Book Review: A Course in Weight Loss

Feb 06 2011 Published by under Goals, Health and Fitness, Motivation, Success

A Course in Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever, by Marianne Williamson

I was hesitant to write a review of this book, not because it was bad, but because it was written for women. There is no specific mention of the book’s target audience on the back cover, but within the first few pages, its specificity is quite clear.

The book takes a different approach to weight loss. There are no diet plans and exercise routines. It contains 21 spiritual lessons to guide you in your journey. It was actually refreshing to read a weight loss book that focuses on the mental aspects rather than the physical. That’s not to say you can lose weight sitting on your rear end all day long.

The primary focus is twofold: learning to love yourself and your body, and readjusting your relationship with food. Those are noble goals and should be the first thing you do when wanting to lose weight. Changing your mindset is paramount before engaging in any type of diet or exercise program.

Marianne Williamson encourages digging into your past to unlock your bad relationship with your body and food. Through meditation, prayer and journal writing, you can retrain your thoughts and tap into what she calls your “Divine perfection.” This is the notion that, as creations of God, we are already perfect. It is our own thoughts and actions that moves us away from perfection.

I admire Marianne’s candor in talking about her own struggles with weight loss and the personal ordeals she went through in her childhood.

This is a good book to start for women who are having a hard time, mentally dealing with their bodies and struggling to lose weight. It can help them channel their thoughts and energy towards their goal, and then begin the physical process of diet and exercise.

When it comes to changing your life, it always starts with your mind.

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Inherit Obesity?

Aug 14 2010 Published by under Health and Fitness, Motivation

An article by Dr. William Campbell Douglas debunks new studies showing obesity can be inherited. The studies, published in the Journal of Lipid Research, are based on rats being fed a high omega-6 fatty acid diet. The rats’ offspring were fatter than their parents and each subsequent generation were fatter. Rates of diabetes also increased with each generation. They conclude it’s possible for humans to inherit obesity if their parents were obese.

“So What?”

Dr. Douglass’s response is, “So what?”. It’s not your DNA, or what your parents ate. It’s what you eat. It’s your activity level. He places the blame squarely on the typical American diet of processed carbs, sugar, and soy. Soy is filled with omega 6. “…and we eat it day and night. Not only that, but our cows, pigs and chickens are eating it too — and we are what they ate.”

Excuses, Excuses

By claiming obesity can be inherited, or genetically predetermined, it sets up an excuse for many to continue their poor eating habits. It’s the excuse South Park’s Eric Cartman uses. “I’m not fat, I’m big boned.” All the while he’s sitting on the sofa, scarfing down Cheesy Poofs and playing Xbox.

Diet Trumps Genetics

Your genes will determine how tall you are and your build. In my opinion, genes won’t determine how fat you are. That’s entirely determined by what you put in your body. Eliminating almost all carbs and all sugar and eating only the highest quality proteins and fat will ensure a healthy, normal weight for the rest of your life. For more information on this type of diet, see Dr. Robert Atkins’s, “New Diet Revolution” and Mark Sisson’s, “The Primal Blueprint.”

Quoting Dr. Douglass:

What does this mean for you? It’s easy: I don’t care what’s in your DNA — just what’s on your dinner plate. If you eat grass-fed beef and almost no carbs, you will reach a normal, healthy weight — and it won’t matter what mom and dad ate.

Then, if you have kids, forget genetics and pass along your healthy habits the old-fashioned way — by setting a good example and keeping those orange stains off their fingertips.

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For Great Ideas, Do Nothing

May 09 2010 Published by under Goals, Health and Fitness, Leisure, Motivation, Success

Where do the best ideas come from? Or when? Is it when you’re actively engaged in a task? Or in the shower? Do your best ideas come when you’re doing something, or doing nothing? I find my best ideas come when I’m not doing anything.

In this day of always being busy, the thought of doing nothing is anathema to many people, especially at work. The thought is, if you’re not busy, you’re not doing your job properly. You risk losing your job, or you risk a competitor taking over customers and your business. The culture of numerous companies is based on non-stop productivity. There is no room for downtime. Everyone is busy doing something, whether or not that something is contributing to the growth of the company. Downtime is necessary for mental vitality.

We take work home with us. We check email at all hours of the day. We never stop and we wonder why we can’t seem to get anything done. We wonder what we can’t breakthrough with new ideas that will propel ourselves or our company to the next level. There’s one solution: do nothing.

I have my best ideas when my brain I’m walking; when I’m in the shower; when I’m having my daily cigar and scotch; when I’m driving; when I’m laying down or sitting. If I’m laying down or sitting, I’m not watching TV, reading, or listening to something. I am not doing anything. My mind is allowed to wander. It is at this time where new ideas flourish. Solutions to perplexing problems magically appear. Experts agree that if you’re stuck on a problem, one of the best solutions is to walk away from it. Take a walk, do something else, relax, have a cup of coffee. The key is to take your mind away from the problem. Distractions work, but doing nothing is better. In one moment, you’ll have an epiphany and solve the problem. This has happened to me so many times.

Even if I don’t have any problems to solve–and there are always problems–I need to come up with ideas for this blog. I generate most of my ideas during my daily walks. Except for my evening walks, I do not listen to any programs or music. I let my mind go and ideas come rushing in.

If you’re not in the habit of doing nothing, or it seems unnatural to you, give it a try. Take 30 minutes and go for a walk. Sit in your chair for 15 minutes with no TV or computer. Use your morning shower as an idea generator. It’s important to capture these ideas. You will forget them when you return to work. Keep a small notebook and pen handy to write down the best ideas. Some ideas will be so strong, you’ll want to act on the immediately.

Get started! Do nothing!

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My Goals For 2010

Jan 03 2010 Published by under Goals, Motivation, Success

Here are my major goals for 2010:

  • Finish my e-book, Magnetic Abundance.
  • Record an audio MP3 of Magnetic Abundance.
  • Record a smooth jazz album.
  • Lose weight so I can get into a 36″ pair of jeans. I’m already at a 38″.
  • Generate revenue from the site and turn a profit.
  • Write a free report on the Golden Rule: Spend Less Than You Earn.
  • Read one book a month on a wire variety of subjects.
  • Work at home full-time.

I’ve got the written down and planned out as much as possible. I’m visualizing the end results every day and using affirmations every morning and evening.

Have you set your goals yet?

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Exercise, Is it Necessary?

Dec 10 2009 Published by under Goals, Health and Fitness, Success

It’s common knowledge that to be healthy and to lose weight, you have to exercise. You have to do aerobic exercise like walking, running, cycling, etc. to burn fat and build endurance. YOu have to lift weight or do some kind of muscular, anaerobic exercise to build and maintain your muscle mass. But there are some notable medical experts that think exercise, in the traditional sense, is not needed to stay fit and healthy. What you eat is the most important thing.
Dr. William Campbell Douglass is a doctor I follow regularly for his insightful opinions on the current state of medicine. He thinks most mainstream medicine is bollocks. He advocates an Atkins-style high-protein, high fat diet. But he also states that exercise is not a factor in weight loss. What you eat is everything.
Here is Dr. Douglass’s entire piece:

It’s always fun watching the mainstream media hem, haw, backtrack and make excuses whenever it’s forced to admit that exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss.

Take a recent New York Times article, which to my shock actually reported on the latest studies saying that treadmill torture won’t help you lose weight. But surprise, surprise…By the end of that article, they were still busy inventing bizarre new reasons to drown yourself in sweat.

I guess they don’t want to lose revenue from all those gym ads.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine followed 58 obese people who exercised for 12 weeks but didn’t change the eating habits that got them in the study in the first place.

The average fatty lost 7 pounds… but many lost just half that.

Practically speaking, they may as well have lost nothing at all. There’s really no difference between someone who weighs 303 pounds and someone who weights 310 pounds. If they had simply tried sticking to a sensible diet free of sugar and other carbs, they’d have lost some real weight by week 12 – without ever breaking a sweat.

Now that the fat cat’s out of the gym bag, the fitness barons are scrambling to come up with new bogus reasons for you to risk your life and wallet in their overpriced and dangerous dungeons.

My favorite is “an acute exercise-induced increase in positive mood.”

I’ll tell you what puts me in a positive mood: Not exercising. And if you walk by the gym and see all those miserable, grimacing hamsters stumbling on treadmills and rolling off exercise balls, I don’t think “positive mood” is the first phrase that’ll come to mind.

Another of these supposed benefits is “increased aerobic capacity.” In other words, exercise makes you better able to do more exercise.

Still one more – they claim that once you lose the weight WITHOUT hitting the gym, exercise can help keep it off.

Trust me on this one – if you can lose weight through diet alone, you can keep it off through diet alone.

I haven’t been in a gym in years. I didn’t want to spend the high prices to join. I like to exercise by walking and doing a short, intense 10-minute bodyweight routine. In fact, I love to walk. If I don’t have to drive, I’ll walk. I’ll try anything not to drive and walk where I need to go.
Dr. Douglass doesn’t say to be inactive, he just says you don’t have to exercise in the traditional manner, i.e. joining a gym, doing hours of aerobic exercise or lifting heavy weights. He advocates just being active. Move your body. Don’t sit in front of the TV all day long. What you is is the most important thing. I follow his advice and eat a low-carb, high protein diet. I’ve dropped two pant sizes already and I feel fantastic. All I do for “exercise” is walk.
Draw your own conclusions. If you like to exercise, then stick with it, but give Dr. Douglass’s advice some serious thought. I recommend subscribe to Dr. Douglass’s free e-newsletter.

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Pleasure Is Natural

Nov 24 2009 Published by under Leisure, Success

Esther and Jerry Hicks writing in their Abraham books, state that there are only two real emotions: feeling good and feeling bad. The obvious goal is to feel good as much as possible. There will be times when you feel bad, but you should always strive to feel good. In fact, it is natural for humans to gravitate towards feeling good. We are built for pleasure. The whole notion of pleasure being some sort of sin strikes me as being anti-human. What, you want to live a life of pain and suffering? No thanks!

Pleasure is often associated with sex, hence the sin attached. Sex is the ultimate pleasure, but pleasure means much more. Enjoying a fine cigar and scotch; eating a scrumptious meal; playing with your kids; spending quiet time with your spouse; having drinks with friends; exercising; taking a walk; walking your dog; laughing; riding a roller coaster. These are just some of the innumerable things that give us pleasure. Sex is but one of many.

So don’t feel guilty about pleasure. Seek it out. Let it find you. Pleasure is what we live for!

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Weight Loss Is Easy

Nov 22 2009 Published by under Goals, Health and Fitness, Motivation

This post is a shortened version of a chapter in my forthcoming book. It’s about how easy it is for anyone to lose weight and get into great shape. It won’t cost a fortune and you won’t have to spend hours in the gym. Yes, I sound like a late-night infomercial but it’s true because I’ve been doing it for the past four months with great success.

Many people fail consistently at losing weight because deep down, they don’t want it badly enough. They try for a little bit, then come up with excuses to quit; or worse, they come up with excuses before they even try. They are not sufficiently motivated to finish. They may be afraid of actually succeeding. What would their spouse say? Their friends and family? You would think that they would encourage and compliment you as you lose weight and start looking good. But that is not always the case. Spouses may be afraid their man or woman becomes too good looking and would start becoming attractive to other people. Friends and even family members may become jealous of you as you become healthy and fit. They see you accomplishing your goal when they themselves are struggling to accomplish the same thing. If you are to accomplish your weight loss goal, or any other goal, you must ignore any external pressures from your friends and family. You have to be overtly motivated to achieve your goal or else you will fail every time.

Now, on to the actual program. It’s extremely simple. There are three steps:

1) Eat low-carb

2) Eat less

3) Move

That’s it! I follow an Atkins-style high-protein, low-carb diet that has worked wonders for me. I eat small-to-medium sized portions and I exercise every day. My exercise routine is free and simple. I walk 45-60 minutes every day, sometimes more because I enjoy it so much. I do a 10-15 minute body weight exercise based on Charles Atlas’s program.

I don’t have a scale at home so I don’t measure my success by weight. I measure by how my clothes fit. I’ve gone from wearing 40″ jeans that were a little tight, to 38″ jeans that require a belt in just under 4 months. I feel fantastic now. My goal is to comfortably wear a pair of 36″ jeans.

You must have patience when losing weight. Ignore all the ads proclaiming massive weight loss in a short time. That won’t happen. Weight loss is gradual. You’ll start noticing it after the first 2-3 weeks. Your clothes will feel a little loser. You’ll have more energy. You’ll feel better and more alive. This will motivate you more than ever to continue as you will actually see the results of your actions.

So what excuse is preventing you from starting? Get rid of the excuse and get going!

* – Naturally, I have to say this. Check with your doctor before starting any diet and exercise program. What works for me may not work for you.

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