Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is...

So, I have decided to do do a few posts to put my money where MY mouth is :) I blather on and on about eating right and diet/exercise so I am going to put some info out there. The recent onslaught of garbage on FB with these body wrap weight-loss scams, along with the GM info, etc, etc has brought my soapbox level to an all time high. And, since this is my blog and I can vent if I want to ;) I am going to.

First off...weight loss scams.

For years I have been telling various peope in my life that these *scams* are, well, scams. Fat burners, appetite surpressants, pills, wraps, meal replacements....all chemicals and *suppements* used to trick your body into doing something it is currently not doing, at best, and will do absolutely nothing, at worst. Just because it is labeled *all natural* does not mean it is good for you or safe. Herbs CAN still be dangerous. Basically, ALL of these products prey on people's desire for a *quick fix* or results that cannot realistically be achieved either at all or in the timeframe people would like them to be. For example:

Metabolizm boosters. ANYTHING that increases your metabolism unnaturally is taxing your adrenal glands. This is bad. Forcing your adrenal glands to work in a way that is akin to being under constant stress will result in adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue causes weight gain, fatigue, hair loss, amongst other things. So, either you will need to continue to take these *boosters* in potentially higher quantities, as eventually they will not work, or you will just crash. It takes a long time to recover from adrenal fatigue. Adrenal failure is worse. You don't want that.

Fat burners. Really? You believe a pill is going to specifically make your body burn fat? I have some land and a bridge...Also, in this catagory would be the wraps that make you lose weight. Seriously...yes, you are going to lose WATER weight, and you very well may detox some, but to think that if you wrap your body in saran wrap for 40 mins with some herbs smeared on yourself and think you will drop 5lbs of fat...it is not physically possible! Seriously! Let's use our brains here, shall we?

Meal replacements. Shakes. Etc. Basically they are chemical factories. The meal replacements whether in shake form or some frankenfood packaged product ...have you read the ingredients? Loaded with chemicals and probably things you have never heard of nor should be ingesting. Most have some form of the above mentioned *stuff* in them as well. Again, targeted at people who are desperate, and easy money will be made off of them.

Preformance  Enhancing Drugs. I am not talking about steroids here, I am talking about the *legal* stuff...ginsing, caffiene, guarana, etc. I suppose one can argue that SOME of the PED out there are safe in moderation, but to RELY on them is simply foolish. Why wouldn't you want to preform based on your own merits and training? Why would you want to use some drug/supplement to boost your preformance? I can see maybe wanting a little extra kick, like you might get from an extra cup of coffee, and I certianly understand how people doing prolonged endurance events need that boost late in the game but do you need do toss back  some chem factory Pump-Me-Up drink or pill to go work out for an hour? Really? If so, you may want to look at why. Perhaps its your diet...

Bottom line to all this is we have become a quick fix society. We are fat, unhealthy and out of shape. We are constantly multitasking, yet lazy. So, when it comes to health and fitness...the faster/quicker/easier the better. Why plan out a healthy meal plan of wholesome homemade foods, exercise more, maintain an active lifestyle, etc when you can pop a few pills, wrap yourself in saran wrap and eat a box of *food* and MAGICALLY shed all that unwanted weight? Guess what? VERY few people have ANY success with that. Why do you think the diet industry is SO huge? Why do you think there is a new diet product/wrap/pill/drink out every week? Because they DON'T WORK. If they did, people would use them, have success and go on with their lives.

Ask ANYONE who has lost weight and got in shape and STAYED that way how they did it. I guarantee MOST will tell you they ate REAL food, worked their a$$ off and changed their lifestyle. That is because that is the ONLY thing that is going to work.  I am not saying any one of the gimmicks out there won't work, I am sure any one of them, followed to a T will work...but it isn't something that is designed for LIFE, it is most likey a quick fix. Instant gratification. If you are the kind of person who can use those things as a jumping off point to get you satrted and motivated and then you SWITCH to a healthy lifestyle of a balanced diet and exercise, that is super. But do not for a second think that Slim Fast shakes are going to help you lose weight and keep it off unless you plan on drinking them for breakfast and lunch for the rest of your life. Never mind the fact that MOST of the product out there are indeed chemical factories and who knows what sort of ramafications you will have to deal with from them.

So, what to do?

Here's a few thoughts. And, before anyone gets all PO'd at me, I HAVE been overweight in my life. I was overweight after my 3rd child was born and could NOT lose the weight despite what I believed were my best efforts. I learned a lot along the way, and am now a healthy weight and stay there easily.
So, thoughts....

If you have the desire to lose weight and get healthy that is awesome. The first thing you should consider is why. Why do you want to lose weight/get fit/healthy? If you are doing it for anyone but yourself, you are destined for failure. You must want this for YOU. The next thing you should consider is how commited you are. Are you willing to make major lifestyle changes? Are you willing to make changes that you will need to maintain for the rest of your life? If not, you may not be ready. If you are not fit/healthy right now, clearly either you have something medical going on OR you are doing something wrong. Sounds harsh, but its true. I was not going to lose any weight by consuming my weight in sugar every day. It simply was not going to happen. When I was an overweight teen, I did not lose weight by continuing to eat pounds of chocolate daily, along with any other white starch product we had in our house(before dinner, of course). You have to be ready and willing to make a PERMANENT lifestyle change.

If you do not exercise, start. Pick something you genuinely ENJOY! Do not pick something because you think it will make you loose weight faster. If you don't enjoy it, you won't keep doing it. Pick something that raises your heartrate for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Yoga is awesome, but it isn't aerobic. Walking is a fabulous workout, but the speed you walk through a mall at isn't going to cut it. You need to WALK with some conviction! :) Swimming is great as it doesn't tax your joints at all, but you need to SWIM...*wading* is not swimming. Some sort of strength training or weight lifting is ideal also as not only will you get stronger, but muscle burns more calories than fat :) You don't have to join a gym, you can pick up a couple of dumbbells or a kettlebell at Walmart, get a few exercise bands or use your own body weight as resistance. Also, rather than using the scale as a way to monitor your physical gains, take measuements of all your key body parts. That is a MUCH better gage of what you are doing as muscle is heavier and denser...but it takes up less space(unless you are trying to get bigger...then ignore this, lol)You may notice inches lost when the pounds aren't moving as fast.

Diet. Take a long, honest look at your diet. Are you REALLY eating as well as you can? I am not going to say one diet is better than another because again, you need to find an eating plan that is healthy, feasable for you and one you will potentially stick to for the rest of your life. I believe vegetarian/vegan is best for *ME* but I know plenty of people who do well with the Paleo diet, low carb(IF done correctly, which most people do not) whatever you choose, you actually need to FOLLOW it and not for just a few days or weeks but MONTHS and years. Regardless of what you choose, the more real foods you eat, the better. Organic, nonGMO, WHOLE foods that require effort to prepare will provide your body with the nutrition it needs so it doesn't go *looking* for the nutrients it isn't getting, thereby causing you to eat more, and thus the cycle continues. If you are eating foods out of a box that contains more than a handful of ingredients, and more than half are not found in nature, STOP IT. That is NOT real food! Real foods are found on the outer isles of your store. And no, it isn't SO expensive to eat healthy. I feed a family of 5 who do not all eat the same AND now doing GF/CF for $200 or less a week. Its a bit more effort but aren't you/your family worth it? If your finances are extremely tight, then do your research. Eat the best things you CAN afford, you can still choose real foods and improve your diet on a limitted budget. Make eating healthy a priority and forgo other things that are extras- if you eat out a lot, stop. Chances are unless you are going to an organic restaurant, you are being served the exact foods you do not want to eat anyways. Find free entertainment. Reduce your bills. Whatever you need to do, make your heath your priority. Because it will cost you a WHOLE lot more to be a sick person from something you may have been able to prevent, than to get and stay healthy.

Once you have decided on an eating plan, STICK TO IT. You did not get this way overnight, you will not heal/get healthy overnight.

Something else worth looking at is if you have ANY food sensitivities. This is a hard one for most people as MOST of the time, you crave the food you are sensitive to...which then causes some sort of reaction in your system which may be preventing you from losing weight. Many a person has eliminated a food(s) they are sensitive to and dropped weight very easily and effortlessly after that. With foods being as GM as they are, our bodies have not had time to adjust. Therefor, people who may be prone to autoimmune issues(ie-you have seasonal allergies, asthma, excema, etc)are often times more sensitive to foods as well. I have noticed that MOST people who have seasonal allergies or environmental allergies ALSO have some food allergies/sensitivities. Often times a pleasant side effect of eliminating your food sensitivites, is a reduction or elimination of seasonal allergies. I have found personally that though I am allergic to anything that grows(seriously, it is rediculous) if I avoid the foods I am sensitive/allergic to, I have NO seasonal allergies. Interesting, no?

Shopping. There are lots of options here. I cannot get everything I need at one store, unfortunately. Be a savvy consumer. Know where to buy the foods you CAN eat. You don't have to only shop at Whole Paycheck. If you can afford to, awesome. If you have no other options, I know they have their own store brands that are cheaper and you can probably do ok there. I know what I can get where and that is what I have to do. It may mean going to several different stores, but I tend to shop for a month at a time in places I don't go often. You can't buy produce in bulk unless you are going to freeze it, but just about everything else can be purchased en masse. We have special dietary issues at our house and so that's how I deal with it. If you eat meat/eggs/dairy find a reputable source for those product. Often times local dairy farms are as close to organic as you can get without the label, and cheaper. Grass fed beef is of course the best, as long as it is hormone and antibiotic free as well. Free range chicken and their eggs that eat organic food without added meds are ideal, and you can find that everywhere. There is no excuse for eating *grocery store meat* imo...unless your store has the better meat/eggs/dairy. Trader Joes carries free range/grass fed/etc meat, chicken, eggs and milk. Or, you can find someone local who sells it and support a local farmer. Even better :) Now, THIS stuff is going to cost more. I get it, but you will be saving money by not buying all the other crap, you will be eating less because your body will be better nourished and I bet you will find your food budget does not change much. Now, the exception would be if your diet is SO horrible and you are eating so much processed food/crap that IS in fact much less expensive than *real* food then yes, your food bill will go up. But, your doctors bill will go down :)

Don't be afraid to look at the *day old* produce section if your store has one. That food isn't bad or they couldn't sell it. Its actually RIPE, which is not something people are used to! It may not be as pretty, or you may have to eat it as soon as you get home. Usually it is MUCH cheaper though. I am not a fan of BJ's and the like, but often times you can get bulk organic produce cheaper than at the grocery store. Worth the trip, imo, as long as you stay away from all the other isles full of frankenfood! Farmer's Markets are awesome. Not only will you get amazingly fresh food, you are supporting the local farmers, which is just cool as sh*t. :)

If you are reading all of this and saying you have done all this and STILL can't get fit/lose weight then perhaps there is something else medically going on that warrents a trip to the Dr. There are numerous medical conditions that can prevent one from losing weight that you could be dealing with and not even know it. Thyroid conditions, autoimmune diseases, adrenal fatigue, etc can all sabotage even the most stellar effort to lose weight. Get that issue managed and under control and come back and try again...you will probably find that you are much more successful this time around. Also, look into any meds you are taking and see if weight gain is a side effect. Sometimes you have to dig VERY deep to find that side effect and if it is, you need to check the risk/benefit factors for you. Pehaps there is another med you can take that does not have that effect. Or, perhaps the effort of changing your diet and exercising creates the health you needed to be able to go OFF that med. It does happen :)

Clearly, I could go on and on and on....but I have been sitting here for a while and it is so awesome out and I want to go run in the snow. :) So, basically if you are looking to lose weight and get healthy...real food, real work, real results. Make the commitment to yourself for LIFE. You ARE worth it. Most of all EDUCATE yourself!!!

*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. Anything I have written here is based on my own personal research and/or experience. Take what you need, leave what you don't, be responsible as I am assuming most, if not all, reading this are grown-ups. This does not replace the advice of an ACTUAL doctor or other medical professional, if that's how you roll. Peace out.