Healthy Living 101

[Tony_SS]

I hear you Todd... I would like to get some blood work done. Except, my doctor is not a nutritionist, I hate needles, and I'm no fan of doctors either. lol

Example, all my life I've had digestion problems. The doctors remedy? Treat the symptoms with TUMS or some pill. WRONG. The problem was that my stomach did not make enough acid. The solution, I started drinking Braggs apple cider vinegar every other day. No more burping, hiccups, and indigestion. I can finally take on some garlic like never before! I drink it now every morning. Plus it helps keep my body in an alkaline state. Just like lemons are very acidic, but when they get to your stomach, the turn alkaline. I also eat an apple+seeds everyday since its one of the most alkaline foods out there. The seeds are loaded with B-17, that has super cancer fighting properties.

Todd, I'm glad to hear about you cutting the wheat out. Try it and see what happens. I would cut as much as you can, if not all of it. It might be what's causing the binding. It's an industrial product now, its not our grandparents wheat anymore. Give it time too, everyone's different. I do still treat myself to things that might have some wheat, but I've cut 90% of it out of my life.

Another result of the paleo diet is that I'm never hungry. Products like wheat (gluten) and corn syrup are designed to increase our appetite. I was always hungry when I ate that stuff, hence being 20lbs over weight!

I eat 3 times a day, normal meals and I'm satisfied each time. I have a bag of nuts or piece of fruit in between. But I don't think we were designed to "graze" all day, eating 5-8 meals/snacks. I think that is a result of gluten and sugar making us hungry all the time.

So for this weekend, I'll being dining on some BBQ RIBS along with red onions, green, yellow and red peppers with plenty of Kerrygold butter (from grassfed cows), salt, pepper, garlic, maybe some asparagus too. Unsweetened ice tea to wash it down and for desert, raspberries, blueberries and starwberries with homemade whipped cream.

[Vegas69]

Doctors are like any other profession, first of all, it's a business. Then they all have different educations, skills, and ultimately, intelligence. That was one of my hurdles when I first went down this road, finding a good doctor. I believe I've done that as she's young and genuinely interested in improving my health.

Kelli and I has a gluten free pizza tonight with goat cheese, spinach, pine nuts and kale salad with figs, feta cheese and the rest I can't remember. I was impressed with the gluten free crust. I am going to keep as much wheat out of my diet as possible to see if I feel the difference. I hope you are right about the binding. My doctor recommended probiotics which I'll try as well.

One area where I have to disagree is frequency of consumption. My metabolism is very active. I prefer lighter meals and healthy snacks and deserts. I can eat 9 times a day and easily maintain my weight. Of course my snacks are apples, raw nuts, grapefruit, hummus, carrots, greek yogurt, blueberries, you get the idea..(And that's all today) Ha

I do agree on high fructose corn syrup which I avoid like the plague.

I'm enjoying our debate Tony.

My mentor Jim Rohn said, "When you think you have all the answers, it's time to start asking different questions".

[protour73]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Is this thread still goin'??

What I've found with working out -- is that the scales don't really tell the tale... it's the pant size that I've dropped.... last shopping trip they were 33's -- not the 36's I was wearing.

Originally Posted by Sieg

About 6+ years ago I looked in the mirror one morning and said that's enough.......I was 5'-11" 36" waist and 217 lbs. I've seen a low of 167, went from 36" pant to comfy 34's, L/XL shirts to lose fitting Medium's.

The key elements for myself were
- 40-50% reduction in intake volume
- 20 minute fast high rep weight workout at lunch, 400+ reps Crunches/Curls. Tri-press/leg press/Lat pulls/dumb bell curls.

Find what works for your body and routine then stay the course until it becomes habit, then it becomes easy/normal!

Totally agree with both of you!!

Back in January, the company I work for decided to give back to the employees, during our office expansion and built a company fitness room!!

What a great perk, and timely as well. I was looking in the mirror saying to myself....."Damn dude, 55 years old and you are "THAT guy"!!! Middle aged fat ass.

I go into work every day @ 6am, an hour before I start work and do a 20-25 minute workout. Pretty much identical to what Sieg mentioned.....almost exclusively upper body exercises.

Virtually NO diet change, with the exception of smaller portions.....and WOW what a change!!!! At my last annual physical last month, I dropped 6lbs, my cholesterol dropped from 206 to 196, triglycerides down from 178 to 118, good cholesterol went UP and bad cholesterol went DOWN.

I'm not sporting 6-pack abs, and probably never will ......but after 5 months of a religious 5 day a week workout (I do enough around the house and yard on weekends!!) there is definite muscle mass increase. I used to have occasional back ache in the morning when I woke up, that is gone with the muscles in the back being strengthened, my energy level increased.

And like Greg says, the scale does not tell the tale. I made a point of NOT looking at the scale over the last 5 months. Muscle weighs more than fat, so I thought if I start increasing the muscle mass, I might actually gain weight. But that wasn't the case.....pants start getting loose, that's sign enough!!

I really have to thank my company for the great gift to us, the employees in the form of that fitness room. It is so convenient it would be a crime to not use it to improve yourself!!!

[Vegas69]

That's awesome Scott, I bet you are one of the few that has taken advantage of your new facility. That day you look in the mirror I like to call the day of Disgust that turns your life around.

I do agree that looking in the mirror instead of at the scale initially is the right idea. Once you find a work out program and stick to it until you have reached the peak fitness level for that workout, weight does come into play. You aren't gaining muscle anymore, simply maintaining your level of fitness. That's when you need to start seeing the scale come down. How long that takes really comes down to how out of shape an individual was to start with. I would estimate that someone starting from scratch should get to that level with consistency in no longer than 3-4 months.

When a plateau is hit, you aren't getting in better shape and the scale won't budge, it's time to look at your nutrition and calorie intake. It's much easier to improve your diet than double your work outs. That's where most go wrong, they try to make up for poor nutrition in the gym, it's nearly impossible and leads to the towel being thrown in the ring. You must enjoy the work outs and if they become to long, it's easy to make an excuse not to go.

Scott, your work out routine is perfect. 25 minutes, 5 days a week is plenty to keep you fit.

I also think that decreasing your portion size is smart. Just don't go overboard and start consuming an unrealistically low amount of daily calories that will lead to the towel being thrown in the ring and the weight going right back on. It's my opinion that everybody should track their daily food intake through a journal or myfitness pal for a couple months to educate themselves on food content. It also allows you to find the daily calorie intake that will maintain your weight. Then it's easy to decrease the daily intake by say 300 calories to start sucking the fat off. Once you have tracked your diet and have found foods that are healthy and you can eat repetitively, you don't need to track anymore. You'll be in the ball park from experience.

[glassman]

Todd, that is sooo true what you say about portion control. When my wife and I are on travel, i can't help but notice the obesity around, in this country. Everything is "bigger & tastier", soo sad.

I am going to try the "gluten" thing, i am also going to go to a nutrionalist to see what it is that disagree's with me. I am 46, very driven, hyperactive and i need to slow down, its like the racing saying "ya gotta go slow (smooth) to go fast".
I cycle and row and eat fairly well, but owning a business can kick your butt sometimes.

So i'm taking a week off, and staying at some resort in the desert, during one of the hottest weeks of the year, timing. Ever here of that town in southern Nevada, the one with all the action? Seriously though, my wife and i have no plans but to rest & exercise in the gym and see a couple of shows maybe, eat GOOD food, and chill (no pun intended) ....;

But i gotta loose 7 to 10 off the gut, I had major shoulder surgery last year that really took its toll on me, plus with biz being super good, its tough to get my two hour rides in, i'm down to 3 to4 hours a week. Thats still not enough for me to loose weight, so i gotta watch my diet even more....

Mike

[Vegas69]

Mike, welcome to the sauna, I mean paradise. You'll knock that 10 lbs off in no time with some tweaks to your diet! A nutritionalist is a great idea.

No matter how great your nutrition is or how much you exercise, you will get tired. Rest is still one of my weaknesses. I love to be productive and make progress in every segment of this crazy wheel we call life. I push myself over the edge on a regular basis and it's almost comic reading my own journal and watching it happen over and over. I've been paying the price for a year now to get my life on the trajectory I desire. That has meant very little rest but that has to change now that I'm on track. The 4 day weekend vacation every quarter that I've set as a personal goal will now come to fruition. I need to get better about saying NO to myself. Life is a delicate balancing act. I have to admit that I prefer for the balance bar to be on the over busy side.

I'm working 36-40 hours a week but it's super focused. (Realistically most folks 50-60) My work outs are only 2 hours a week but they are super high intensity.(Realistically most folks 3-4) I spend a good hour or more on personal development most days. (CD's, Videos, Books, Journaling, Reviewing Goals) Eating healthy at the house requires more time and effort. These things are constants and I have no plans to change. Where I run into trouble is to much personal development, fishing at 4 AM three Saturdays in a row, projects around the house, my volunteer work, outing with friends. There is no room for complaint as I wouldn't have it any other way, I simply need to learn to leave myself time for a little more rest.

[Tony_SS]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

Doctors are like any other profession, first of all, it's a business. Then they all have different educations, skills, and ultimately, intelligence. That was one of my hurdles when I first went down this road, finding a good doctor. I believe I've done that as she's young and genuinely interested in improving my health.

Kelli and I has a gluten free pizza tonight with goat cheese, spinach, pine nuts and kale salad with figs, feta cheese and the rest I can't remember. I was impressed with the gluten free crust. I am going to keep as much wheat out of my diet as possible to see if I feel the difference. I hope you are right about the binding. My doctor recommended probiotics which I'll try as well.

One area where I have to disagree is frequency of consumption. My metabolism is very active. I prefer lighter meals and healthy snacks and deserts. I can eat 9 times a day and easily maintain my weight. Of course my snacks are apples, raw nuts, grapefruit, hummus, carrots, greek yogurt, blueberries, you get the idea..(And that's all today) Ha

I do agree on high fructose corn syrup which I avoid like the plague.

I'm enjoying our debate Tony.

My mentor Jim Rohn said, "When you think you have all the answers, it's time to start asking different questions".

Yes, good discussion. I try not to get so big headed to think that I have all the answers. It's taken me 39 years to figure that out. That is something to always keep in mind when talking to "professionals" too. There are many different nutritionists that will swear a "whole grain high-fiber, low saturated fat" diet is good for you. And it is not. It helped keep me 20 lbs over weight for 10+ years.

I think it's great there are so many gluten-free options out there. I'm totally on board after losing this weight from it. Todd, what about this, in addition to going gluten free, cut your dairy intake in half, and double your saturated fat intake. That should unlock things. Like I said everyone is different, it's just a matter of trying different solutions to see what works. The probiotics will aid in the good entrail bacteria you need, but I don't see that in aiding regularity. The dairy is likely the culprit.

Originally Posted by glassman

I am going to try the "gluten" thing, i am also going to go to a nutrionalist to see what it is that disagree's with me. I am 46, very driven, hyperactive and i need to slow down, its like the racing saying "ya gotta go slow (smooth) to go fast".
I cycle and row and eat fairly well, but owning a business can kick your butt sometimes.

So i'm taking a week off, and staying at some resort in the desert, during one of the hottest weeks of the year, timing. Ever here of that town in southern Nevada, the one with all the action? Seriously though, my wife and i have no plans but to rest & exercise in the gym and see a couple of shows maybe, eat GOOD food, and chill (no pun intended) ....;

But i gotta loose 7 to 10 off the gut, I had major shoulder surgery last year that really took its toll on me, plus with biz being super good, its tough to get my two hour rides in, i'm down to 3 to4 hours a week. Thats still not enough for me to loose weight, so i gotta watch my diet even more....

Mike

Hi Mike.. glad to hear you are going to try ditching the wheat. You WILL have great results! If not, you can come back here and verbally assault me. It can be hard at first. I suggest picking one meal a day that has no wheat. Then when you can handle that, move it up to 2 meals sans wheat. If you can cut at least 80% of wheat out (no one's perfect!) you'll loose the 10lbs in month. Good luck, report back!

[GregWeld]

Gwen and I went 100% Gluten free after reading Wheat Belly.... both lost a quick 10 #'s and that has stayed off...


Only thing we find we "must" eat because the substitutes just aren't ready for prime time ---- PASTA... if I make spaghetti -- I just use normal stuff.


We've found great - in fact very tasty - crackers... and breads... and even muffins that are not only gluten free - they're damn tasty!

[Vegas69]

I have to admit that my stomach has felt more active in the 3-4 days I haven't had any wheat with the exception of some beers Saturday night. I'm going to give it 3 solid weeks and report back my opinion. I don't expect to lose any weight. If anything, I feel hungrier today not having any bread.

Kelli has already bought me gluten free bread and other goodies to give it the old college try. I'm hoping for similar results to you guys.

Tony, I don't eat that much dairy. I'll have a few spoon fulls of greek yogurt with berries once a day at the most. It is non fat but certified organic. I could step it up a notch to higher fat content. I think I'll make one change with the wheat and then try cutting out the dairy. I do consume some shredded cheese and it does have a good amount of saturated fat. I'll eat red meat once a week at the least for that very reason. I do consume lots of olive oil in Kelli's cooking and on salads.

[Vegas69]

"If YOU change, everything will change for you" -Jim Rohn

Jim always says that you must study the results to see if your philosophy on life is working. It's been around a year since I started down this road so I thought I'd post the results of my new lifestyle.

I've posted the results of my fitness and nutrition but I want to make it clear that I've put 3-4 times more effort into my mind through personal development than I have my body.

I'm going to break it down into major categories:

Relationships:
Began a reconnection with God.
Greatly improved my relationship with my now Wife, Kelli.
Forged a very rewarding relationship with my little brother (Saif) mentoring him in Big Bro's/Big Sisters program. (He was my ring bear)
Created two new friendships with what I consider very positive associations
I believe I've become a better son, brother, and friend as well.

Health:
Lost over 30 lbs (195 to a low of 159, hover in the 162-165 range) High school weight
By far the best fitness of my life (15th out of 380 runners in a 5k) High intensity weights have kept me fairly muscular
Found a great doctor that is genuinely interested in my greater health. She found a B12 deficiency and low HDL which has now been fixed through supplement. (Retesting tomorrow) In the works to fix my septum with 80% blockage.
Overhauled my diet with Jack Lalanne ideals (If I can't pronounce it or don't know what it is, I do my best not to eat it!) Eat 7-9 times a day with a metabolism that's off the charts.
Squashed what I would consider alcoholism. Now drink lightly on Friday/Saturday. (Didn't get drunk at my own wedding) Occasional glass of wine on Thursday.

Personal Finances:
Changed my balance sheet by $25,000 per year! (Not income related except for rental properties) Paid off car along with other misc. cuts
Increased my net worth by OVER 30%.
Purchased two rental properties at 3.75% interest that cash flow $500 a month
Have a REAL plan on a spreadsheet down to the pennies on how to become a millionaire by 43 and financial independence by 50-55

Business:
Increased gross income by 52%! (Comparing mid 2012 to mid 2013)
I have become a much more polished leader for my team. There is no better way to lead than by example.
I have an evolving business model.
I track every lead that comes through the door.
I'm constantly changing marketing through accountability.
I have a business journal where I track my effort to make sure I'm putting in the required time and concentrating on major things.
Customer service has improved....
Have two accountability partners
Start with a coach next week
Have become a Dave Ramsey ELP

When I reflect on it, it's an amazing amount of progress in a years time. It really came down to DISGUST. I was sick of how I looked in the mirror, how I felt, my poor attitude towards business and my future. Some bad habits had progressively gotten worse and a 5 year down slide in the real estate market had whooped my ass mentally even though I had stayed successful.

Life change starts with EDUCATION. Once I desired to change, I had to figure out how? In the last year I've read over 25 books, listened to 40-50 educational CD's (Many multiple times). I started keeping a journal almost immediately. I spend an easy hour a day on personal development. Start every morning with a book or cd in my new study. Always a CD in my car, read almost every night before bed. I changed my influences by ignoring the news and not getting sucked into the wrong conversations. I've limited some associations and expanded others.

Attitude was and still is the hardest for me. The rest of it was a challenge but nothing in comparison to attitude. The problem with attitude is you don't fix it one day and move on with your life. It's a constant challenge. I was a good 6 months into this deal before I really started to diagnose it. Even though my attitude has improved greatly through my new disciplines, I hadn't figured out all my sources of unhappiness. The one major lingering was my business. I simply wasn't putting in the effort and the results showed it. It wasn't until serious reflection with a very good friend that I realized it. It was in my subconscious. Doing the BEST I CAN has made a huge difference in my life. Life's biggest challenge is being in control of your own mind. You must feed it quality information if you wish to be happy, progressive, and think the right thoughts.

I didn't write this to brag (Maybe a little), I really hope it inspires you to change if you aren't satisfied with your life. Remember, YOU must change if you want a better life.

Jim always says, Once you go down this road, you'll never turn back. I couldn't agree more. I want to see just how far I can go in this life.

The greatest value of life is not what you get, the greatest value of life is what you BECOME. -Jim Rohn