You Eat Right And Exercise, But Why Can't You Lose Fat?

It’s reader mail time!

Here is one of the most common questions I get and the way I always respond to it.

Q: I eat right and I workout all the time, but I’m not losing fat. What else can I do, or what am I doing wrong?

A: I get this question all the time and it’s a very, very frustrating situation to be in to say the least.

You think you’re doing everything right, and the scale isn’t moving.

First you have to ask yourself if your clothes are fitting better. If they are, then don’t even worry about the scale because the number on the scale will begin to fall if you notice your clothes getting loose in the places you want.

If that’s not the case, you really need to examine what you say you’re doing “right.”

You say you’re eating right, but what does that mean?

That usually means there’s something you’re not understanding or are you’re just lying to yourself.

I don’t mean to be rude, but if you truly do eat “right”, then there’s no reason you should be maintaining your current weight (if you want to lose). If you were really eating the way you should if you want to lose fat (and you’re overweight), and the scale isn’t moving, then you should probably become some sort of lab rat for the UN because you could solve world hunger.

I would never outright call someone a liar. I just think that you may be misunderstanding what it means to eat to lose fat. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and sometimes what seems like the most common sense approach is actually the worst approach.

So let’s see if I can solve your dilemma right now.

Does “eating right” mean you eat like a bird, if you eat at all, most of the day, then eat a huge meal at night?

If so, there’s your problem right there. You can’t eat little to nothing for a good portion of the day, then eat a huge meal later on. Your body doesn’t work that way. If you consume more calories in one sitting than your body can use, the remainder will get stored as fat. It really is that simple.

Eat over 1000 calories in one sitting (which is very easy to do), then count on a good chunk of those calories going right to your gut, butt, thighs or chest as fat.

Or maybe you’ve got some hidden calories in the form of sauces, salad dressings, coffee drinks, soda/pop/cola, sweetened teas, breads, etc.

Most of those things that I just mentioned are loaded with calories and you wouldn’t normally even think of them because they’re not your “main dish”, they’re add-ons. But believe me when I tell you that salad dressings and sauces WILL turn a fat fighting meal into a fat gaining meal.

Read the label, don’t douse your food with the stuff, and switch to low calorie versions.

If you drink those calorie bomb coffee drinks, cut them out. There’s no place for them if you’re trying to lose fat. Many of them can be well over 600 calories.

The other thing it could be is portion sizes. Most people under-estimate their portions by around 25%. That one thing right there could be your whole problem.

You may think you’re consuming around 2000 calories per day, when in actuality you may be consuming 2500.

If all else is equal, that could mean a pound of fat gain per week, or if you understand that and fix it, it could mean a pound of fat loss per week. It really is that simple and it’s your choice.

The last thing I’ll cover today is the weekend.

I know people who eat perfectly all week long, then when Friday night rolls around…everything gets thrown out the window and on comes the beer, fast food, junk food, etc.

That will ruin your fat loss plans and you should count yourself lucky if you’re even maintaining your current weight rather than gaining fat.

To succeed on the weekends, you’ve got to treat it as if they were any other day. Sure you can relax a little bit, but if you’re trying to lose fat, you have to maintain some discipline.

Remember what you’re trying to accomplish?

So before you tell someone that you’re eating right, exercising, and doing all the right things and the scale isn’t moving, you really need take a long hard look at how you’re actually eating.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. – My Fat Loss To Go program comes with a Nutrition eBook that covers all the healthy, fat fighting eating habits you should be doing, plus it tells you what things to avoid and how to eat to lose fat. It’s not some sort of fad diet, it’s eating to live and eating to fight fat rather than starving yourself or going on some goofy fad diet. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com

Can You Save Calories In Order To Eat More Later In The Day?

Last weekend Andrea and I were out with my sisters and brothers-in-law for dinner and drinks (yes I, the personal trainer, has drinks on the weekend...I'm not a total health nut).

That's when I heard it.

It's something I've heard from clients before, but I thought I had taught my family better.

It's something a lot of people do and think they're helping themselves, when in actuality they're hurting their fat loss goals.

My sister said that she didn't eat very much earlier in the day so she could eat worse later in the day.

She thought she was "saving calories" by not eating them earlier and that would make it OK to eat more with dinner.

In my sister's defense a lot of people think this and put this into practice quite often.

Unfortunately that's not the way your body works.

You can't eat little to nothing early in the day and then eat lots of calories later in the day.

Sure you may think you came in "under" on total calories for the day, but that's not even the case.

Most meals/drinks eaten when this rationale is taken are thousands of calories in total, not hundreds.

Heavy meals like pastas, sandwiches with lots of sauces or melted cheeses, foofy foofy alcoholic drinks and desserts that are loaded with so many calories they'd make the guy who takes 5 trips to the buffet line stop and shake his head.

Plus your body just doesn't understand the thought of "saving calories."

Your body can only process so many calories at once and if you consume more calories than your body can process at one time, the remainder will more than likely get stored as body fat.

Stored in the form of stomach fat, hip and thigh fat, butt fat, man boobs for the fellas or bra fat for the ladies.

Please don't misunderstand.

I'm not saying you can't treat yourself every now and again. You should treat yourself on a regular basis if you're on a fat loss plan. It helps keep you sane and looking forward to something so you don't splurge.

All I'm saying is that you can't skip meals or eat like a rabbit for part of the day in the hopes of "saving calories" for some event or meal later on in the day.

It won't matter and might even make you gain more fat.

So the next time you have that thought, block it out and keep eating normally (healthfully) and allow yourself a couple treats rather than going crazy and feasting like it's your last meal.

If you've working out with consistency and eating healthy fat fighting foods the majority of the time, the occasional treats won't derail you.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. - If you need to know what a good, healthy, fat fighting day looks like and all the fat loss nutrition information you need - not some fad diet - check out my Fat Loss To Go program at www.fatlosstogo.com You'll find all the workouts you'll ever need, plus all the healthy fat fighting habits needed to lose fat and keep it off...without turning yourself into the "no fun person" at the party who won't eat cake or have a drink.

Will Smoothies Make You Fat?

Last weekend my wife and I decided we wanted to have a smoothie for lunch.

Not one of the smoothies we make from home, no we decided to go to the local place just up the street from our house.

We used to go there quite a bit when a good friend of ours was a manager, but haven't been there regularly in quite some time.

I've also never looked at the nutrition information on the smoothies we usually get.

But why should I? Aren't smoothies supposed to be healthy?

That's how they're marketed. The healthy alternative to fast food, or the perfect "snack" or meal on the go.

Anyway, I took a look at the two smoothies my wife and I normally get and was floored!

The one my wife normally gets is a whopping 1050 calories! Plus it had over 200 grams of carbohydrates, and it didn't even include how much sugar was in it. That really made me worry when they included all this other information, including its vitamin breakdown, but didn't even include how much of the carbohydrate was simple sugar.

I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that an overwhelming majority of that 200g number was sugar.

Mine was a little better, having only 450 calories, but it still had a ton of carbohydrates, but again no sugar breakdown.

I knew there was going to be a lot of carbohydrates because it's a smoothie and smoothies are supposed to be made with a lot of fruits/juices.

But 1050 calories is just about how many calories my wife should be consuming in one day, yet here we were thinking we were doing something "light" yet getting a ton of calories.

There really is no reason that anyone should be consuming that many calories in one sitting, unless you're trying to gain weight.

Does that sound like you? Do you want to gain weight?

Didn't think so.

That's just one more reason you should be mindful of what you eat and of food marketing. Most food marketers are not concerned about your health or waist line, they're concerned with their bottom line.

So what're you supposed to do? Here we were trying to fit in something a little healthy for lunch and ended up getting smacked with a ton of sugar and a ton of calories (in my wife's case).

Well, you could check the nutrition breakdown before you order (which I will do whenever I go back to that smoothie shop).

You could make your own smoothies from home. I've got over 170 recipes as a bonus to my Fat Loss To Go program (shameless plug, I know).

You could just assume the worst and ask for a half order or a kid's size, or order one and ask for it to be put in 2 cups and share it with your spouse or friend.

Or you could never eat a meal or snack away from home. If that's you, let me know because you may be the only person in the world who fits that bill.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. - I was serious about the 170 smoothie recipes that come with my Fat Loss To Go program. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com

Happy National Donut Day!

I’m not kidding. Today is National Donut Day here in America.

Does anybody wonder why 60% of this country is overweight or obese?

In the art of full disclosure, the day did start out with good intentions. It was for fundraising during World War 1, but if memory serves that war ended a couple years ago.

Now I like my donuts as much as the next person, but they are quite possibly one of the worst foods on the planet.

You take overly processed grain (white flour), deep fat fry it and then cover it in lots and lots and lots of sugary coatings and maybe even add a few sprinkles for good measure.

Then there are the other kinds of donuts that get stuffed full of sugary jelly or fatty creams. I could go on and on describing all the different kinds of donuts, but it would just make me hungry.

You should never eat donuts. They will do nothing but make you fat.

In fact I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you that you will gain 5 pounds for every donut you eat. That’s not true, but I want that to be stuck in your head the next time you decide to eat a donut.

The tough thing is that a lot of companies put boxes of donuts in their breakrooms for their employees to snack on.

And we wonder why our health insurance rates are sky high.

That’s it for my soap box preaching today.

Have a good weekend and please, for the love of God, don’t take part in National Donut Day.

Ed

Are Hidden Calories Sabotaging Your Fat Loss Goals?

In my training business, I have the pleasure of training married couples. Sometimes they train together and sometimes they come in at different times because they know they wouldn't be able to workout together without annoying one another (or me).

I've also had the opportunity to work with mother/daughter duos. Again sometimes they train together and sometimes not.

However I learn the most about the other when they don't train together. Not that I pry and try to wrestle out deep, dark secrets. Maybe I do sometimes as a form of bribery for the future, but not often.

But I learn a lot about the other's eating habits, entirely by accident. I don't ask, it just comes out through normal conversation.

What I find is that the other half of the duo is not entirely truthful with me.

Sometimes it's on purpose, but most of the time it's just an oversight.

People forget about certain parts of their daily diet.

They neglect to tell me that in addition to their morning eggs and toast, they put a lot of sugary jelly on the toast. Or that they drink 4 cups of coffee that are loaded with heavy creamer or sugar.

Again, I don't think my clients lie to me, I just think they don't realize what they're eating and how it can affect their waist line.

I call these things "hidden calories."

Hidden calories include things like jellies, sauces, salad dressings, juices, adding sugar to coffee or teas, etc.

They are things that seem minor, but can add up to hundreds of calories very quickly and if it's a habit to do them every day, that adds up to lots of fat over the weeks, months and years.

Do you have any hidden calories?

Do you put ketchup on every single bite of food?

Do you add a couple scoops of sugar to your morning cups of coffee?

Do you add salad dressing by the scoopful to your otherwise healthy salad, turning it into a calorie bomb?

Maybe you like to have a bagel for breakfast or for a mid-morning snack. That's all fine and dandy until you realize that most store-bought bagels are loaded with calories, the majority of them highly processed carbohydrates that will send your blood sugars through the roof, then send you crashing back to earth, only to be hungrier than before.

Maybe you eat perfectly all day (uh-huh, sure you do) only to succumb to a bowl of ice cream or cereal before bed. Bam! There's a few hundred worthless calories right there.

My point is that these hidden calories will add up...quickly. They will add up in the form of fat around your waist, on your butt or giving you a little more jiggle than you're comfortable with. Or, they'll just de-rail your otherwise healthy eating plan and stop your fat loss dead in its tracks.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to find these hidden calories and get rid of them (sorry, I watched Mission impossible the other day). Or at least greatly reduce them so they're no longer a factor in your fat loss.

Get rid of the sauces.

Cut your salad dressing in half.

Cut the sugar and cream out of your coffee.

Drink brewed green tea rather than the store bought kind that doesn't have all the health benefits anyway.

Think about what yours are and fix them.

Have a good day!

Ed

Want To Know How I Fit 7 Servings of Fruit In Before Lunch?

Yesterday I told you about the importance of “baby steps” when it comes to anything having to do with nutrition or exercise.

My point was that you shouldn’t have the idea in your head that you can go from 0 to 100 just by flipping a switch. You need to take small steps over and over again in order to make big changes.

Today I’m going to give you a few more pointers dealing with the idea of baby steps.

Let’s say that your goal for the next couple weeks is to add more fruits and vegetables to your daily diet.

Here’s what I do that gets me 7 servings of fruit in before lunch.

Everyday for breakfast I have a smoothie. It’s part of my routine. I have a glass of green tea, then make my smoothie and head out the door. The smoothie contains blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, pomegranate juice, ground flax seeds, wheat germ, protein powder and a little skim milk.

When you have a breakfast like that, calorie counting isn’t really even a concern. I’ve heard trainers and other fitness/nutrition people tell their clients or readers not to eat bananas or other fruits because they’re too high in carbohydrates. That’s a bunch of bull. I’ve never known anyone to get fat because they eat too much fruit. Not only that, but most bananas are only around 100 calories.

Anyway, back to my 7 servings of fruit before lunch.

That breakfast nets me 4 servings of fruit right off the bat. A serving berries is ½ cup and I have ½ cup of each of those berries, plus the pomegranate juice adds another serving.

Then mid-morning I’ll have an apple and a banana. Most bananas actually count as 2 servings, an a medium sized apple counts as 1. So there’s my 7 servings all before lunch.

My energy levels are through the roof in the morning and it’s all because I get all that fruit with the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fiber and protein.

So if a healthy breakfast is your first “baby step”, follow my lead and have a healthy, fat fighting, immune system boosting smoothie everyday.

What if your “baby step” is that you want to start doing fat loss workouts 5 or 6 days per week, but you only regularly exercise 2 or 3 times? Then what?

Make an appointment with yourself. That’s the easiest way to ensure that you’ll find the time and stick to it.

You might have to get up 30 minutes earlier or miss your daily lunch with friends or co-workers, but so be it.

By setting a fat loss workout appointment with yourself, and sticking to it, you’ll be that much closer to setting that new habit in stone.

And healthy habits are no different than bad habits in one respect. They are hard to break.

Once you’ve changed a couple things for the better and you see and feel the results, you will actually feel guilty if you begin to break that habit for a couple days.

If you get used to exercising 4-6 days per week and have to miss a couple for whatever reason, it will eat at you because you know how much better you feel for it.

Or, if you begin to have a healthy smoothie every morning for breakfast and you forget one morning, or decide to do breakfast out with some friends and eat something unhealthy, you will feel guilty and might even get a stomach ache because you’re not used to the unhealthy meal.

Your body yearns to run at its peak. It wants to be healthy and fit, you just have to give it the means.

So, what are your baby steps? Figure them out and start today!

Have a good day!

Ed Scow

P.S. – If you want to try having a smoothie every morning for breakfast, one of the bonuses that comes with my Fat Loss To Go program includes over 100 different smoothie recipes. With that eBook, you really have no excuse on what to have for breakfast. Plus, smoothies make a great post-workout meal. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com

The Easiest Fat Loss Nutrition Tip I Can Possibly Give

The other day I was training a client and she asked me about nutrition.

We got to talking and she asked me "What's the easiest thing you can tell me? What one nutrition tip can you give me that will help me lose fat and stay healthy?"

That was a very good question. And a tough one to boil down to just one thing.

I'm not very good at giving one sentence answers.

What I came up with was a pretty good tip, though.

I told her if it has no chance of spoiling, don't eat it.

Pretty simple, right?

Well, think about it. What foods spoil?

Fruits, vegetables, dairy products, breads, meats, etc.

What foods don't spoil and would probably still be edible after a nuclear blast?

Processed carbohydrates like crackers, chips, or basically anything that comes in a bag or box or can.

I know that chips and crackers can get stale, but that's not the same as eating a banana after it's sat on your counter for a few days. Stale chips are still edible. Ask any poor college kid.

I could go in farther with this tip and get into whole-wheat vs. white, non-fat dairy vs. 2%, and lean meat vs. fatty and that would be a very good conversation. I'll save that for another day because I was asked about 1 tip, not a research project.

I will however go a little farther into that tip and give you some advice for your next trip to the grocery store.

Stay on the edges of the grocery store and don't venture into the middle aisles. The outside of the store is where all the fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meats are as well as their organic counterparts. These are the foods you want to stock up on.

Not only are those foods that spoil the ones that will help you lose fat, but they're loaded with the things that our bodies need to survive.

They have the vitamins, minerals, cancer-fighting phytonutrients, enzymes, proteins, amino-acids and healthy fats our bodies must have in order to stay healthy and live a full life. A life without constant colds, trips to the doctor and an ever-growing waist line.

However, when you venture down the dark, cavernous center aisles you get into the highly processed items like kids' cereals, chips, crackers, sugar-laden condiments, soda, alcohol, etc. and those are the things that will make you fat and unhealthy.

Simple enough, right?

I promise you that if you take this one, overly simple piece of advice and put it to use you will see results. And not only in your waist line, but how you feel too. You will be more vibrant, have more energy, your skin will look and feel better, your hair will look and feel better, plus you'll start to strip the goo off your waist line.

So do it and do it today.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. - I'm working on getting a lot of good nutrition bonuses from some fitness professionals I know to be added to my Fat Loss To Go program. There's going to be recipes, fat loss tips for people on the go, etc. Once I get all these bonuses together, they'll be up on the site as f.ree bonuses. However, if you buy before then I'll be sending you all the bonuses at no additional cost.

There's also going to be a ton of new workout bonuses in there too including abs specific workouts, workouts geared towards women's trouble spots and men's trouble spots, etc.. So make sure you don't miss out! Go to www.fatlosstogo.com today and get it purchased!

Was Your Easter Gluttonous?

Have you ever said something to someone that you knew was stupid? You know, the old "foot in mouth" syndrome?

I do that quite regularly. I don't know why, but stupid things seem to flow out of my mouth pretty readily and I get my foot lodged deep down my gullet.

That's actually how I got the idea for this newsletter. I said something stupid.

You know what the best way is to alleviate "foot in mouth syndrome"?

Apologize and move one.

Pretty easy, isn't it?

The same thing can be said about messing up with your exercise program and eating plan, like eating too much Easter candy or too much ham, casseroles, side salads, etc..

We all mess up. I do that quite often, too. Just today I ate some (OK, a lot) of Starburst Jelly Beans. Yes, I know I'm a personal trainer who's supposed to be all about fitness and fat loss, but I love those little sugar-laden, fat storing, demons.

And it's just this one time, right? I just ate them because it was Easter...and they were readily available...and they kept calling my name.

But I just have to move on. I already did it. I can't change the past. The jelly beans are already eaten. I can't do anything about it now other than pick myself up off the ground, dust myself off and move on.

Tomorrow is another day and I won't eat poorly tomorrow. I'll eat my fruits and vegetables and get my protein.

Have you ever done that? Have you ever messed up your eating plan (like yesterday)? Maybe you splurged a little bit over the weekend and now you feel like a bloated sloth. Or maybe you were running late and decided to run through the drive-thru and your cravings got the better of you and instead of getting the chicken sandwich without mayo, you got the double cheeseburger and fries with the giant Coke (and "no", making it a Diet Coke doesn't make it any better).

Or maybe you decided you'd rather head to the bar after work than doing your fast fat loss workout. It's just one workout, right?

But then the guilt hits and that's no fun.

You have two choices at this point. You can either give up and tell yourself you can't do it, or you can pick yourself up and move on.

The only way to alleviate that guilt, and succeed in your fitness or fat loss goals, is to move on. You can't change what you just did. You can't go into the past and do the workout you skipped. You can't join Michael J. Fox in the time machine from Back to the Future and go back and not eat that double cheeseburger (or Starburst Jelly Beans in my case).

You just have to move on...and more importantly not do it again.

That's the real key. Don't do it again. We all make mistakes, and changing your eating and exercise habits are big undertakings and mistakes are bound to be made. But you must remember that if you do mess up, just move on, don't worry about it and keep moving forward...and try not to do it again.

Have a good week!

Ed

P.S. Did you know that the unofficial start to summer is only about 10 weeks away? This year is already flying by. Don't get stuck wishing you had worked out and ate better come summer. Do something about it now. Go to http://www.fatlosstogo.com/ today and get started on your fat loss journey immediately.

How To Lose Fat On The Weekend

The weekends are a killer for most people on any sort of exercise plan, especially if fat loss is the main goal.

I’m willing to bet that you don’t work on weekends, so that throws you out of your routine. You probably have activities, either for your kids or yourself, that you need to run around to and errands to run, or chores to do around the house, and you get out of bed a little later (unless you have kids or a whiny dog, like me).

All this throws you out of the routine you’ve made for yourself during the week.

You’re not getting up at the same time, not preparing the same healthy breakfast, or you’re eating it a little too late in the morning and probably splurging a little bit because, hey, it’s the weekend. You’re entitled to a little relaxing and splurging on the weekends, aren’t you?

That’s true to some degree. I know that I relax my eating habits a little on the weekend. Not too much, though. If you splurge or relax too much you’re going to put your goals at a standstill (at best) or not make any progress at all.

Weekends can actually kill your fat loss goals.

So here’s what I do, and what you should do too, in order to keep yourself on the right track and still relax a little on the weekends.

1. Do your workout first thing in the morning. As soon as you wake up, do your workout. This may require getting up 10 minutes earlier than you’re used to so you can make sure you get some peace and quiet, but this is a must if you really want to stick to your goals. A lot of my workouts only take 10 minutes to complete, so if you get up just 10 minutes earlier, you could have a killer fat fighting workout already done in the time it takes most people to get warmed up. Check out my 10 minute workouts at www.fatlosstogo.com

a. If you tell yourself you’ll do it later in the morning or even in the afternoon, you’re not going to do it. Something will come up. A friend will call and want to go out to dinner. Your family may plan an evening out. Or you’ll just get sidetracked. Not only will you make sure you get your workout out of the way, but you’ll boost your metabolism for the rest of the day, meaning you’ll burn more fat than if you otherwise skipped the workout, and it’ll wake you up.

2. Stick to your same healthy breakfast as during the week. If you have a smoothie for breakfast during the week and you feel great after having it, then do that on the weekends too. You know how much I value breakfast when it comes to fighting fat and just living a healthy lifestyle, so why would the weekend be any reason not to have it? I’m a creature of habit, which means I find something I like and stick to it. So I have the same exact smoothie on the weekends as I do during the week. The smoothie includes blueberries, raspberries, organic skim milk, pomegranate juice, ground flax seed, wheat germ, and vanilla protein powder. Try it sometime, it’s great.


3. Don’t go overboard with the cheat meals. Whenever people tell me they’re having trouble losing fat and I ask how their eating habits are during the week and how that compares with the weekend, the weekend is always the culprit for the failed fat loss. You go out to lunch and/or dinner everyday and drink alcohol. Going out to lunch and dinner is fine, I encourage it, but there are ways to do it and stick to your healthy, fat fighting diet.

a. Don’t order an appetizer. Don’t drink alcohol, and if you do really make sure you’re eating a low-calorie, low-fat meal. Don’t eat fast. You’re not some starving kid in Africa and nobody is going to come snatch your plate from you, so why do you need to eat that fast? Put your fork down in between bites and take a drink of water. This ensures you eat slower and digest your food properly.

4. Make sure you get your rest. Weekends are supposed to be a time for you to rest and recoup, but far too many people go way too hard on the weekends trying to accomplish way too much. Your body needs to rest and recuperate at some point and I’m willing to bet you don’t get enough sleep during the week. Doing too much and stressing yourself out is only going to make it that much harder to lose fat. Plus it’ll make you lose your hair, gain more belly fat and just be a pain in the butt to be around.

There you go. That’s the easiest I can put it for fighting fat on the weekends. If you want to lose fat, and are struggling, do those 4 things this weekend and see how you feel come Monday morning. If you do at least 3 of those 4, I guarantee you that you’ll feel better, you won’t be so bloated from the poor eating and alcohol and will be well on your way to losing all the fat you want.

Have a good weekend!

Ed

The Key To The Show "The Biggest Loser"

Have you ever seen the show "The Biggest Loser"?

I don't think I've ever watched an entire episode, but I'll tune in for a few minutes every now and again.

It's kind of intriguing. These severely overweight individuals putting themselves through hell to lose weight. I think it's awesome that they put themselves out there like that, in front of millions of people, and get healthy.

But do you know the real reason they lose a ton of weight on that show?

Yes they spend a lot of time working out (hours upon hours per day) and, yes, they have the food spoon fed to them which makes it kind of tough to fail, but there's something else that really makes them succeed.

Something else that many people are missing in their own health and fitness goals, no matter what they may be.

That something else is social support.

The people on "The Biggest Loser" don't just rely on themselves in this fat loss adventure, they have the other people on the show who are in the same boat. Plus they've got personal trainers there walking them through every step of the way.

If they are having trouble with something, they have someone to talk to.

If they don't know how to do an exercise or are using horrible form, their trainer is there to correct and motivate them.

When they're doing really hard workouts, they motivate one another.

Social support is the REAL reason the people on that show succeed.

I'm not saying that you need a big cheerleading section behind you, patting you on the back and telling you "You can do it!", but you need someone.

You need someone to tell you "no" when you want to eat that piece of cheesecake.

Someone to tell you to get your butt out of bed to do your workout when you don't really feel like getting up.

You need someone to remind you why you decided to do what you're doing.

What you don't need is someone telling you that your butt is too big, that you have developed a nice "muffin top", or that your belly has started oozing over your pants. That's not helpful. If you have someone telling you that, you have my permission to smack them upside the head...hard.

The best thing to do is to find someone (friend, spouse, family member, or co-worker), who wants to fulfill the same goal you are looking to accomplish. So, if you want to lose 20 pounds of belly fat, find someone else that you can rely on throughout the journey.

Like I said, it doesn't have to be a cheerleading section, because nobody wants to be a cheerleader and you can't rely on someone to constantly cheer you on, it just has to be someone that you can trust and who is honest and won't back down when you glare at them with those evil eyes when they tell you that you should put down that box of girl scout cookies because you already filled your quota of cheat meals for the week.

So who's going to fill that role with you? Think about it and ask them.

Ed

Can You Eat Your Chia Pet?

Whenever I see an interesting news article regarding food and nutrition it perks my ears and an article I read last week about Chia seeds really piqued my interest only because I've never heard it talked about before.

"Ch-Ch-Chia". Come on, you know the words to the song from those annoying Chia Pet commercials. So sing along.

Those things were kind of weird if you ask me. Spread some green mushy seeds across a clay sculpture, water it and watch it sprout green "hair".

They made a slight comeback in recent years with more creatures to spread the mush on, ranging from animals to Disney's Shrek.

But, did you know that Chia seeds are actually good for you? Who would've thought that a novelty item would actually turn out to have some tangible use?

It turns out that Chia seeds are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and protein. The ancient Aztecs ate lots of Chia seeds, including when they would go on long marches. The Chia seeds turned out to be a very good food for endurance, as well as staving off hunger. The fiber in the Chia seed expands in your stomach, making you feel fuller longer. As a matter of fact, Chia seeds can absorb up to 10 times their weight in water. That sounds like me after I eat a meal high in salt.

I've written before about how important Omega-3 fatty acids and fiber are to your diet, not only for fat loss, but for general health as well. Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent heart disease and other heart ailments, lower triglycerides, lower mild hypertension, aid with circulatory problems, depression, brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, skin health, arthritis and other joint issues, hair health, diabetes, immune system, muscle function, fat loss, and the list keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Chia seeds are also fantastic for diabetics because they slow down the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose because of the fiber and protein content.

The Chia seeds are also loaded with calcium, B vitamins and other vitamins and minerals.

If you're a runner, you may want to give Chia seeds a try because they are known as the "Indian Running Food". Not very politically correct, I know, but that's beside the point. As I mentioned earlier, the ancient Aztecs would load up on Chia seeds before their conquests and long marches. They found that the seeds gave them more sustained energy.

I'm sure that you have probably heard of Flax seeds and Flax oil, but Chia seeds are actually more nutritious than flax in that they have more Omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and protein.

You can add the Chia seeds to just about anything. You can add them to your smoothies, salads, yogurt, cereal (both cold and hot), jellies, pancake and waffle mixes, sauces, etc. You're only limited by your imagination.

Here's the breakdown for 1 oz. of Chia seeds: Per 1 oz. serving they have approximately 9 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.

Kind of interesting isn't it? We keep trying to come up with more and more super foods, magic diets and prescription pills to fix what ails us, but the most nutritious foods are right under our noses and have been for centuries.

Not only things like Chia and Flax seeds, but fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole-grains, etc. Eat more of them and I guarantee you'll lose fat and be in better health overall.

Have a good day!

Ed Scow

Nigh Time Eating? Yes or No

One very common question I get is about eating at night.

People want to know if they should eat anything after dinner or if they should eat anything past a certain time or any other combination of this question.

I don't know where this idea of not eating past 6pm (or whatever time) got started. I'm sure Oprah said it at some point, so I'll blame it on her.

There is a little truth to not eating at night after dinner, but I think there's a bigger picture involved.

Why do you eat at night?

Are you really hungry or is there another reason?

I think the reason that you eat at night is twofold.

Number 1 is that you're bored. The day is winding to a close and you are watching some reality show because there aren't any scripted shows on thanks to the writers' strike (I miss 24) and you need something to do. So you go to the refrigerator or cupboard and grab some comfort food to take up the time.

The other reason is that you want to relax at night.

Everybody wants to relax at night. It's instinctual. Your body is naturally getting ready to sleep and you need to relax or wind down in order to sleep.

There's actually a scientific reason behind this as well.

Most snack foods are high in sugar. Sugar releases opiates in the brain that make you feel good.

When you feel good, you relax. When you relax, you are ready to sleep, which makes your body happy.

But these same feel good foods make you fat, which doesn't make you happy, it makes you mad.

So, the question still remains is it OK to snack at night or to eat past a certain time.

Of course it's OK to eat at night.

It's definitely OK to eat past a certain time. The thought that there's some magical cutoff in the day that if you consume anything after this magical hour you'll be gaining lots of fat is ridiculous.

The problem isn't eating at night, it's what you eat at night.

Are you eating the high sugar, fat-laden snack foods? Or are you eating something good for you like a piece of fruit or some fat-free dairy or some almonds.

All of those foods I just mentioned will help you relax and get ready for sleep, by the way and are good if you want to lose fat.

That's the key to eating at night. Eat healthy snacks. And remember, healthy doesn't have to be boring and healthy isn't inconvenient, either.

So take that Oprah! You can eat at night and lose fat too!

I think I should have my own talk show called "Ed".

I know for a fact that my "favorite things" episodes would be much cooler and there's no way Tom Cruise would jump around my furniture without getting a slap in the head.

Have a good week and snack well!

Ed Scow

As President I Will Fix Healthcare By Doing...

Given the presidential race and all the hullabaloo revolving around whose healthcare plan is better, I thought I'd dip my toe into the dirty water and give you my fix.

You may not like my plan, but it makes the most sense. It doesn't raise taxes and it will save you money and lead to a much happier lifestyle.

Are you ready for it?

It's called "Take Care Of Yourself, America!!"

Pretty easy, huh?

Think about it, though. There was a report that just came out that said that by the year 2017 for every $5 spent, $1 will be spent on healthcare. Take that number out farther, for every $500 spent, at least $100 will be spent on healthcare. That is insane! Think of the repercussions this will have on our entire economy.

And much of this spending is due to preventable health issues. Not genetic issues or things that are out of our control or routine physicals which we all should do. There will always be things you can't control, but a good chunk of healthcare spending (or sick care as I like to call it) is spent on things that need not occur.

I'm going to give you 2 areas of statistics to prove my point.

The first area is obvious...being overweight.

The last time a survey was taken over 60% of our population was either overweight or obese.

This can lead to a whole host of preventable health issues and diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pain, muscle pain, asthma, etc. The last time I checked all of those health issues require a medication or medical intervention of some sort, and a lot of it.

So, if as a population we were to take care of ourselves a little more and actually eat better and exercise this would greatly decrease the amount of spending on health care.

Many people think they exercise enough because they go for a walk occasionally or play some golf when the weather is nice, but it takes a lot more than leisure activity to lose fat.

Also, I have statistics on my side that says that the majority of people in this country do not exercise.

The CDC reported in their National Health Review that 53% of men NEVER engage in any vigorous physical activity. Never!

It gets worse for women. A whopping 65% of women NEVER engage in any vigorous physical activity.

Now you may be thinking that they used the word "vigorous", but vigorous is a relative term and when the government uses that term it usually refers to anything more than a leisurely stroll around the block. Plus what I didn't mention was that 65% of women and 53% of men never engage in vigorous physical activity lasting longer than 10 minutes. 10 minutes!

The second area I want to give you some statistics on are related to back pain.

Back pain is huge in this country and it's mostly because we're too sedentary.

We sit at desks all day, drive too much and sit on the couch too much.

This leads to muscle imbalances, muscle weakness and a whole lot of muscle pain.

As many as 50% of Americans report some type of back pain every year. Some of these may be minor, but as many as 30% of adults have thought their back pain needed a trip to the doctor to help alleviate. That's a lot of people considering our population is around 300 million.

There are some experts that say that as many as 4 out of every 5 people will experience back pain in their lifetime...and not just a little twinge here or there, either.

These next two statistics are staggering. In 2001, close to 14 million people visited their doctor to deal with their back pain, and I think it's safe to say that many of them went more than once.

A Canadian study reported that 40% of all work absences were due to back pain. I don't even want to know how much that equated to in lost revenue.

So do yourself and your country a favor, take care of yourself.

I guarantee that if we got more people exercising, eating better and paying better attention to their bodies that the cost of healthcare will go down.

The only problem is I can't force anyone to do anything, unless that is that you come to my boot camps or train with me...then I can get you moving.

But you know what? Neither can a politician.

You have to take the initiative for yourself and tell yourself that you're going to start exercising more, so get up and start an exercise regimen that includes resistance training and cardio.

Start eating healthier meals that includes lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and packed with fiber.

Start moving around more if you're desk bound or spend a lot of time behind the wheel. For every hour you spend sitting, spend at least 10 minutes up and moving around to keep your muscles limber and the blood flowing. This will do a lot to help curtail back pain. And if you already have back pain, get a massage from a good massage therapist. It will do wonders for your pain.

Think of the children. Sorry, that was too good to pass up. I had to get some politician speak in there when dealing with healthcare.

Ed Scow

The Absolute Worst Phrase in Your Fitness Vocabulary Is...

This last Sunday night I came downstairs after helping my wife put our baby to bed and I was exhausted. I was exhausted emotionally and mentally.

The problem was I had a couple things I needed to get done. Plus, I was hungry. I’m sure that many of you have been in that same situation. Tired, with things needing to be done and hungry.

That is a very bad combination.

My first reaction was to say “I’ll do it tomorrow”, to the things that needed to get done and head for the fridge to find something sweet to eat. I crave sweets and peanut butter cups when I’m hungry.

As I was headed over to the fridge that stupid little voice came busting into my head.
“Weren’t you going to write a newsletter about this very subject?” That’s what the little voice said to me. They say you’re only crazy if you answer the little voices…so I said “yes, I was going to write a newsletter about this”.

Stupid little voice. I had my heart set on ice cream.

My inner voice was right. I was planning on writing a newsletter on that evil little phrase of “I’ll do it tomorrow.” Or the other one is, “I’ll start tomorrow.”

That phrase is so easy to say, yet it is the absolute worst thing you can possibly tell yourself if you want to start living a fit and healthy lifestyle.

How many times have you told yourself that you were going to start eating better and exercising, but that you were going to start after this one last meal, or this one last weekend? Then that’s it, all bets are off and you’re living the straight and narrow. If you’re like me, or the millions of others out there you’ve said it countless times.

But was it true? Did you really “start tomorrow”? Or did something else get in the way that impeded your new fitness lifestyle? Or maybe you lasted a couple days, then fell back on your old ways only to start the process all over again within a few weeks or months.

But why?

What’s so special about tomorrow that you have to wait? Is tomorrow some special, magical day that serves some special purpose?

The truth is there is no better time than right now. If you make the decision to start eating better, exercising, stopping smoking, or whatever, there is no better time than right this very instant.

Put down the cookie you’re eating while reading this. Put the bowl of ice cream in the sink. Shut the refrigerator. Do some squats and push-ups. It doesn’t matter, just start right now. It doesn’t have to be something major.

You’ve already made the decision to start, just start right now rather than tomorrow. If you do things right, living a healthy and fit lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself of the treats you love. You just have to partake in those treats less often.

So stop telling yourself that you’re going to start tomorrow. You’ve said that enough times, now just buck up and start right now.

I mean it.

Start this very instant.

As soon as you’re done reading this, do something that takes a step in the right direction rather than something that takes you a few steps back.

Eat an apple. Eat a handful of almonds. Make a smoothie. Get some rest. Go workout. Go for a walk, or jump on the treadmill if it’s too cold where you are. Clean all the junk out of your cupboards.

Do something, anything. Just don’t start tomorrow. Start NOW!

Have a good week!

P.S. – If you need help getting started, let me know and I can help. Or you can buy my Fat Loss To Go eBook by clicking here.

The Most Important Word in Your Fitness Vocabulary Is...

…CONSISTENCY!

Consistency is by far the most important word in your fitness vocabulary. Not diet. Not cardio. Not strength training, or resistance training, or weight training. Not even your friendly personal trainer’s name should be top on the list (he should be a close second, though). Consistency should always be at the top of your list of importance. It doesn’t matter what your goals are, whether they be to lose fat, more flexibility or to just stay healthy.

It also doesn’t matter what program you adhere to. I know I just worked my butt off creating a fat loss program (which I think is fantastic, by the way, and you can check out at http://www.fatlosstogo.com/ ) but to be totally honest, it doesn’t really matter what program you do to as long as you stick to it.

Do you want to go to Yoga or Pilates class in order to get fit or lose some fat? That’s great, but you have to do it and you have to do it consistently.

Or maybe you’re a someone who reads fitness magazines and wants to give one of their workouts a try. That’s great, too. Just do it and follow the program until it’s done.
If you hate exercise and want to start eating better in order to lose that extra flab, that’s fantastic. Just stick to your healthy eating habits most of the time and you’re good to go.

However, the one thing that is not OK for anyone to do is follow a fad diet. Those may work for the short-term, but don’t work in the long run because they don’t teach you how to eat properly once the diet is supposed to be done. They don’t teach you healthy habits and most don’t give any attention to exercise and if they do, their plan is worthless. (However, if your only plan is to eat better and not exercise, I think you’re severely limiting your results because exercise is critical. It makes your results come much, much quicker and won’t turn you into a “skinny fat person”.)

You can’t decide you’re going to exercise and then only follow your new plan once or twice per week for a few weeks, and then quit because you’re not seeing results or because you’re too busy. Nor can you decide you want to eat better, only to succumb to temptation at the first sight of a Snickers bar and then give up saying that it’s just too hard.

We live in a society that wants everything NOW. We want everything in a pill or in a drive-thru or delivered.

Well, fitness and fat loss just don’t work that way. You have to work and you have to be consistent with whatever you have decided to do.

If you want to exercise more to lose some fat, then you have to do it 3-4 days per week …consistently. You can’t just walk into a gym, or your basement, and pick things up willy-nilly and start your own program, either. You have to have a plan…you need some guidance. (I’ll get into this in a future newsletter).

If you want to eat healthier and lose your fat that way, that’s great but you have to do it right and you have to stick to your new habits. It may be difficult, but that’s just the way it is.

Now, that’s not to say that things aren’t going to pop up that make it very difficult to follow your new goals. Things always pop up and there are always reasons to stumble and miss a workout or two and eat poorly. That’s no excuse, however. That’s just life.

You just have to pick yourself up and move on and keep on with what you set out to achieve.
If you want to succeed, you must be consistent.

Commit to yourself that you are going to be consistent with your fitness goals in 2008 and make this year different than in year’s past.

If you need help setting up a good program, whether your goals are for fat loss, muscle gain, make your golf game better or just to stay healthy, let me know and I will help you. Or, if you’re busy like most people and want an awesome fat loss program that can be done in your own home, then click on http://www.fatlosstogo.com/ and check out my new downloadable fat loss program.
That’s it for this week.