Tag Archives: Weight

I Was Working Out. So Why Was I Still Fat?

Found this picture of myself at a Martial Arts camp. I was 18 at the time. While, in the picture, I do not think I look extremely fat, I still was not fit. But why? After all, I was working out all the time practicing Martial Arts. So what was the problem?

Wrong Diet

First off, I seriously underestimated the importance of a right diet. is to maintaining. It has been said by people much more wise than I, that 70 percent of weight loss is achieved in the kitchen and 20 percent in the gym.

Working out is often not enough. There is a small segment of our society that can workout and eat anything they want. They are called athletes. But these people often workout for more than eight hours a day.

Also, people who are naturally thin or naturally in shape can maintain a lower percent of body fat by simply working out. However, this only works while they are young. The older these people get, the more they have to watch what they eat.

Not Always a Workout

While Martial Arts can be an awesome workout, often it is not a workout at all. There is a lot of learning involved. A student sits and listens to the teacher. Then there is also practice where you are moving slowly and really not exercising at all.

Too Much Cardio

When you are working out, it is mostly cardio. While there is the occasional push-ups and/or sit ups these kinds of exercises are mostly done as a warm up. The rest of what can be considered a workout is cardio. Cardio is good, but it is not the best way to lose and maintain fat loss.

Repetitive Workout 

Another problem was that I was use to the workouts. I have been practicing Martial Arts in some form or another since I was 7 years old, and my body has adjusted long ago to this kind of exercise.

This is a common problem with any workout. If you do the same exercise enough, your body will adjust, and you will stop seeing results. The best way to fix this is to mix it up. Change your workout.

Today

I still love the Martial Arts. I practice regularly. But it is only one component in my healthy lifestyle. I also eat right and have a verity of workouts helping me keep those unwanted pounds away.

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My Bulletproof Experience–So Far

My Bulletproof start-up kit arrived last Friday night. Sadly, it was too late to make it. Our evening coffee was already brewing (yes, we drink coffee in the evening), and we were not up for throwing it out and making the Bulletproof brand. Our experience would have to wait until the next day.

On Saturday, my wife and I finally had our first cup of Bulletproof coffee with butter and upgraded M. C. T. oil. It tasted really good and I was impressed with the quality.

Then we were off to the store. About an hour into our shopping I noticed that my tongue felt a little numb, then it hit me. It felt like my mind turned on. Things somehow just seemed sharper. I felt more aware of my surroundings. It was not like being high or anything like that. It was like the opposite of being high. It felt like waking up.

On Sunday (yesterday), we had our Bulletproof coffee experience again. I had pretty much the same results, but I was not able to pay attention to it because I was in meetings for most of the morning, however, the meetings went well and I was able to focus.

One of the side benefits to drinking this coffee is a suppressed appetite. Both my wife and I noticed that we were experiencing a high state of ketoses and as a result we were just not that hungry. Both of us have only eaten about 2/3 of what we normally eat.

Latter that evening we decided to brew a pot of Bulletproof coffee and drink it with butter, but no Brain Octain oil. That was a mistake. The coffee is just too good. I was gittery and had a difficult time going to sleep. So I will not be having Bulletproof coffee in the evening.

Today is the third day of our Bulletproof experience and we are pleased. In fact, I am so satisfied that I have ordered two more bags. This will be our regular morning coffee from now on.

So what I want to know is: What is your Bulletproof experience. Let us know in the comment section below.

 

Audio Review of Keto Clarity, by Jimmy Moore

In this episode of A Mind For Fitness, I review Jimmy Moore’s book, Keto Clarity. Hope you enjoy.

Losing Wight In the Strangest Places

At the beginning of February, I decided to workout for at least 1/2 hour a day six days a week. I was (and still am) simply tired to working on this last 10 pounds of stubborn belly fat. A week or so ago, I blogged about the 21 Day Fix by Beach Body I got in the mail. That was part of my February goal to workout every day! I mentioned in that blog that I would keep you all updated. So have I lost any weight?

The answer is yes. However, while I am losing a little weight in the belly, I have also lost weight in a very strange place. “Where?” you may ask. In my feet! This is the first time I have lost fat off of my feet.

Interesting Story 

I had to buy new shoes for work. And I where a size 12. I have always worn a size 12 since I was an adult. In fact, I have never worn anything other than a size 12 in my entire adult life. So logically, I tried on a size 12. It was lose around my heal and over the top of my foot. I tried tightening the laces but that was no help. “Must be a faulty pair of shoes,” I thought to myself while picking out another pair of size 12. But the same thing happened with this pair. Then another pair.

Finally, it occurred to me that I must no longer be a size 12. I tried on a size 11, and they fit perfectly. Then I tried on another pair of 11s  just to make sure it was not a fluke. They also fit perfectly. The only conclusion I could possibly come to was that I must have lost weight in my feet.

I struggled with believing I had lost weight in my feet because I have never had that happen to me before.  Also, it is not anything I hear people talking about. When someone loses weight, they often talk about their paints, shirt, and belt. But I have never heard anyone say, “Dude, I’m down a shoe size! High five!”

I guess, however, it is logical. I have seen some fat feet in my day. I must have shed some feet fat!

Closing

Shedding any excess fat is good. While I would like to see more come off of my belly, I am happy to have it off of my feet. If anyone else out there can identify or have a similar story, please share it in the comments.

Weaning Off Sugar

So maybe your meals look like this:

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But you want them to look like this:

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Because you’er tired of looking like this:

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And want to look like this:

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Your first option is to go cold turkey and stop eating sugar and foods that turn into sugar in your body altogether. However, this may not be the right way to get off of sugar for everyone. Why? Well, There are some people we call sugar burners. These are people whose bodies prefer to burn glucose. These people have a difficult time using anything else as fuel.

Sugar burners have an extremely difficult time refraining from carbs cold turkey. Their bodies simply do not switch over to burning fat, and as a result, they have dizzy spells and have extreme cravings for high-carb foods. Also, they are always hungry and just do not feel satisfied eating low-carbohydrate food. These symptoms are called sugar withdraws.

I know about this because I was a sugar burner. I chose to tough though my withdrawals. But if you do not want to suffer though withdraws as I did, there is another method. Namely, you can decrease the amount of sugar you consume incrementally. Here is how in two easy steps.

Step One

Find out how many carbs you are eating in a day. You need to know this because you need to have a realistic measurement of what you are consuming.

Step Two 

Once you know how many carbs you are eating, decrease your carbs by 10 grams a day for three days. Then say for there for two days. Continue this process until you are between 25 to 35 grams of carbs a day.

Keep in Mind 

If you have chosen this method, you must not let yourself get too hungry. Decreasing carbs this fast will extremely reduce the size of your meals.  Make sure you are adding fats and protean to your diet. Let your hunger guide you. Do not stuff yourself but eat until you are satisfied.

Finally

If you have decided to wean yourself off of carbs this way, please let us know how it is going. We would love to hear from you!

Challenging Myself for 21 Days

Just wanted to write this quick blog which is more on a personal note. I just received the 21 Day Challenge by Beach Body. I am going to be starting it on Thursday. I got because I have been working out only two or three days a week. So I needed some inspiration. We will see what happens in 21 days. I’ll keep you updated.

Will I Get Fat Again?

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I ran across this old picture of myself. Upon looking at it, a fearful thought came to my mind–will I get fat again?

My whole life I have yo-yo dieted. I have had times that could be considered a successes in weight loss. That is to say, I would lose weight and sometimes a lot of weight. However, those successes were always short lived. I would eventually and inevitably regaining the weight I had lost plus a few more pounds.

What brings this up now is that this photo was taken at a time when I was loosing weight. But, like I said, the weight I lost was not permanent. This thought caused me to think about my current weight loss status. Or to put it another way, what makes me think I have lost the weight for good this time?

This is not the first time I have had this thought. During the first year of my serious weight-loss journey, I was constantly wondering how long I was really going work out and stay on the diet. But then the first year passed, and I continued to do well.

The second year was also stressful.But I was always asking myself: Was this going to be the year I gave it all up and went back to being overweight? But the second year passed and I did not go back to being overweight.

This third year has been less fearful. I have only worried about relapsing occasionally. And my thought is:  A little fear is a good thing. It reminds me that I need to keep looking a head and that I can gain weight again if I do not keep myself in check. Seeing this picture did scare me. But that fear made me remember all the reasons I lost weight in the first place. Fear can be a good thing.

This is me looking a head

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Awesome Snack

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Just wanted to make this simple post. It was a healthy snack I made that was simple. It was four thick slices of zucchini fried in butter with with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. I cooked it on medium-high heat for about 4-6 minutes on each side. Finally, I melted some cheese on top.

Goal Setting For Weight Loss.

One of the things that I have found enormously helpful for myself and my clients is setting goals. In fact setting goals is a requirement for those who secure Advanced Weight-loss Resources as a training or coaching agency. What follows are a few simple steps that will help you set goals and in turn help you lose weight.

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Step one is be specific. Too often I hear people say something like, “I need to lose a few pounds.” But what is a few pounds? Is it ten or one hundred? The reason you need to be specific is so you have an objective criterion in which to measure your success. Without an objective standard, it is easier let up on your weight-loss program sooner than you should. So, if you would like to lose fifty pounds write down fifty pounds.

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Step two is give yourself a dead line. Deadlines create motivation. If you know you have to lose twenty pounds by the end of the month, then you know you have to get working on your goals right away.

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Finally, put your goals in a place where you can see them every day preferably put them in a place where you can see them every morning.  This will set a positive mental attitude at the beginning of each day.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can read your goals out loud at least once a day. This also gives you psychological inspiration for keeping you on track.

Keep Moving Forward

If you do not hit your desired goals, do not panic. I would almost guarantee that if you followed the steps above you will be much closer to your goals than if you hadn’t. Don’t be afraid to adjust and re-adjust as necessary. The important part is to keep moving toward you weight-loss goals!  

A Personal Request

If you enjoy the information that is on this blog, please consider re-posting it or sharing it on your favorite social media. It would mean a lot to me. Thanks.

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Secret Carbs (Making Low-Carb Diets Work).

Have you plateaued on your low-carb diet. If so why? The answer could be that you are getting more carbs in your diet than you are aware of.

How does this happen? It happens by neglect. People neglect to check labels or look up foods online to find out how many carbs they are eating. As a result, they plateau quickly, get discouraged, and resume unhealthy eating.

What’s in Your Salad?

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Eating uncounted carbs happens all the time in salads. And I’m not just taking about the croutons. Most people who are on a low carbohydrate diet are savvy to avoiding them. However, even in a salad without croutons, there are still many uncounted carbs.

My eyes were opened to this when on one occasion, I had a salad with some craisins in it. At the time, I did not think anything of it. However, later on in the evening I decided to check the carbohydrate count just to see. I was surprised. I always expect the carb count to be higher on fruit, but I was not expecting this. There are about 22 carbs in 1/4 of a cup! After, this I started counting carbohydrates in many of my questionable favorites.

Another Common Oversight

Here is another common oversight that I have committed myself and have also seen regularly in other people’s choices. This oversight is sauces. For example, many cheese sauces have flour in them. Often lowcarbers will not think of this because cheese is often OK on many low carbohydrate diets. And when we make this sauce at home we usually use cheese and heavy cream. But the pre-packaged kind will mostly use flour. This should make any good low-carber reconsider ordering  the broccoli, cheese soup.

Low-carb cheese and broccoli soup.
Low-carb cheese and broccoli soup.

A popular sauce that often has more carbs that expected is tomato sauce. Almost all the canned tomato sauces have sugar added. Check the label before you make that spaghetti squash with spaghetti sauce.

It’s Just the Broth

Another culprit is broth. I have seen many people order chicken noodle soup and ask the server for just the broth. However, much of the starch of the noodles can leach out into the broth. This creates a much higher carb count than expected.

The Fix 

There is an easy way to fix this and it is to simply check the labels. If it’s a kind of food without a label, look it up on line. If you are out at a restaurant, ask questions. Doing these simple things will help keep you on the weight-loss path.