The Health and Fitness ChannelSeptember 2003 IssueYour Truth In Fitness Source
THOUGH I'D HATE TO SEE YOU GO, IF YOU WISH TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL AND FOLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS THERE. Looking for the greatest tip to losing weight? Searching for the elusive ''Revolutionary Fat Burner'' that promises to melt your fat away forever? Join the club. Most people struggling to lose fat look for the latest gimmick, gadget, trick, tip, or technique in their struggle to get in shape. They think and say to themselves something along one of these lines: ''I wonder if that Gee-Whiz-Bang fat burner will really get rid of my fat -- I think I'll try it...'' ''I'm going to try that new fat-stripping exercise routine I just read about. That will finally get me in shape.'' ''I just need to do more exericise and then I'll lose the fat.'' ''I already eat very healthy...So it's not my diet...'' Still out of shape after trying the latest and greatest, most give up, gain even more weight, then try again some time down the road, only to repeat the pattern once again in a vicious cycle. Are you simply trying to lose weight but refuse (whether knowingly or not) to change your basic eating habits?
The one thing that people unsuccessfully trying to lose fat have in common is their diet, even if they think it's good. There are several reasons why... 1. Most people don't actually track the amount of food they put into their bodies. They assume they're eating a certain number of calories when in fact they're taking in quite a bit more. 2. They unknowingly eat foods that promote hunger and an out of whack hormonal response (which tends to increase, not decrease fat storage). 3. They don't think ''Lifestyle Change''. Instead, they want the quick-fix diet. You need to find a diet that you can live with, is satisfying to you, and helps promote fat loss and good health. Notice I haven't even spoken about exercise. Exercise should not be the primary focus when wanting to lose fat. Exercise is important, but getting your diet in order first is much more significant in its ability to allow you to shed unwanted pounds. Here's some rules you can follow to help you... RULE #1: DON'T PUT THE OFFENDING FOOD IN THE HOUSE IN THE FIRST PLACE! Your kids may complain and you may feel like you're depriving them (when in fact you're harming them in 2 ways -- by giving them junk food and teaching them it's ok to eat it; a habit that will be hard to break when they grow up). Get over it! You're the boss so do the right thing for them and for you. Listen, I'm no better. If the offending food is in the house there's a good chance I'll eat it. So I make sure it's never there. I promise you won't miss it after awhile. And this doesn't mean you'll have to stay away from your favorite foods forever either. In a second I'll show you how you can occasionally eat them and still stay in great shape. RULE #2: FOR 2 WEEKS WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU EAT. This does 2 things. It shows you really weren't eating as little as you thought you were. And it reveals you eating quite a bit more ''forbidden'' foods than you thought. RULE #3: GET A CALORIE COUNTING BOOK. You can find these at any bookstore and they list the calories and protein/carbs/fat of most common foods. Take your list above and figure out how many calories you're eating every day. RULE #4: GET A FOOD SCALE. I know...you think, ''what a pain!'' But it's only for 2-3 weeks. What happens is after consistently weighing your foods, you'll get quite good at ''eyeballing'' the proper portion sizes for you. You'll have trained yourself to very accurately estimate the correct amounts for you.
Getting a better body starts (and ends) with your diet. If you don't get it right you'll never get into the kind of shape you're after. In Summary: 1. KEEP THE BAD FOODS OUT OF YOUR HOUSE Realistically, one can't expect to stay away from ice cream, chocolate, cake, or cookies forever. I understand this because I struggle with it myself, maybe even worse than you do. Here's how you can have the best of both worlds. First, you have to get to a lower body fat level. This means following my diet recommendations as outlined above along with a targeted fat-loss exercise program.
This may take 12 weeks (or even longer if you're very overweight). Just remember that this small sacrifice is a small price to pay for the benefits you'll receive. Be strong and stick with it. Once you achieve your desired body fat level, you can eat any of your favorite foods any 1 day out of the week. You have to follow your diet the rest of the week however, otherwise this will backfire on you. And that's it...a way to get in shape AND be able to regularly enjoy your favorite foods. It doesn't get much better than this. See you next month. The "Fitness Corner": Your fitness questions answered.**QUESTION: Hank, I've heard soy is bad. How about whey protien? Is it good for you? Benefits? And if it is why would it be better for you than the milk it comes from? Thanks, Steve ***ANSWER: The semi-quick answer to your question is because some whey products are lactose-free (great for those with lactose intolerance). They have less than 1% of the original lactose found in unprocessed whey (relatively speaking anyway, since whey is a byproduct of dairy making). If the label doesn't say lactose-free then it's probably not. Here's another way to tell. Whey ''concentrate'' has the highest amounts of naturally occuring lactose. Whey ''isolate'' has almost none (and is typically over 90% protein by weight). Whey also has some important and highly beneficial immunological benefits. You get them from what are called, ''biologically active fractions.'' Only problem is, these fractions are fragile...they are easily destroyed by processing (heat and chemicals). If you're not lactose intolerant than the least processed whey (whey concentrate) is the way to go IF...you want to preserve these fractions and receive the maximum immune system benefit. If you're more interested in muscle building (which everyone should even if you're not a body builder because more lean muscle on your body increases the potential for fat burning -- due to a raised metabolism), you probably should use another form of milk protein altogether (casein or milk protein isolates). I can elaborate on this if you're interested. So, you now know that whey concentrate is best for preserving those fractions. However, all whey isolates are not made the same. Ion-exchange is a popular method that manufacturers use to adjust the pH. Only problem is this is a harsh processing method and results in denaturing the protein found in whey as well as destroying most of the good fractions as well. Another drawback of ion-exhange processing is it leaves an abnormally high amount of beta-lactoglobulin … the one fraction of whey protein not found in human milk and which has been found to be the most allergenic to humans. Filtered processing is better as this is a gentle extraction method. Summary: For enhanced immune function take whey concentrate (if you can tolerate the lactose). For protein supplementation take a filtered whey isolate (even though casein is better for building lean muscle tissue -- many recent studies prove this). Or for the best results take a protein powder that combines whey concentrate, whey isolate, and casein (milk isolate).
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I hope you enjoyed this latest issue. See you next month with more tips and solutions to achieving your best body. Good luck, God bless, and all the best in health and fitness, Harry "Hank" Johnson Jr,
President
Harry is the creator of the "Amazing Fat-Loss/Ultimate Results Program" - specifically designed to help you lose fat quickly and easily. "When you want to lose 20 pounds of fat (or more) in 6 weeks (or
less) --
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