A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now available. In this podcast I review Chris Powell’s book Choose to Lose The Seven Day Carb Cycle Solution.
Also, I talk about my experience in a one on one Yoga class!
Tag Archives: lose weight
Eating With A Mindful Stomach
Most of us do not eat with a mindful stomach. In other words, we do not listen to our stomach when we consider how much food we are going to consume. But if we do not consult our stomach then what do we consult?
Often we eat with our eyes. By that, I mean the aesthetic appeal of food can entice us to eat even when we are not truly hungry.
Emotional eating is another factor. That is we eat to change our mood. Again, this often has very little to do with whether or not you are hungry.
Finally, there is eating out of habit. One of the biggest habits revolving around food is “meal time.” We are not eating because we are hungry, we are eating because its “meal time.” And to complicate things, most of us are trained to finish everything on our plates at these “meal times.”
None of these are eating because we are truly hungry. But the good news is eating with a mindful stomach is as easy as asking yourself, “Am I really hungry right now?” Or to put it another way, really listen to the organ that tells you when you are hungry–your stomach.
If you are hungry, then this is a great time to eat. But continue to consult your stomach. A great way to cut back on the amount of food you eat is a little trick I learned from Paul McKenna in his book, I Can Make You Thin. Here is the trick: Eat very slowly and enjoy your food. After each bite, consult your stomach. If you are still hungry take another bite. If you are not stop eating. Don’t worry not finishing your food because if you are truly hungry in five or ten minutes–eat again!
Do this and see how much you have been eating because of other reasons rather than hunger. And then watch the scale for the results!
7 Signs You Are a Gym D-Bag (podcast)
Are you a total Gym D-bag? Find out the seven sins d-bags commit and why it annoys people on this episode of A Mind For Fitness
Home Gym VS. Traditional Gym (podcast)
In this episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast, I take on the issue of which is better, the home gym or a traditional gym. Also, when is it right to snack and more.
Lemon Water
About two years ago, my wife had a gallbladder attack. It was scary. We though she might be having a heart attack. We were moments from going to the hospital when the pain started to subside.
Of course the night of the attack, we were not sure what was happening to her. The next day, she (though research) figured out that it was a gallbladder attack and not a heart attack. The last thing we wanted to do was get her gallbladder removed. Not only could we not afford that, but we thought it was just a bad idea given our philosophy of health. Instead she decided to handle her problem through nutrition.
There are many things my wife began to do as a result of her attack. One of those was to start her day by drinking 1/2 cup of warm lemon water. I also participated in the daily routine.
At the time I did not know the amazing health benefits I was getting from this practice. I knew a few basics like it turned on my digestive system, and it helps to lose weight. But beyond that I had no idea what warm lemon water was doing to my body. That was until recently.
My wife found an article listing the amazing benefits from starting your day with lemon water. I will not list all of them here; however, I wanted to list a few of the most important.
1. Lemon water reduces joint pain.
This is particularly beneficial for those of us who workout.
2. Lemon water cleanses blood vessels and arteries.
This is vitally important for optimal health.
3. Lemon water helps to stop heart burn.
It is a common mistake to think that heart burn is a result of too much stomach acid. But just the opposite is true. Heart burn is the result of too little stomach acid. Lemon water provides the stomach with the acid necessary to stop heart burn.
If you have not yet added lemon water to your daily regiment, I highly suggest you start. It’s easy to do and takes under a minute to prepare. I simply mix about a table spoon of organic lemon juice with half a cup of water. Then I microwave it for about 30 seconds. After that, drink and enjoy!
Bad Choices That You Think Are Good (Podcast)
A new episode of A Mind For Fitness podcast is now available. In this episode Ian takes about choices that we make that we think are healthy. However, many of the choices that we think are healthy are actually interfering with your weight loss goals. What are those choices and are you making them? Find out by listening to this episode!
Interview With a Client Who Got Results (podcast)!
In this episode, Ean interviews a client who has lost and maintained weight loss for a year!
Sometimes it’s OK to Not Work Out
I recently injured my back. While I am not sure of the extent of the damage, it has caused me to ease up on my workouts. In fact, when I first injured it, I had to take five days off altogether. This really upset me. I am at this point quite a gym rat. I enjoy my time there and was unhappy that I had to give it up for a while.
My recent time off from the gym cased me to think about times when it is OK, and actually beneficial to stop working out. Here are three:
When You Are Injured
I was disappointed when I could not go to the gym. However, it is better to deal with a litter disappointment. Why? Because it actually gave me the time to recover.
The other option that I had( and have seen many people take) is to push through the pain and workout anyway. However, to do that is to risk serious injury. Because I stopped working out as soon as I hurt myself, I was able to limit my vacation to five days. Many who try to push though the pain hurt themselves severely and have to spend weeks, even months, and sometimes years away from the gym.
When You Cannot Recover
Getting injured is not the only time you need to recover. In fact, you need to recover from every workout. Why? Because every workout is doing damage to your body. In fact, the workout it self does not help you get fit. You get fit by recovering from your workout. The best way to recover from a workout is to rest. And the best rest is sleep.
So here is the situation. If you cannot get an adequate amount of sleep, you are better off to skip your workout.
When It Stops Working
Finally, there are times when you simply stop getting results from your workout. You can change thing up a bit. For example, If you do cardio two days a week and weights tree days a week, switch. However, even this stops working after a while.
This is due to the fact that our bodies get use to the same workouts or the same types of workouts. Eventually, you just stop seeing results. The best thing to do in order to get out of this slump is take a week off. Then, when you go back to the gym, you body handles it like a new activity.
Closing Remarks
Like I said. I hate missing my gym time. However, I love getting and staying fit. The reality is in order to stay fit, sometimes you have to miss a workout out or a weeks worth of workouts. Don’t be hard on yourself. In the end, you will be in better shape because you did not workout.
A Weight Loss System That Works (Podcast)
A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now available. In this episode Ean talks about the uniqueness of Advanced Weight Loss Resources, why it works and why it can work for you.
One Habit That Might Be Keeping You Overweight
About six moths ago, I was walking from my office to the front room. On my way, I passed though our kitchen. While in the kitchen, I grabbed a small handful of almonds. I began eating them when it suddenly hit me. I’m not hungry right now; so why am I eating? Upon further reflection I realized that I eat a lot when I’m not hungry. I may chose low-carb, healthy items, but eating when I’m not hungry is just a bad habit.
For many people eating when they are not hungry may be the cause of plateauing. While weight loss is not simply a matter of calories in and calories out, overeating can stall ones progress. This is true even if a person is eating all the right food.
When one is first starting on a low-carb diet, he/she may be able to get away with some overeating. However, after the body has adapted to a low-carbohydrate diet, the extra nutrients from overeating can and often does store in the fat cells.
Often, people do not realize that they are overeating because they do not feel stuffed. I know this was true in my case. I did not feel stuffed by eating low-carb snacks between meals. But the truth is that eating when you are not hungry is a form of over eating.
The remedy for this is to simply give up eating when you are not hungry. No one has to eat out of habit or boredom. In fact eating when you are not hungry may be the one habit keeping you overweight.
Advanced Weight Loss Resources 