The Best Ways To Lose Fat

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Hi all:

We hear and read a lot about carbs. How we should avoid them if we want to lose weight. How they mess up the metabolism and throw off our efforts at dieting. But are carbs really that bad? Well, as usual with these types of questions, the answer is yes…and no.

First, a little background…Carbohydrates make up most of the organic matter on Earth because of their extensive roles in all forms of life. First, carbohydrates serve as energy stores, fuels, and metabolic intermediates. Second, ribose and deoxyribose sugars form part of the structural framework of RNA and DNA. Third, polysaccharides are structural elements in the cell walls of bacteria and plants. In fact, cellulose, the main constituent of plant cell walls, is one of the most abundant organic compounds in the biosphere. Fourth, carbohydrates are linked to many proteins and lipids, where they play key roles in mediating interactions among cells and interactions between cells and other elements in the cellular environment.

There are really two broad types of carbs:

Simple carbs are a type of carbohydrate which converts very quickly to blood sugar, often causing a quick rise in bG. Sugar, fruit juices, fruit, and milk are examples of simple carbs.

Complex carbs are a type of carbohydrate that is moderately converted into blood sugar; complex carbs include pasta, bread, and other starches. Vegetables also contain complex carbs, though in small amounts (except for things like corn and peas).

Now, as you can see from the above, we all need a certain amount of carbs, for maintaining cellular health and general body well-being. But the trick is to totally avoid simple carbs and only consume complex carbs…and not a lot of them!

Personally, I only consume carbs early in the day. For instance, I find that 12 grain or flax seed bread, toasted with peanut butter is a great breakfast. It’s low in calories and has protein, complex carbs and something we all need but may not get enough of on a low caloric meal plan – roughage!

I recommend not consuming carbs of any kind later in the evening. Unless you are planning to exercise late at night, the carbs will just sit in your system, convert to sugar and then may be stored, ie: turned to fat. Not good.

So in conclusion, carbs are not bad or evil. In moderation and with sensible planning, they can be a great part of your weight loss journey. Just be smart about how, when and what you are eating!

Take care!
Dave.

Hi all:

I wanted to talk about something different today. Instead of talking about the process and how you will get to where you want to be, I want to talk about what happens when you get there…and notice I said when, not if. Positive thoughts and belief are truly the key to losing weight and staying fit.

So, let’s say that like me you’ve reached your target weight, whatever it might be. For myself, it was around 180-185. I’m at 182 today which isn’t bad when you consider I weighed 230 pounds in October. Now comes the interesting part…the changes that have taken place.

For me, there are several changes that I had not expected. First was the fact that none of my clothes fit. At all. You see, when I was overweight, because I carried my fat fairly evenly on my body, I bought extra large shirts, sweaters, etc, to fool others (and myself) into thinking I wasn’t as heavy as I really was. It actually worked pretty well! I had more than a few people ask me why I was trying to lose weight, since I wasn’t overweight to begin with. Who knew I’d be that successful in tricking others! But I couldn’t trick myself. At least not forever.

The problem for me now is that I’m not a real shopping lover. Plus, I don’t even know what fits anymore, what size I am or how tight my clothes should be! A coworker wants me to wear skin-tight clothes, but I think she has issues! Anyway, that’s the first change that I had to contend with when I got to where I am now. By the way, I’m not actually complaining! It’s a cool problem to have, don’t you think? Just wait till you have to deal with it, especially if you do really like to shop!

The next change that I had to deal with, that I hadn’t anticipated was the temperature. Yeah I know, it sounds weird. But for a long time, especially when I was working, I always found the average room temperature too hot. Any exertion on my part, and I mean any, and the sweat would be running down my face. Not the nicest thing to see, particularly when you are a barber and cutting people’s hair! Now, I often find the temperature too cold! I never realized just how much your body fat insulated your core and made you sweat! What a surprise! Now instead of turning the AC higher to cool down the room, and listening to my co-workers complain that it was too cold, I’m turning it down and they are saying it’s too hot! Sheesh, you can’t win!

Finally, and there are a lot of other changes I’ll talk about later but here’s just one more that I’m dealing with at the moment, sounds a bit fussy but it’s bugging me a bit. You see, I’m not one to wear jewelry. It gets in the way, it snags on stuff, etc. But for years I’ve been wearing my late Father’s wedding band in memory of him as well as a small silver ring that has some sentimental value. At one time, my Dad’s ring was so tight on me by the end of the day (apparently your hands swell as the day goes on, at least mine did) I had to soap my finger just to get it off. Well, guess what? Now I have to watch that it doesn’t shoot off across the room when I’m working! And I can’t wear my silver ring at all. It just won’t stay on. I know, a small problem, but it’s another of the changes I’m learning to deal with. And you will have to as well.

So now you’ve seen a few of the changes that are in store for you when you get to where you are going. Some cool, some irritating. But guess what? I wouldn’t dream of gaining the weight back and NOT having to deal with the changes! And that’s a fact.

Take care all and stay the course!

Dave.

Hi all:

Well, Easter and Passover are behind us. Did you indulge? Too much turkey, ham, potatoes, dessert, etc, etc? Do you feel guilty about it? DON’T!

Seriously, do NOT feel guilty about cheating on your diet/fitness journey. Ever. Want to know what I ate on Easter Sunday? Ham, gravy, potatoes, a bazillion kinds of veggies, several desserts, some wine, and other stuff. And I didn’t track my calories. Or lose sleep over it. Want to know why? I’ll tell you.

If you have been fairly strict with your food intake, as I am, and not cheating often, which I rarely do, then you are confusing your body. Remember, this primitive engine that is the human metabolism is living in the past. As far as it is concerned, we are all still hunter/gatherers, wandering the plains looking for our next meal. When we lower our caloric intake, the body thinks that food is scarce. It doesn’t realize that we can wander over to the closest supermarket and stock up whenever we need to. It’s stupid, really, but evolution has made it what it is and it’s not going to change.

So when we diet, the body lowers its metabolic rate to compensate, thinking that we are starving. Then we add exercise, which forces the body to burn calories almost against its will. If we do this lower calorie/more exercise regime right, by eating high quality protein and veggies, but at a caloric deficit, we lose fat and gain muscle. But the body still thinks its starving. So how do we help boost our metabolism and trick the body into getting out of starvation mode? We cheat.

Now, when I say cheat, I don’t mean every second day! Some systems advocate a weekly cheat day. Well, good on them, but I can’t subscribe to that. What I do believe is a couple of times a month, we are not only allowed to cheat, we must cheat, for our fitness journey to continue to succeed. So, did you overindulge during the holiday? Good! Pat yourself on the back, enjoy the memory and get back onto your journey. That’s the healthy way to live this life. And no guilt allowed!

Take care,
Dave.

Hi all:

There are many factors that come into play when you want to begin to talk about aerobics and healthy eating. No matter what, you should know that you can concentrate a lot of your enthusiasm for getting more healthy onto both aerobics and what you are eating, because these two things play into each other very well. Healthy eating is important for any kind of exercising lifestyle.

When it comes to aerobics and healthy eating, you should know that as you start to become more active, it is going to be very important that you have a good meal and a good diet to fall back on. As you start to want to be healthier, your diet is really the first thing that you should change about yourself. See your doctor for suggestions of what you should be eating, and implement these changes as soon as you can, because you are going to find that changing what you are eating is the best way to begin to be healthy and to lead a healthy lifestyle.

After you have started by changing what you are doing and how you are eating, you have to get into the routine of exercising in general. This is often something that is hard for people to do, because it takes a lot out of them and brings them into a situation where they really need to get down to business. By doing aerobics/cardio and other types of activity, you are going to be burning more fat and so your body is going to be needing more protein. This means that diets aren’t going to help you, because if you don’t have the proper protein that your body needs, you might find that you are too weak to work out as you should.

Therefore, the first thing that you have to focus on is eating a good diet – and then you have to realize that this diet shouldn’t be one that cuts back on your eating habits completely, because many times these aren’t going to have the proper nutrients for what you need as you are doing aerobics. Be sure that you are giving yourself plenty of chances to get the best foods that you can when it comes to eating well, and be sure to talk to your doctor if you have concerns about what you should and should not be eating. These are all very important things that you can do to make sure you are on the right track when it comes to fitness as a whole. I’ll be making up a list of recommending foods for weight loss in the near future, so be sure to check back!

Take care,
Dave.

Hi all:

Well, exactly 6 months ago today, I began my weight loss and fitness journey. Of course, it’s an ongoing trip for all of us really, but I’m quite satisfied with my results so far.

In brief, I started off on October 9, 2008 and weighed in at about 230 pounds. Which scared the crap out of me, to be honest. Not to mention the fact that when I looked at myself in a mirror (which I tried to avoid as much as possible!) I was not a happy camper. And I decided to take action.

As an aside here, deciding to take action to fix a problem, no matter what that problem might be, is I think the largest hurdle you can face. Everything you do after that flows from that initial decision.

So, here I am now, 6 months later. I now weight 185 pounds. That’s 45 pounds of weight loss (mostly fat) for anyone who’s counting. I know I am! I’m still 6′1″ tall so 185 looks slim. But as I’ve said in previous posts, my goal was not just weight loss but definition. I wasn’t and am not looking for a “Arnold” body. My goal is the “Fight Club” look, lean and defined. And I’m close…oh so close. For those who have asked, yes I’m looking for a digital camera to take some “after” shots. My budget is tight so I’m shopping carefully, but I will post them soon.

I also decided, in the spirit of celebrating a milestone of sorts, that I’m going to write a report on my journey. Step by step by misstep =) of how I got to where I am. I will post it on the blog so no worries. It’s going to be a free report, just me telling you how I got here. Keep an eye out in the next week or two for the report or link or however I decide to post it. Until then…

Take care and stay on the path!
Dave.

Hi all:

As I have mentioned before, I injured myself early on in my weight loss/fitness journey by lifting too much weight too soon. But another reason that I got injured was because I didn’t properly warm up before I started lifting. Actually I’m being too kind to myself here…I did not warm up at all!

Trust me here, I’ve learned (painfully) from my mistakes! I do several warm up routines before I start any exercise now. And what I do is a combination of cardio and stretching. And let me emphasize the stretching.

Stretching basically prepares your muscles for exercise by preloading them. It stretches the muscle fibers and encourages blood to rush to the muscle, which has the effect of strengthening and cushioning the muscle and helps you avoid injury when you start your workout.

The cardio is useful because you increase your heart rate, thus driving blood faster throughout your body, again preparing it for the stress that you are about to inflict on it during your workout.

I’ve found a neat, 5 minute YouTube video that lays out a nice stretching regime. Check it out below. I hope you find it useful!

Take care.
Dave.

Hi all:

I wanted to apologize to anyone whose comment hasn’t appeared on the blog. As someone who is still fairly new to blogging, I didn’t realize that my spam filter was inadvertently deleting legitimate comments along with the spam!

I’m tracking all comments manually now, so this will not happen again! But I wanted to let you know, just in case you had left a comment and it never showed up on the blog.

Again, my sincere apologies. I appreciate any and all comments from my readers and I hope that no one has been turned off by this screw up on my part.

Take care.

Dave.

Hi all:

Here’s some info I found researching supplements on the net. Hope you find it useful!

When you are learning about the vitamins your body needs to survive, you may notice that there are a number of vitamins listed. However, each is important in specific ways. Vitamin B12 is another part of the vitamin B complex, and without it, our metabolism would be affected. Vitamin B 12 is also important in helping form red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, and in maintaining the nervous systems, which sends messages to and from the brain to tell us that things are hot, painful, itchy, moving, and so forth.

Vitamins fall into two general categories. The first are called fat-soluble vitamins and include vitamins E and K, among others. These vitamins can be stored in the body and, in some cases, produced by the body, so deficiency is very rare. However, vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. While is can be stored, in some cases, it cannot be used properly. Therefore, eating is every day is very important to our bodies. If we do not, our bodies cannot function properly. If you believe that you are not getting enough vitamin B12, you should talk to a doctor he or she can help you find the right vitamin supplements to take, so this will not be a problem.

Of course, your diet is the best way to get vitamin B12 into your body. If you eat a healthy, balanced diet, you should not have to worry about not have to worry about have lower or higher than normal levels of vitamin B12 in the body. However, if you have special dietary needs or medical conditions, vitamin supplements may be needed. You can find fairly high levels of vitamin B 12 in eggs, poultry, beef, pork, shellfish, and dairy products, especially milk.

Because vitamin B12 is one of the few vitamins that can be stored in the body, extreme deficiency is very rare. However, if you body cannot use vitamin B12 properly or absorb it from foods in the intestinal tract, you may need vitamin supplements to help your body. Vegans are especially prone to this and should take vitamin supplements, since most of the vitamin B12 we get in our diets is found in meat.

If you don’t get enough vitamin B12, you could develop a condition known as pernicious anemia. Symptoms include numbness and tingling in your arms and legs, weakness, low of balance, and other neurological symptoms. If you are worried about developing pernicious anemia, you should talk to your doctor about beginning to take vitamin B12 supplements today.

Take care.

Dave.

Hi all:

Okay, this one is probably a no-brainer, but amazingly there are still people who believe that if you work out for hours upon hours every day, you will achieve your fitness and weight loss goals faster.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Don’t do it! If you are looking for the best way to sabotage your weight loss journey, over-working your system is probably at the top of the list.

Yes, I know that there will always be “gym-rats” out there. People who just love hanging out all day in the gym, slamming their muscles til they bleed and chatting with all the other rats. Well, good for them. Personally I have a life and spending a large part of it watching other people sweat isn’t part of it!

Here’s why quality is always better than quantity. Your muscles are a finite resource. They can only do so much. Hitting them hard with heavy weight (but not more than they can handle!) for a short period of time will encourage them to repair the damage to the muscle fibers, with proper rest and nutrition between work outs, much more than slogging weights constantly for hours.

Long workouts, especially when using significant amount of weight, encourages muscle and joint injury. It can also be self defeating, as those who workout for long periods tend not to get enough rest in between gym visits to allow their system to heal and regenerate.

Anyway, I hope you will realize that short, intense workouts are the way to go. You will see gains faster and will recover much more quickly using quality over quantity.

Take care!

Dave.

Hi folks:

I wanted to list the supplements, vitamins, etc. that I take in answer to some of you who were curious. Now what works for me may not work for you, as I’ve mentioned in the past, but here they are for what it’s worth!

I take a LOT of vitamins and minerals. Mainly because on a calorie-restricted diet you may not be getting all the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy, build muscle and lose fat. My list is as follows: Vitamins B (B3 to B12), C, D (very important these days…D seems to be almost a miracle vitamin if you believe the research), E, Folic Acid and Omega 3’s.

I also take glucosmine sulphate for joint health. It takes a while to kick in but well worth it in my opinion.

For muscle building and health, I take creatine. This isn’t essential but the data is there and points to it being able to help the body lift more weight with less chance of injury. And who doesn’t need that? (Especially us “older” folk?).

Finally I use a fat burner. Now, I won’t recommend any brand. Frankly I think they are all fairly comparable. Do your research on this and see which ones are reputable. I can’t promise that you will lose more fat by taking these, but it’s under the category of “it can’t hurt!”.

And that’s it. My calorie-reduced diet is still in place and I’m down 42 pounds as of this writing, to 188 pds. I don’t have the “Fight Club” body yet but I’m no longer embarressed to wear tighter clothing in public, so that’s progress!

Talk to you soon,

Dave.

Hi folks;

Well, I started this fitness trip, my “Journey to Fitness” as I’ve been calling it, on October 9/08, so it’s been 4 months and a few days since I began.

At the time I weighed somewhere between 225 and 230 pounds. I know it’s a bit inaccurate but frankly, at the time, I didn’t really know whether I would be able to see it through or if I would give up as I had so many times before.

So, as of my last weigh-in, I’m now at 190 pounds. My body fat has dropped from approx. 25% to 13%. I’ve lost my “love handles” (what’s so lovely about them anyway?) and I can see my abs! Granted, I don’t yet have the definition I’m aiming for, but I am definitely on my way.

As those of you who have been following this journey may remember, my goal isn’t an actual weight, it’s really a “look”. I want the lean, defined look that Brad Pitt had in the movie Fight Club. Yeah, yeah, I’m no Brad Pitt…but then I’m not trying to be. But I liked that look a lot more than the hulking “Terminator” look.

Big muscles are all well and good, I suppose, but I don’t think they are that attractive, and since it’s my body, I am working toward my own goals, not some body-builder’s dream of the perfect body.

As far as before and after photos are concerned, I’m still debating. I do have some pics of myself before I began my journey, but they were not taken as “before” pics. As I said, I didn’t really expect to do as well as I have and so I didn’t bother to take any photos of the old me. Once I get my BF down to around 10%, I may post some pics…we’ll see! =)

So here we are. 35-40 pounds in 4 months. If you do the math, that’s averages out to about 1.5-2 pounds of weight loss a week, which I think is a healthy amount, depending on how much you have to lose. As I mentioned in a previous post, although I’m 6′1″ tall, most of my life I weighed in at between 175-180 pds, so dropping to 190 from 230 is great, but I’m hardy a bone-rack. The neatest and yet most frustrating thing about losing the weight is that nothing fits anymore! Even rings fall off my fingers now. It’s funny and weird at the same time.

On a side note, a lady that I work with is now constantly after me to buy new, “tight” clothing so that she can see the new me. That’s added a layer of discomfort I didn’t expect. Hey, I like wearing lose clothing. Okay, fine, I wore it partially to hide my pudge, but it’s also more comfortable than skin-tight clothes, at least to me. Sorry, just a little vent there!

Anyway, that’s where I am at the moment. I’m not done, but I’m happy with my progress and intend to continue. In fact, the thought of stopping or going back to the old me never even enters my mind anymore! I hope your own personal journey is going well too!

Till next time, keep it up!

Dave.

Hi folks;

I wanted to mention an often over-looked aspect of getting and/or staying fit, and that’s your posture…i.e. the way you stand, sit and walk.

Now, if you had a Mom like mine, she would say things like “sit up straight!” or “don’t slouch, get your shoulders back!” etc. Well, it turns out that Mom, as usual, was right. Sort of.

Standing, sitting and walking with your shoulders back and your abs tensed is actually an under-valued way to keep your muscles active even when you aren’t really using them, especially the abs. It’s not a hard habit to get into either. You just have to be aware of your posture and adjust it accordingly.

Try it for a day. Whether you are moving or sitting, try keeping your abs tensed, even slightly. This is actually work for them; a mild form of exercise. Also, keeping your abs taut and your shoulders back is good for your spine and lower back.

If you can keep the habit of being aware of your posture, it will soon become second nature. No, you won’t see dramatic results from this, but heck, it’s easy, free and one more small step on the road to fitness!

Till next time,

Dave.

Hi folks:

I’d like to take some time talking about hitting a plateau in your diet/weight loss/fitness journey.

If you’ve spent any time at all trying to lose weight, you know what I mean about a plateau, but for those who don’t, it just means that from time to time you will reach a point where your body stops (or appears to stop) changing no matter how much exercise you do or how few calories you consume. It’s frustrating and aggravating to say the least, especially if you’ve been enjoying steady progress towards your goal, whatever that might be.

So what the heck is happening and what can you do about it? Well, it’s fairly straight-forward actually. The body is a remarkable machine and evolution has made it highly adaptable to a lot of stresses and conditions. If you start a calorie-reduced diet, you will at first lose weight, sometimes quite a bit…although some of that will be water weight. But fairly soon you will notice that your weight loss has slowed or even stopped. Sometimes you may actually begin putting weight back on! What the…?

The same is true of starting an exercise regime. You start losing weight, seeing some definition begin and bang! Everything slows to a crawl or even stops. Maddening, isn’t it? Darn right it is!

Well, we have evolution to thank for this. Our bodies adapt…and quite quickly too. If you reduce your caloric intake, your body will be triggered into thinking that food is scarce and will slow down your metabolism to compensate. Ditto with starting to work out…you will burn more calories, but if you don’t increase your caloric intake, again the body assumes food scarcity and slows down, often it starts burning your newly-built muscle tissue for fuel. It’s self-defeating but that’s evolution for ya!

So, what can you do to avoid or at least mitigate these set-backs? It’s pretty simple. You beat the body at its own game! As the body adapts, you change things up. Instead of eating three meals a day, you eat five smaller meals. If you eat 500 calories per meal, change it so that one meal you eat 300, the next 600, the nest 400, etc.

If you are constantly doing the same upper and lower body routines, change them! Instead of doing flat crunches for abs, do incline or decline crunches. Or leg-raises. Or combine them. Change the order that you do your sets, change the amount of weight you use, do more cardio and less free weights for a week or two. Whatever it takes!

The point is, don’t let the body adapt! Keep surprising it, keep it guessing. Routine = stagnation. That’s how I think of it anyway. I change how I eat and how I work out usually every month or six weeks. And I recommend that if you find yourself up against the dreaded plateau, you try to do the same. You’ll be pleased with the results.

Till next time, good luck on your journey!

Dave.

Hi folks:

Just a quick note to respond to the question of who to believe when it comes to fitness and weight loss advice.

Let’s face it; the net is literally drowning in advice on how to lose weight. Try Googling “weight loss” or “diet” and you can see what I mean! So, do all these sites and “experts” know what they’re talking about? Not a chance! How do you differentiate between the folks who actually know what path to follow and the majority who don’t? Good question.

Let’s face it…my opinion is worth no more and no less than any other faceless blogger out there talking about whatever they are talking about. One difference though is that I’m living through my own personal fitness/wellness/weight loss (pick any or all!) journey. And I’m a bit of a compulsive buyer when it comes to new techniques or programs on the best way to get in shape. I try a lot of them! Some work, most don’t and some are simple rehashes of other programs that I have already tried! Arg!

Anyway, you may have noticed that I only recommend a handful of programs on the blog. That’s because these ones actually work. Or at least they have for me. What I’ve done is cherry-pick what I feel are the best routines, the best eating plans and the best lifestyle changes from each program and put them together in a system that works well for me.

Would my system work for you? I have no idea! I’m not a guru or an expert on this stuff. I’m just a middle-aged guy who wants to get into the best shape of his life as quickly as possible. And when I get there (and I’ve mentioned my goals in previous posts) I will lay out exactly what I did, how I did it and how long it took. And I’m not going to write some ebook or try and sell a course about it…I’ll just put it on the blog for those of you who are interested.

I guess my main reason for posting today is that I want to let you know (as I’m sure many of you already do!) that there are as many paths to our individual goals in life as there are folks trying to get there. Don’t be afraid to try new programs and systems, but don’t rush head-long into every one that you come across, as I’m often guilty of! Lol. And don’t get locked in to one system either. Take what seems to work for you, use that and add to it from other sources. I think that’s the best way to go…of course, that’s just my opinion!

Good luck on your own journey!

Dave.

Hi folks:

Some people, friends, family and co-workers, have been asking me about my motivations for losing weight. It’s an interesting question, because each of us has to not only have a goal in mind when it comes to losing weight or increasing our fitness level or whatever you want to call it. But we also have to have our own personal motivation…what drives us? Why does it drive us? What started us on this journey?

Well, speaking only for myself, my reasons for beginning this trip are myriad. Lots of ‘em. First, “middle-age” (don’t you hate that term? I do!). As in, I’m not getting any younger and my metabolism sure isn’t speeding up by itself! Second, as a single guy, I’m not exactly going to have the phone ringing off the hook if I look like a marshmellow. Or if someone’s attracted to that, well, I doubt if it would be mutual!

Third, I saw a movie a few months back. The name and subject aren’t really important. What is important is that it gave me a kick in my complacent ass, got me up from the computer/couch/easy chair and on to my first steps in this journey.

But I’ve also been asked how I’ll know when I get to wherever the heck I’m going, physically. Well, I’ll tell you. I have no interest in developing a bodybuilder’s physique. No offense to professional bodybuilders. They work their butts off for years to achieve their goals and my hat’s off to them. What I want my body to look like is more like Brad Pitt in Fight Club…

Brad Pitt in Fight Club

Now, is this realistic? Of course it is. Brad isn’t built like a bodybuilder. He is incredibly lean here and has a lot of definition, which is my goal but his muscles, while defined and developed, are not huge. And that’s what I want…a little wow factor (and why not?) but nothing too much. So we’ll see. That’s my personal goal.

So what are yours? Do you just want to be able to wear the clothes you wore ten years ago? (which we hope are still stylish?) Or do you want to “wow’ ‘em? Pick your goals, find your motivation and I know you can achieve them…because if I can cross the barrier, believe me, anyone can. See you on the other side!

Dave.

Hi folks:

I hope everyone had, is having or will have a great holiday season! Mine unfortunately is only two days long, then back to work, Oh well, gotta pay them bills!

Anyway, I wanted to update those who might be curious as to how my weight loss/fitness journey is progressing.

One of the short term goals I had, when I started this back in early October, was to look better by Christmas. This is because my family (my sister, her husband and her kids, it’s a small group!) only sees me a few times a year, as they live outside of my home city.

Now, I started off at about 225 pounds. I’m 6′1″ tall and most of my life I weighed between 180 – 200. So weighing 225 really freaked me out and I was determined to do something about it (finally). Since my birthday is in October, it seemed as good a time to begin as any.

Well, I’m happy to report that by Christmas day (yesterday), I had reached 200 pounds. It was exciting to say the least!

One thing I was a bit worried about was that the family would see me and instead of saying, “Wow, you lost weight, you look great!”, they’d say “Wow, you lost weight…are you sick?” lol. Happily, they said the former.

This is because it wasn’t just a change of diet that got me here in about 10 weeks (and my journey’s just getting started, I assure you). It was the combination of my eating choices, my weight training and my cardio. All of which I do at home, btw. I don’t like gyms, and I can’t afford a membership anyway.

So, just wanted to check in and share my success so far. Considering the food I ate at sis’s house yesterday, I had better get back on the ol’ stationary bike! But it was fun and well worth it.

Take care all and keep on with your own journey!

Dave.

Hi folks,

I wanted to update you on how my personal fitness and weight loss journey is going and how it has progressed so far.

This latest (and hopefully best!) attempt to get back to where I once was physically started in early October, just before my birthday…often a time for some of us to take stock of where we are and where we are going in our lives. And when I say “where I once was” I mean that for most of my life I was one of those guys who never had to watch what they ate or exercise. I was naturally lean and never gave my weight much thought.

But on entering my forties, I found myself gaining weight. Not quickly, and not too noticeably…maybe a pound or two a year. But it was steady and insidious…to the point where a few months ago I hit a high of 230 pounds!

Now to explain why this freaked me out, here’s a few statistics. I’m 6 feet tall (and a bit) and most of my adult life I weighed between 180-195 pounds…190ish being the norm. So you can imagine, when I saw 230 pounds I freaked a bit. And like I said, my birthday was coming up and I decided that it was time for a drastic change.

I bought guides, I did my ‘net research, I watched videos, I read books, and I took an amalgam of all of these sources and designed my fitness routine.

I will, in future posts, go step by step on what I am doing as far as exercise and diet is concerned and I may post a photo or two once I get to where I want to be. But as of today, I’m down from 225 pounds (where I started) to 208 pounds.

So a total weight loss of 17 pounds so far, in a little under 2 months. Not huge, but remember that it took me about ten years to pack on the fat, so I’m a happy camper so far.

The important thing isn’t even the weight loss. Because I’m doing a lot of free weights mixed with cardio and diet, I’m much more interested in how I look than how much I weigh. And I’m happy so far. The indentations of a 6-pack are coming in nicely, my arms are showing some definition and people are commenting on my appearance…in a good way!

So there we are. Sorry I haven’t posted for a bit, but I’m very much focused on my goals and occasionally let some things slide. So take care and I’ll keep you posted!

Dave.

Hi folks,

We all know we should use weight training as part of our fat loss program, right? Yes, ladies, you too!

But the idea of spending hours in a crowded, smelly gym isn’t exactly appealing, is it? So what’s the answer? Well, if you are like me, a little shy about working out in front of others, the answer of course is to work out at home.

At home? Are you kidding? I can’t afford a (home gym, bow flex, insert hugely expensive piece of equipment here). Yeah, I know. Me too. But it really doesn’t have to cost much.

I work out at home with just some free weights (dumbbells), an adjustable bench (that slants when I do my crunches) and a stationary bike. That’s it.

Sure, I’d love to have a full home gym to work out in. And a personal trainer. And a dietitian. And a cook. The list goes on. But until I win a lottery, that’s not going to happen. So I make do with what I can afford. And guess what? It works…and here’s why.

When you work out at home, you have to do it smarter. That means more intensity, shorter workouts. Easy as that. I will give you an example of my workout routine at the moment.

I work out every other day, three days a week. The days between I do HIIT cardio. And on the seventh day I rest. Never forget to give yourself a day off, so your body can heal. Hey, we’re losing weight here, we haven’t joined the marines!

I separate my workouts into upper and lower body days. Upper body is chest, back, shoulders, triceps and biceps. Lower body is quads, calves, hamstrings and abs. And the routine is pretty simple. I do 12 reps with light weight, followed a minute later by 10 reps with five more pounds (your poundage may vary). Rest a minute, 8 reps with more weight. Rest, 6 reps with the most weight I can do…and when I say do I mean I can barely finish the final rep. I rest a minute then finish with 12 reps of light weight.

That’s it. I choose one type of exercise for each muscle group. The next time I exercise that muscle, I change to a different exercise to keep my muscles from adapting. See? Short, intense and done in less than an hour.

Work smarter at home and you can achieve your goals as well…without breaking the bank!

Dave.

Hi all:

When I first started my latest diet and exercise routine, I decided to follow the advice of a lot of “diet gurus” when it came to my eating habits. And that is to eat more often to lose more weight.

Yeah, sounded crazy to me too. But the logic behind the idea is sound. And it goes like this…people evolved as hunter/gatherers. We roamed around, hunting whatever we could find and gathering roots, berries, whatever edible foodstuffs presented themselves. We basically foraged constantly. So we’d have a handful of berries, then a few hours later we’d be munching on some roots. Maybe we’d score a rabbit or whatever and eat that.

Basically we were always on the lookout for food and ate it as it came our way. Now scientists believe that obesity, heart disease and all that other nastiness that comes from weight gain is a fairly recent development. Once our society became more industrialized and we no longer had to hunt for our food, instead we just went to the store and bought it, we started to over-eat and gain weight and the consequences of that followed soon after.

And we also developed this bizarre (to our evolved bodies) habit of eating three meals a day, at set times. Now I don’t know about you, but if I eat at 7:00 am, I’m quite hungry by noon. And by 7:00 pm, I’m starving again. So naturally, since your body thinks it’s starving, you tend to over-eat at these times. The body gets too much energy and decides to store the excess for a rainy day (hello fat).

The solution is to go back to the beginning. Eat more often but consume smaller portions. My routine is something like this…I get up, drink some water, do my workout. Then about an hour later (let your body burn some fat from your exercise) I eat my first meal of perhaps 200-300 calories. When I’m hungry again, in about three, three and a half hours, I eat again, usually a protein bar or a shake, again about 200-300 calories. And I continue that for the day. I’m never really hungry nor am I ever bloated by over-eating.

This isn’t really rocket science, folks. It’s straight forward, easy to do and it’s working. I’ve lost 12 pounds in the last 4 weeks. Obviously some of that is water loss, but I drink a LOT of water so it isn’t that much. Also, although I eat throughout the day, I still eat a few hundred calories less than my body needs to maintain my weight. Because to loss weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume.

Anyway, there’s an option for you. Try a lot of small meals through the day instead of 3 massive ones and see if it doesn’t work for you too!

Dave.

Okay folks, this one drives me crazy…probably because I used to believe it myself! It’s the myth that you can reduce fat in certain areas of your body while retaining it in others. Sort of being able to self-sculpture your body.

Well, I gotta tell ya right now…it is not possible! Nope, no way, no can do, etc. Now I totally understand why some folks, including myself once upon a time, might think spot reduction works.

You see, when the body begins to store fat and gain weight, it does so in specific areas. On men, it goes mainly to our stomachs first. On ladies, the butt, thighs and chest are prime fat storage areas. So natually people think that if they target these areas, with crunches for men’s stomachs, or (God forbid) the thigh-master for ladies, that they will be able to burn off this fat first.

But the body is a contrary creature. While it likes to store fat where it chooses, it loses fat at a basically equal rate all over the body. Nope, it’s not fair, but you can’t fight nature. And we do try, don’t we?

Anyway, when you start off on a new regime of diet and exercise, concentrate on total body fat loss, and don’t attempt to spot lose the fat. All it will do is frustrate you and keep you from achieving your goals.

Dave.

Here we are. A new day, a new blog and a new way of looking at fat loss. I’ve had it with fad diets, thigh masters and gimmicks that not only don’t work, but that give hope needlessly.

Well, no more…at least not here! I’ve been researching the net and a lot of other sources, searching for products, tips and just plain facts on weight loss that work. And this blog is my way of passing these tidbits of information on to the public.

If you see something recommended here (or trashed here for that matter!), it’s because either I’ve personally tried it, received feedback from those who have tried it, or trust the source of the info implicitly. That’s my criteria and I intend to stick to it. So please, sit back, relax, check out the blog and enjoy!

Dave.