Weight and Health

Being generally healthy and having a healthy weight is actually very simple. There are three things to remember:

• Eat Less
• Eat Better
• Exercise More

It is really that simple. The hard part is in our heads.

Eat Less. If you are overweight, you are eating too much food. It is very difficult to exercise enough to bring your weight down if you are eating too much. Exercise is important but you have to reduce portion sizes and snacks. Avoid sugar and carbohydrates. Avoid pop/energy drinks. Drink water instead. 

Eat Better. Avoid junk foods, fast foods, processed foods. They have way more fat, salt and chemicals than you want. Buy raw foods. Vegetables, fruit, quality meats. Hot dogs are junk food. Flavored yogurts are junk food. Chips of any kind are junk food. Anything with added sugar is junk food. 

Exercise More. Exercise burns calories and improves your general health - heart, lungs, everything. You don't have to enjoy it. Just commit and do it. Running is fantastic. There is no way to cheat. If you can't run, walk until you can run. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories your body burns. If you are trying to lose weight, consider weights or yoga. Almost anyone can do it, it only takes 20 min, three times a week to create a healthy exercise habit. Feeling healthy is a pretty powerful thing - you might even learn to enjoy exercising.

Can it be that simple?

Yes. That's all there is too it. Seriously, there is nothing complicated about it.

The challenge is purely mental. We like convenience foods, we like comfort foods, we like sugar, we like fries. We like to relax. All are habit forming. It takes discipline to maintain good eating and life habits.

There is no way to cheat. There is no magic pill. There is no super supplement. Daily TV shows don't tell you what you need to know. There's no money to be made in "Eat Less, Eat Better, Exercise More". It doesn't need a daily hour long show. That's 240 hours a year. Who wants to have these three things repeated for 240 hours a year.

That's the problem with the daily shows. They have to talk a load of nonsense to entertain and fill the time slot. If there is any good advice it is lost in the mire of misinformation, disinformation and filler. It's just entertainment - of the worst kind - it gives the impression that there's an easy way to be healthy. There is no easy way. There is no cheat. Spend the hour exercising and you will be way better off.

This advice doesn't even need a book. Lifestyle books have the same problem. To sell they have to have a certain page count. In the process of filling a page count the message is diluted or lost. Who want's to pay 13.95 for a 4 page book. Actually, it would be an interesting experiment to try to publish one.

It is a lifestyle change. that means breaking some current habits and making new ones.

It takes time to program a new habit. You have to stick with it for at least a month, maybe as long as three months. This is the time that you have to pay attention to what you are doing. If you allow yourself 3 indiscretions a day (sugar, junk food, etc.) you will have to count. This is the hard part. You have to be honest with yourself. Don't try to do too much at once. Baby steps, but you have to stick with them. If you do, after you have programmed a new habit it will be much easier to maintain.

The TV reality show Biggest Loser is all about reprogramming. The contestants participate for long enough to be reprogrammed and they have a very strict reinforcement - if they cheat they will fall below the bar and be sent home. They loose massive weight and many of them leave the show and continue to live healthy lives. It would be an amazing public service if they would let people at home participate online.

If you are overweight it is because you eat too much. Period. Too much.

If you don't feel healthy, energetic, it is probably because you are eating bad food and not exercising.

A small portion of the population has a real disease or condition that needs proper treatment. If this applies to you then you need to see a real doctor. However, most people that just generally feel crappy feel that way because they are overweight, eat crappy food and don't exercise.

Here is an amusing but sensible video by wounded combat veteran Derek Weida (be warned it is very politically incorrect but also very on point). Personally, I am refreshed to hear someone cutting through to the heart of the matter so frankly.

Take charge of your life. Don't believe anyone that is trying to sell you something. Don't believe anyone that is offering a short cut. Eat Less, Eat Better and Exercise More. That's all there is too it.