of the "just right" feeling and provides a tip on the "Smartest Strategy" to accomplish it. They're trying to get readers to understand there is a wide gradient between empty and full. Extremes won't cut it.

Recognize hunger, satisfaction, and fullness 

Now we're getting into the "meat" of the proposal with some specific steps understand where on the  "hunger scale" you fall. In a nutshell (what's with all the food metaphors?) there are three basic stages:

Hungry
Satisfied
Full

Science of Weight Loss on Scientific American

In case you want to know a whole heck of a lot about the science of weight loss, Scientific American has this special report:

http://www.sciam.com/report.cfm?id=weight-loss-science

Review of Weight Watchers Momentum Plan Books: Week 2

Since I've been following Weight Watchers 2009 Momentum Plan for a month now -- and since I'm actually taking the time to (re)read all the books that come with it, I figured it couldn't hurt to "review" each week's materials.  Because I am a firm believer that the program only works if you go to the meetings (after all, if you could lose the weight at home, you would have already lost it, wouldn't you?), and because I don't want to give away any secrets to non-members, I'll just go over it on a light sense. Although the intent isn't necessarily to drive you to a Weight Watchers meeting if you're not already going, I truly do believe in the program and think it will do virtually anybody who tries it a world of good. (If you'd like to read all my postings related to the Momentum in one click, follow this link. If you'd like to read about Weight Watchers new materials, follow this link.)

Book 2:
Activity Basics -- START MOVING MORE

 

One of the changes that took place when Weight Watchers switched to the Momentum Plan is that they modified the Good Health Guidelines to now include "at least 30 minutes of activity a day on most days of the week." Weight Watchers has almost always (at least as far back as the eighties) included a push on activity, right down to the four-way approach they have at the beginning of their materials and on their flip charts we use to teach the members;  but this is the first time they've included it in their Good Health Guidelines. 

What does that mean?