Simple Weight Loss for a Healthy Life

Weight Loss and Portion Distortion

2009-03-08T04:35:00.001-07:00

We are surrounded by 'bigger' amounts of food being served to us.

Burgers, fries, pop, - the usual stuff that contributes to fast weight gain - these are all a LOT bigger than they were not too long ago.

Most people have been in a theatre to see a movie. Holy crap! The size of the pop is enough to give a person back problems just trying to get to your seat.

The good old 'bucket o'popcorn' and the 'bucket o'pop' are just what the average person needs to stay healthy - NOT. :)

Nowadays we have triple and quadruple burgers. And 'super size' fries, drinks, etc. Didn't have that stuff when I was a kid. A burger was a burger, fries were fries - that was it.

A lot of things have changed since I was a kid, but what amazes me the most is the obesity epidemic sweeping across our planet. We are being turned into lumps. And if we let it continue to happen, what a shame that will be, because we CAN do something about it.

Just keep an eye on the portions you receive at restaurants or fast food places. You ARE going to get a lot of food. Be alert for this and make sure you don't honk back everything that is presented to you.

Remember, when someone asks you if you want a 'free refill' on your pop or if you'd like to 'super size' those fries, if you accept it, you are also super sizing your wardrobe.

Be careful out there folks. :)

Losing Weight with the Simplest Exercise of them all

2009-03-08T04:23:00.000-07:00

I heard an amazing story the other day. A friend of mine told me this. She was teaching an evening class at a university a few years back and she happened to notice a very shy (and very large) middle aged woman sitting in the back of the room.

Near the end of the class, she approached this woman and they started chatting. Seems this lady was a bit of a recluse, 38 years old, no friends, lived alone, pretty introverted. But she had to the courage and interest to come to the evening class.

Now, this woman was quite overweight and had attributed her currently life problems of no friends, etc. to the fact that no one wants to spend time with 'someone like her'.

My friend flat-out disagreed with this and suggested that they start doing some basic walking together each day, just to hangout and get to know one another. The woman nervously agreed.

Two years later, this woman has lost ALL of her excess weight, is slim and fit, although she does have one knee that has problems due to her previous weight. But she lost her weight via simple walking - every, single day - no matter what the weather was like outside, she did her walking without fail.

Now of course, her and my friend are very close as one would expect, and they take trips together each year. This year they're heading to New Orleans. Last year they went to Las Vegas. These are 'just for the hell of it' trips.

Now how cool is that!? I absolutely LOVE that story. Just with simple walking and a strong promise to herself, this woman totally changed her life. She has more friends now, is extroverted, and is loving every minute of it.

I'm sure she was unsure at the start, didn't know what was going to happen, etc. But she did it anyway.

Courage, confront and a DECISION TO DO IT, despite the tough odds - it wins every single time. :)

Weight Gain and Eating in Restaurants

2009-03-08T03:57:00.001-07:00

My wife and I went out to dinner last night (her brother is in town and he took us out to a local pub-style restaurant). My wife ordered a tasty looking pasta and shrimp dish, but lo and behold' - she couldn't finish it. I suspect that this happens to a LOT of people every day. Here's why.

The dish used to serve it was a deep bowl. Notice that - a bowl, not a plate. So the pasta and shrimp sit low in the bowl, but is filled to the top so the bowl looks full. You (the hungry consumer) get that first impression/sensation of "Wow! Looks good!" If the bowl was only half full, you'd instantly get the idea that "Geez - they didn't give me very much..."

But the actual quantity of food is hidden in a subtle way because you just see a bowl with a level amount of food in it. You don't really notice the depth of the bowl.

Now, if that amount of pasta and shrimp was being eaten at home, 9 out of 10 chances are at that it would be on a plate, and that same amount would be a heaping pile of food, to which you would instantly respond - "Whoah, I can't eat that much!"

But in a restaurant, you try to finish your meal because you paid for it. You may or may not finish it, but you'll give it a darn good try, thereby eating more than you should. If you were eating at home, you would most likely NOT eat that much food at one sitting.

And there my friends is how the game is played in restaurants and how we as a society are eating MORE and MORE. The amounts of food served in a regular meal at any restaurant has increased a LOT over 25 years.

Is it any wonder that the U.S. Surgeon General stated recently that the most pressing problem
on his agenda is OBESITY in America. The same can be said for Canada.

We HAVE a problem - but CAN do something about it.

Try this neat little trick the next time you're dining out. The next time you order a dish, ask them to put half of it in a take-home container (at the start of the meal) so that you only eat half of it while you're there.

Then, take the rest home so you can eat it another day, and you did not waste the money that you paid for.

Simple and Easy. :)

All things Squidoo

2009-03-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

What a fantastic place Squidoo is - especially for early risers like me who tend to not go for the bed rest option when we're sick (which I am, and also on the recovery runway - thank you very much).

I've been making Squidoo lenses for a new weight loss program that I've been researching (I know, I know, but it just so happens that THIS one actually delivers what is says it can).

I five lenses in a fairly short period (they're listed in the LINKS section on the right side of this page) and I intend to do a LOT more on other topics. I love Squidoo, it rocks, it kicks, it has the shazam...you get the idea.

Now here I am, at 3:52 AM pecking away at this while rolling around new ideas in my head for new lenses.

Pretty damn snappy and not hard to do at all.

I also put up a lens called the Iron Man's Son. This is my story - in short form. :)

The Iron Man's Son

I'll have more lenses coming online in the next few weeks and will post them here along with some very cool info on how YOU could do the same thing. There are some folks on Squidoo who provide phenomenal insight on how to build a great lens - it is such a helpful place. :)

Cheers,
Pat