Regulating our food is not the answer

I know that I probably told a lot of people that I would never just give my opinions without some backup research about any topic I write about, so let me first start by saying that I have, for the last 11 years, worked with and listen to many people when they have talked about their health and I have now come to a point where nothing is being said any different than 11 years ago.
I have heard, “I have tried every diet in the book and at first I lose a lot of weight only to gain it back after a while.”
I have heard, “I am just big boned.”
I have heard, “I have tried that exercise thing and it just did not work for me. I just don’t have the time now.”
I have heard, “I know that if I get that ^&*$ surgery, it will do the trick and I will finally get this weight off and get healthier.”
I have heard, “I know that if I stop eating so much I will lose the weight I need to. It is my portions.”
I could go on but what would be the point. I know that everyone has used these excuses and probably think that they have made up a few new ones. But let me just put this out there… It doesn’t matter how much you try and regulate you’re eating habits, you cannot get healthy.
Here is the problem, food is a fuel. Nothing more than that, it is just a fuel. It helps sustain life and gives us the energy to get thru each day. Without it we will die. It is not the foods fault that we are the way we are today. It is our sedentary lifestyles that have gotten us here. The average person sits behind a computer screen each day for at least 4 hours. Oh, you don’t believe me? OK, the next time you go to work watch how long you sit at your desk doing paper work and using your computer. We try and think that if we just stop eating, we won’t have the issues we have today.
There is a lady at the gym that thinks that if she eats she will gain too much weight. This lady is really thin, almost to the point of anorexia. She thinks all food is bad for her. However she comes to me that other day with a concern, she has noticed that her energy levels have dropped and she gets tired very quickly. “HELLO!” I said to her. Then I asked her a question, “When was the last time you had a substantial meal?” She tells me that she had lunch and told me what she had, then I finished my question with, “and without throwing it up afterwards?” then she looked at me and shook her head and walked away.
By not eating, we are slowing our metabolism down and causing our body to store a lot of the food we eat daily. Regulating our fuel intake is not the solution to the problem. It is USING the fuel we eat regularly that is the ultimate solution.

To cleans or not to cleans, that is the question

I was speaking to a member today and she tells me that this is the beginning of the year and she wants to do a cleans. She asked me what I would use. I told her that I would probably not use anything and my reasoning is simple… I will not do anything nor will I put anything in my body that I would not consume for life. Let me explain.
The problem that we all encounter is that we look for the quick fix. In most cases, most of the products out there work, but in the long run do they really? I don’t think so. I believe that they help us lose weight initially but is it really about weight loose or is it about getting in better fitness shape?
Ask yourself a question… If you lost a lot of inches but never lost a single pound, would you really care how much you weighed? The person who is being truthful and realistic would say that they would not care if they ever lost a pound if they knew that they lost those unwanted inches. We are so consumed with our weight that we lose sight of what really is important, our inches.
I told her that in the end, she needs to change her overall diet and stay consistent with her consumption and exercise. I told her not to fall into the trap of buying a product that in the end will get her a quick fix because it may work at first, but in the end when she goes back to her original diet, she will only get heavier.
If you don’t believe me, look at our society today. Enough said.

Beginning of the year!!!!

Ok so here we are at the beginning of a new year and you probably got up and said, “This year I am going to get myself in better overall shape!” Well my question to you is, “What are you going to do different this year that you did not do last year? What will make this year different?”
This is a great time of the year for most health clubs because membership goes up and with most 12 month contracts you can’t get out of them so by the end of January most clubs can get an idea of what their revenue could look like. However, I’ll ask you again, “what are you going to do differently this year?”
The average person really hits it hard in January only to pretty much stop by March. If this exercise thing was working, then why is it that most Americans gain 1 pound a year? Why is it that diabetes and high blood pressure are at all-time highs? Will this be the year when that trend reverses? I certainly hope so.
Here is a bit of advice I would like to share with you all. If you haven’t exercised in a while, start slow and build up over time. For that first day, take only about 15 minutes out of your day and exercise. Eventually get that up to 45 minutes. But remember one thing… It took you a long time to get to where you are today, you are not going to lose it overnight.
Enjoy the new year.