Beer is a weight loss killer

Weight loss goals are beset by many dangers, these are called craving monsters(CM), who will do anything to throw your weight loss goals off target. One of the worst CM's for men is the one called "Social Beers".

This craving monster is truly deadly to the average man. Be it out with the guys after work, Staurday afternoon in the garden having a Barbeque or Sunday afternoon watching the Big Game on TV in your lazee boy. We need to retrain this CM and we need to retrain him now.
Now we have the BIG Game coming up soon, Super Bowl Sunday with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. This is usually the BIG BLOWOUT Sunday for armchair football fans. Here is the golden opportunity to challenge your craving monsters.
How do we do this? Well we have to look at alternatives that will satisfy the craving monster but also one that will enable you to achieve your weight loss goals because you are fed up being fat. So lets look at the main problem with the ol' brewski. Lots of sugar and carbs which is what we do not want to consume as this slows down and stops our achieving our goal to lose weight. So lets start to retrain this craving monster with some solid tools that can be used.
Tool #1 - DO I NEED TO DRINK THIS BEER? No I can have a JD and Diet Coke instead which has no carbs and the amount of caloires is less than 50% of a beer. Also when you drink spirits you will drink less because the urge to CHUG a spirit drink is not there but it is also a stronger drink than the usual brewski.
Tool#2 - NO SUGAR NO BREAD - well beer contains sugar and carbs which we do not want so again we swerve the beer in favour of a JD and Diet Coke.
So what do I eat instead?
Take some salami and cut into small slices, like discs, then put them in the microwave on kitchen paper for 1 minute and you have Salami Chips.
Take some cheddar cheese and cut into squares about 2" x 2" and put them in the heated oven for 5 minutes and you have crispy cheese chips to eat.
Gherkins are also good to crunch on while you are watching the game.
So there you go you have some snack ideas.

These two simple tools will help you train and dismiss this craving monster to the dark recesses of your mind once it learns YOU CONTROL WHAT YOU CONSUME and you are not driven by cravings monsters.

Metabolic Rate

Everyone talks about their metabolic rate being slow and thats why they are fat!!!!!!!

We all know some skinny winny who can eat what they want and still stay skinny. And don't we just hate them and we tell everyone we have SLOW metabolic rate hence I am fat.

Stupid really.

Everyone has a metabolic rate and YOU can change the pace of your metabolic rate so it burns fat all the time.

How do we do this?

Lets see as a fat person I don't like to do much but with some simple little tools I can increase my metabolic rate, get healthier and lose weight.

So here is the Metabolic Rate Increaser Tools:

1. Build Muscles

Muscles use energy even when they are resting. So if you develop some muscle groups on your body you will start to lose weight and increase your metabolic rate. Two step process, exercise by doing some light weight lifting for your arms, go for a walk and increase your leg muscles. By doing this you a) Burn fat b)Increase your muscles.

2.Increase you caffeine intake

Strange one I know but caffeine will increase you metabolic rate by 5-10% for two hours after drinking caffeine based drinks like coffee, tea and Diet Coke. Scientists are not sure why this occurs but they have tested and have seen the results.

3.Cool down

By keeping your house cooler your body will burn energy to keep you warm and the result of this is that your metabolic rate increases. I am NOT saying live in an igloo and get frostbit but turn the thermostats down a few degrees and make your body work a little harder to to keep you warm.

4. Short Walks

By going on a short walk, 15-30 mins long you will increase your metabolic rate again. You see your metabolic rate is like a car and when it is parked it doesnt do much more than idle but when you put it in gear and make it go somewhere it burns up energy and your metabolic rate increases.

So there is 4 tools to add to your warchest on losing weight and stop being a fatty like me. I am using these tools every day.

Tommorrow I will discuss how to avoind slowing down your metabolic rate.

Getting up earlier helps you feel better

Getting up 30 mins earlier every day will help you get motivated. I found this out by reading and following a guy called Peter Shankman- website.

Here is his tips for getting up earlier:

Top Six ways to make sure you get up early.

6) DRINK! Keep a giant glass of water by the bed. As soon as the alarm goes off, BEFORE YOU SHUT IT OFF, drink the entire glass of water. Water is the most awesome wake-up tool for your body ever. Drink the water, it opens up brain cells, rejuvenates your eyes, allows you to come out of sleep. Drink water!! (Thanks to Lara Dalch at Dalch Wellness for this tip.)

5) MOVE! Set the alarm clock somewhere you can’t reach it. Get out of bed to shut it off (after you’ve drank your water) and you’re up and mobile.

4) FEED SOMETHING! Get a pet. Seriously. Feed the pet ONE DAMN TIME at 5am, and you’ll never sleep through 5am again for the entire life of the pet. Trust me on this.

3) THERE IS NO TRY. Don’t think, just do. It’s amazing what we can rationalize at 5am. “Oh, I’ll just sleep for an extra hour, then do the treadmill at double the speed for half the time so I can still make it into the office. You know that’s BS, you know you’re not going to, and you know there will be no working out for you today. Don’t think. Just get your ass out of bed. Think later.

2) GET OUT! The Bedroom is for sleeping and sex. Once you’re awake, get your ass out of it. Go to the kitchen for your coffee. Go to the living room or your home office for your computer (see #10 above.) You’ve slept. Now get out of the bedroom.

1) SLEEP! Hands down, the number one way to get up earlier? Get to sleep earlier. I know, I’m blaspheming here. How dare I waste a perfectly good night where I could go out and be a drunken idiot, or go to a boring party? End result, I LIKE going to sleep earlier because I know what it’s going to do for me on the flip-side. I still go out, but I limit it. Remember when you were a kid, and your parents made you go to sleep early on a school-night? There’s a reason for that. Go to sleep earlier. Countless studies have been conducted showing that lack of sleep is hurting us, causing us to lose money, hell, even making us ugly – Chances are, not sleeping enough is the root of a lot of your problems.

And now they why - 

10) Learn! You can browse seven websites in a row (news, news, gossip, financial, gossip, sports, weather) without being interrupted by one email. You’re now smarter for your entire day.

9) This early, it really IS all about you. You get a few minutes of pure “you” time. For me, it’s waking up and making coffee. While I’m doing that, I can pet Karma and NASA, and not in just a “scratch behind the ears once because I’m late” way. I can sit with them as I drink my first cup of coffee and enjoy the calming effect that a pet has on you. I have no doubt this helps to set my mood for the day.

8) We’re not as big as we think we are. I can watch the sunrise. We take certain things for granted. Light, air, clouds, etc. Get up one morning and actually watch the sky turn from dark to light. It’s amazing. It changes your entire perspective from how big we are to how small we are when you realize that we’re nothing in the universe, just starstuff on a much, much bigger plane. That affects how you think, and changes for the better how you look at things.

7) You’re automatically early. Getting up even a half hour early eliminates the “rush” that comes with leaving the house in the morning. Get up earlier, and you’re calmer. You remember everything you need to take. You walk out without being stressed. This leads to a calmer day. Also, studies have shown that being on time is one thing that good leaders master, as well as demand. Want to be on time? Get up earlier.

6) EAT! Getting up early lets you have breakfast, which, as trite as it sounds, really is the most important meal of the day! Before you go to sleep, set out a bowl, a spoon, and a pot. When you wake up, pour some whole-grain oats and water into said pot and turn on the flame. Make your coffee and pet your cats or watch your sunrise. The oats will be done in 10 minutes. Add some fruit or whatever you like – I’m a fan of just a touch of butter and some salt. Eat your oats, and feel the sustained energy kicking into your system. Throw in two hard boiled egg-whites for protein as a side dish. (One if you don’t exercise.) See my other blog for more tips on better ways to eat fast, but healthy.

5) Speaking of exercise… When I was training for my Ironman, there were days I had to do 100 mile bike rides. Most people get up at 6, and are biking by 6:30. The problem is, that means most people are in the park/on the roads at the same time. I got up at 3am, and was in Central Park by 3:30am. I got to ride for three hours, by myself, with no distractions. I owned Central Park for three hours! Getting up early and exercising, whether at the gym or by yourself, puts you in a very small, yet very powerful group of people. Get up, get it done, and get on with your day. Come on – You know you’re not gonna go to the gym after work, and now you don’t have to!

4) Easier commute! I don’t have a commute, but for years growing up, I did. My parents and I would ride together into the city when I went to high school, and we were always on the road by 6:20am. At 6:20am, we’d be in Manhattan in 10 minutes. If we left even 20 minutes later, at 6:40, the trip would take an hour. Get up early, get to the office, and your commute is done before traffic goes to hell. Easiest commute ever.

3) Be a power player. Be a market maker. Want to know who the real power players are in the business world? Try scheduling 7am breakfasts with them. I’ve been at 7am breakfasts with some of the biggest and most powerful CEOs in the world – Why? Because they know that the demanding schedule they have won’t allow for lunches. What did Gordon Gekko say? “Lunch? Aw come on, Marty. Lunch is for wimps!” He was right. Want to meet with the power-players? Egg-white omelet and coffee at 7am at the Plaza.

2) Do something you “never have the time for.” When do you think I write a lot of these blog posts? When do you think I answer a ton of emails? Review new software? Write my book? Yup. While you’re still sleeping.

1) Change the world. The number one reason to get up super-early? 30 minutes can change the world. Getting up early each day can truly make all the difference in your life. Imagine getting up early and just doing a few of the things listed above. Would you be more productive? Make more money? Reach more people? Get more deals done? I bet you would.

Its been a good day today with No Sugar/No Bread

Struggling with weight loss and sugar cravings

So after a few days I am hitting the wall in my fight with my craving monsters. Last night I had 3 pieces of cake, bite sized but I needed them. More like the craving monster won that battle BUT I will win the war.

As I have said before I am not a big sugar junky but I do get the sugar craving monster showing up every so often and last night I didnt have the tool to stop him in his tracks. The tool for fighting and taming the sugar craving monster is

"CHEWING GUM"

Sugar Free chewing gum is a god send for taming the sugar craving monster. I like Mint Gum by Orbit but there are loads of flavours and they are sweet and you can fool your sugar craving monster and your something in your mouth craving monster. It is an immediate explosion of flavour as soon as you put it in your mouth. Eat 1, 2 or 3 pieces at a time to get that fake sugar hit which can confuse your sugar craving monster. As soon as it loses its flavour if you need to spit it out and bang in some fresh chewing gum while you source a healthy filler to take away the hunger you might be having. This is the time to put on a cup of soup, get a piece of quiche out of the fridge or choose some fruit to munch on.

Confusing and faking out your craving monsters is how we beat them and we keep our weight loss and our eating habits on track. Having a pack or two in your pocket as you move around in life is an ideal way of dealing with the sugar craving monster. Once it learns you have a tool nearby that can stop it dead in its tracks you will find the sugar craving monster will retreat from the forefront of your mind and your problems with keeping to the NO SUGAR tool is supported even more.

I have sorted out my lack of chewing gum and I am now better prepared to move forward with my weight loss and eating habits.

So another issue for people trying to lose weight is eating something crunchy, so I have developed a small salad that you can eat with your meats and cheese.
Chinese Salad is my winner for adding something crunchy with my meal. Here is the recipe:

Chinese Salad
Slice up a quarter of a cabbage in to small strips
1.5 tablespoons of mayonaise
1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce

Mix it all in a mixing bowl and pop in the fridge for about an hour.
This salad is two portions of your suggested fruit and vegetable intake per day. The flavour is explosive in your mouth and it is super crunchy which is great when you are eating meats, cheese based meals and quiches. Adds a hell of a lot to a meal.


When you have a what you feel is a failure when trying to lose weight there is another tool you can use:
"Tommorrow is another day" 
This is a key tool you need to keep in your mind. You might go 3 days then fail, so what, start again and you will see you will last 5 days. Slowly but surely you will see that your new eating habits will start to last longer and before you know it you will go months and months without failure. This is the key to weight loss and changing your eating habits.

I failed to maintain after 9 days and I start again today. But my failure was 3 bite sized pieces of cake. Now I am ready to start again and this time I will go longer.

Alcohol is no good for weight loss

Drinking alcohol is a weight loss killer. Its totally empty calories made up of sugar. To truly lose weight alcohol has to be sidelined.

OK so we have put it on the table with dinner and lunch for years, wine/beer, and now it has to be taken off the table and taken off the menu totally. I am fortunate as I don't drink alcohol and have never drank alcohol, why, I simply can't stand the taste.

This is a tough step for a lot of people but this is an essential step in our lifestyle change. The amount of people that struggle with their weight also drink a lot of alcohol. As you can see I am talking about wine/beer because they are the sugar kings of alcohol and the craving monsters LOOOOVVVEE them. Look at all the tv shows that show white trash, trailer park people and in the men there you see a lot of them with big ol' bellies hanging over their belts. Calories from beer/wine go straight to your belly and STAY there and your body has real difficulties shifting that alcohol based fat build up.

I hear people screaming, I love a drink but I am not an excessive drinker! Any intake of wine/beer has got to be minimised at the very least.

Lets look at a popuar beer in the USA - Michelob

Michelob Amber Boch	Anheuser Busch	5.2%	166	15.0g
Michelob Beer	Anheuser Busch	5.0%	155	13.3g
Michelob Golden Draft	Anheuser Busch	4.7%	152	14.1g
Michelob Golden Draft Light	Anheuser Busch	4.1%	110	7.0g
Michelob Honey Lager	Anheuser Busch	4.9%	175	17.9g
Michelob Light	Anheuser Busch	4.3%	113	6.7g
Michelob Ultra	Anheuser Busch	4.1%	95	2.6g

 So this chart shows a 12oz beer - 355ml. Brand-Maker-Alcohol Content- CALORIES - CARBS

This is why BEER has to go from your diet.

Ok what can I drink when I am out socially?

Description

Serving Sizes

kCal

Fat(g)

Calories in Bacardi & Diet Coke	175ml	65	0.0
Calories in Jack Daniels & Diet Coke	175ml	64	0.0
Calories in Southern Comfort & Diet 7Up	175ml	48	0.0

If you need to drink socially you need to look at drinking Spirits as you can see in the chart above spirits will not pile on excessive calories or sugar. All you need to do is mix them with a sugar free mixer like Diet Coke or Diet 7Up.

When you are having a meal forgo the wine and drink water with your meal. I KNOW ITS HARD but of you are fed up being fat these are the steps that re required to alter your lifestyle and defeat the craving monsters which currently control your life and make you eat what you don't need.

Using the tool, DO I NEED TO EAT THIS , you simply adapt this tool slightly and use it as DO I NEED TO DRINK THIS and make yourself stop, consider and proceed in the RIGHT direction turning your back on your craving monsters which in essence are driving you to drink.

Each craving monster has to be cured one at a time, cured is not the right word, the craving monster has to be taught they DO NOT control you - YOU CONTROL THEM!!!

Lets look at todays craving monster, Beer/Wine Monster. He likes you to hang out with your friends or when you watch a ball game on TV suck down a few brewskis just to be sociable. He loves the sugar in beer and it makes him dance like a whirling dervish so when he sees you settle down on the Lazee Boy for a footbal game he is screaming in your brain for a brewski.

So we have to first of all tell him to shut up by drinking so me cold sugar free sodas, followed by a JD and Diet Coke. He will be pleased with the JD but little else. But this is the training programme he is now in, he demands but YOU CONTROL him. If you like the taste of beer imagine he LOVES the taste of the sugar in the beer.

So now we use the tools to defeat this particular cravings monster.

DO I NEED TO DRINK THIS? NO SUGAR-NO BREAD.

He will learn, it will take time but this craving monster can be trained and sent back to the dark recesses of your mind for good.

Did well yesterday, no bread, no sugar and walked 1km.

Using the tools just like you are learning.

Have a great day.

Weekends Suck for Weight Loss

Weekends are the worst time for weight loss. FACT!

On the weekend you lose your routine which is one of the key things for us when we are trying to lose weight.

For example this weekend started off in a bad way as my youngest daughter had he 3rd birthday party on friday evening.

Thats not the bad thing, the food on offer was. It was all nibbles and bit sized pieces of cake. The temptations put in fron of me were horrendous.

So used the Weight Loss Tool - DO I NEED TO EAT THIS? This tool saves me from 99% of the food intake I DONT NEED.

Every time you go to put something in your mouth ask yourself that question and you will be surprised at how many times, if you are honest with yourself, you realise you do not need to eat what is in your hand or what you are about to pick up. If you need to eat something or more importantly you feel the need to eat something to give your mouth something to do and to satisfy the craving monsters that lurk in your mind give them:

- chewing gum (sugar free)

- piece of fruit

- some vegetables

- cup of soup

The first three are instant fixes but the cup of soup takes a few minutes, if you make the craving monsters wait a few minutes, and you tell them to wait they will get bored and slowly meander off to another part of your mind to vegetate. In the first few times it will be slow but eventually your craving monsters will learn you are in charge of the eating process not them. This is an important step on the way to changing your lifestyle and your eating lifestyle. YOU ARE IN CHARGE and once your craving monsters understand this they will realise they have less and less influence on you and they will be killed off.

So back to the weekend.

My weekends seem to have little or no structure. This is the first step to the slippery slope of eating food you don't need to eat. So now I realise more and more I need to create a structure to the weekend. So first things first, get up at a reasonable hour and eat a sensible breakfast, eggs and bacon, or and omellette or something of that ilk. Remember NO BREAD NO SUGAR, so you can have some cereal with fruit. 
The next step is the most important. GO OUT!!! Thats right get out of the house the apartment whatever, just go for a walk, visit the shops, whatever you want but GET OUT of the house and do something. Two things are being stopped by this effort, one: you are away from the food you have in your house and two: exercise whatever it is burns calories. 

Now lets look at food.
I follow the FEDUPBEINGFAT menus, no sugar no bread so my diet is almost carb free. What does this mean to me? Well I don't count calories so one of my favourite dishes to eat is Quiche.
Quiche is not for real men only it is for everyone. Especially when you are on a diet.
Here is my recipe:

Quiche Recipe
1 Mixing Bowl
4 eggs
200 grams fo grated cheese
200 grams of chopped salami
2 medium onions
200 ml of milk (any kind)
1 non stick baking dish 9 inches

Simply mix all the ingredients into the mixing bowl until you have a sloppy mixture cosnsistency then pour into the baking dish and put into a preheated oven at 300 degrees. Let it cook for about 20 minutes until the top of the quiche is browning. You are not an idiot so you can tell when it looks ready. To test stick a knife in and remove, if its clear you know its cooked. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.


Thats your NO CARB Quiche. NO pastry involved in the making of this quiche. All the ingrdients are proteing rich and almost carb free. So cut the quiche into squares and store in the fridge and when you need something to eat you can hit the craving mosnters with something savoury and low in carbs.


When you are sitting there over the weekend make sure you have nibbles like quiche, some peanuts or similar plus cheese slices and meat slices to eat. We need to make our weekends structured with meal times similar to what we follow Monday to Friday. I know late nights on the weekends are fun and watching tha movie till 1am is part of the weekend but remember you don't need to eat to enjoy a movie and if you need something follow the tools that will help you, DO I NEED TO EAT THIS?


Today is going ok for me and I know I will get through today with out eating any bread or sugar.

Gastric Band Operation - HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Gastric Band Operation.

Lets talk about one of the popular quick weight loss products that everyone is talking about.

What is a Gastric Band Operation?

A laparoscopic adjustable gastric band, commonly referred to as a lap band, is an inflatable silicone device that is placed around the top portion of the stomach, via laparoscopic surgery, in order to treat obesity. Adjustable gastric band surgery is an example of bariatric surgery designed for obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater—or between 35–40 in cases of patients with certain comorbidities that are known to improve with weight loss, such as sleep apnea, diabetes, osteoarthritis, GERD, Hypertension (high blood pressure), or metabolic syndrome, among others.

This is NOT what you need. Believe me. Once you have this operation you can only eat small portions of food and the side effects are awful. For the rest of your life you have to take pills because your body will not get sufficient nutrients to sustain itself because of what you are eating and the amounts you will be eating.

Potential complications

A commonly reported occurrence for banded patients is regurgitation of non-acidic swallowed food from the upper pouch, commonly known as Productive Burping (PBing). Productive Burping is not to be considered normal. The patient should consider eating less, eating more slowly and chewing their food more thoroughly. Occasionally, the narrow passage into the larger, lower part of the stomach might also become blocked by a large portion of unchewed or unsuitable food
Other complications include:

• Ulceration
• Gastritis (irritated stomach tissue)
• Erosion -The band may slowly migrate through the stomach wall. This will result in the band moving from the outside of the stomach to the inside. This may occur silently but can cause severe problems. Urgent treatment may be required if there is any internal leak of gastric contents or bleeding.
• Slippage - An unusual occurrence in which the lower part of the stomach may prolapse through the band causing an enlarged upper pouch. In severe instances this can cause an obstruction and require an urgent operation to fix.
• Malposition of the band - This can cause a kink in the stomach, or (rarely) the band may not encircle the stomach at all, giving no restriction to the passage of food.
• Band was not placed on the stomach - (very rare - especially with an experienced bariatric surgeon.) However, in two asymptomatic patients, the band had not enclosed the stomach but only perigastric fat
• Problems with the port and/or the tube connecting port and band - The port can "flip over" so that the membrane can no longer be accessed with a needle from the outside (this often goes hand in hand with a tube kink, and may require repositioning as a minor surgical procedure under local anaesthesia); the port may get disconnected from the tube or the tube may be perforated in the course of a port access attempt (both would result in loss of fill fluid and restriction, and likewise require a minor operation).
• Internal bleeding
• Infection

Here is how you can best the gastric band operation.

You can take in liquids that are high in sugar content and still NOT lose weight. Plenty of peole have had the operation and have lost weight. Great. The problem is the side effects outweigh the benefits ten fold.

Problems with the Gastric Band?

Band- and port-specific

• Band slippage/pouch dilation
• Esophageal dilatation/dysmotility
• Erosion of the band into the gastric lumen
• Mechanical malfunctions - port leakage, cracking of the kink-resistant tubing or disruption of the tubing connection from the port to the band
• Port site pain
• Port displacement
• Infection of the fluid within the band
• Bulging of the port through the skin

You are talking about clamping your stomach off from your mouth. BUT you still have to intake certain amounts of calories and your eating habits are not changed they are destroyed!!!!!

You can no longer eat like a normal person. EVER!!!!! You have to eat miniscule portions of food so you don’t throw up.

Plenty of people have had the Gastric Band fitted lose weight have the Gastric band loosened and put all the weight back on.

I personally know of one webmaster in the UK who lost 140lbs using the Gastric Band. Once he had it loosened he put all the weight back on again.

There is NO quick fix to losing weight. NO QUICK FIX!!!!!!!!!! NO MAGIC POTIONS OR PILLS!!!

Follow on with me and let’s change our eating habits. Lets change our lifestyle. Let’s eat more healthy. Let’s cut sugar from our diets. Let’s not eat bread.

Here is another tool to add to your tool box on losing weight.

Do I need to eat this?

That’s the tool right there. Every time you go to put something in your mouth ask your self that question. EVERY TIME!!!!!

You need to ask yourself that question every time you think of eating something. For breakfast today I had a bowl of cereal, Special K to be precise and for a mid morning snack I had 100g of salted peanuts. NO bread NO sugar. This is my mantra even though I saw a special offer at Mcdonalds that was almost too good too miss. But I swerved it and took the high road by asking myself the question, at 1030am do I need to eat a cheeseburger? Hell NO!!!!! But I said to myself we will get some peanuts to munch on in the office.