Our Resident personal trainer Casper offers some diet tips:

Generally I have a pretty simple diet and the things I avoid are pretty much sugars and white flour. I also don’t eat too many heavy carbs like pasta, potatoes, corn, bread, and rice. Don’t get me wrong I love all these things (save for the rice you can keep the rice akkk) but the reason why I stay away from these things is because they all get broken down into sugar and sugar spikes your insulin levels and over time this leads to type II diabetes. Albeit the more complex the carb the slower it gets broken down but it still turns to sugar none the less. Just keep in mind the rate of diabetes has double in recent years. (I can get the statistical data if you want me to) Now you gotta ask yourself “why is that?”

Now God did not create all sugars equally, some are worse for you than others. Maltose and Lactose are great for energy and burn real slow, but in the end if you don’t use that sugar your body WILL kick out insulin and your body WILL store it as fat.

Now Fat once you have it is kinda tricky the longer you have fat stored the “harder” that fat becomes. This is why your body will burn up the newest fat first. Also this is why it is so hard to get rid of that stubborn belly fat/back fat/ leg fat / where ever fat.

One more thing I need to mention is that loosing obscene amounts of fat in a short amount of time can be dangerous. You body will also use fat to store poison (anything your body doesn’t like) Loosing TOO much fat very quickly can give hell to your liver and kidneys. Now this is not meant to discourage anyone from weightloss or giving a pass not to watch your diet, this is just me saying that picking a weightloss solution that is consistent will yield far better results and is healthier for you.

So lets get on to Dr. Day. This doctor is an accomplished surgeon who came down with breast cancer. She had a marble sized tumor and promptly had it removed. Three weeks later the cancer grew to the size of a grapefruit. Basically her peers said your gonna die and we can try cutting it out and giving chemo with drugs. Dr. Day pretty much said No, I don’t think I am gonna do that. I can understand, If I only had a week or two to live I don’t think I would want to spend it in chemotherapy either. Instead she did a drastic change in diet. She went on a raw fruit and vegetable diet.You can check it out here. (WARNING the tumor is NOT pretty so if your squeamish don’t click)

Now a little known fact is that when you cook your food your body cannot recognize it and will treat it as a threat. Like a well disciplined military unit your body will over react to threats. This is a good thing. The theory behind the raw food diet is that your body readily accepts raw foods instead of  trying to break it down like cooked food. Also contained in the raw food are the enzymes and microbes needed to help digest the food. So now that your body isn’t wasting time with food it can take care of all the other threats to your body. I have read claims by where people say they stopped getting sick all together by switching to raw foods. I can attest to some extent that I don’t get sick either. When everyone around me is sick I am still going strong.

Now I am not a practitioner of raw vegetarianism, mainly because of the great benefits that come from meat. But I am not opposed to vegetarianism either. There is a large enough body of evidence to support the great health benefits of raw foods. I do consume large amounts of uncooked foods and some of that is meat. There is something out there called a paleolithic diet which is an all raw meat diet, but thats a little extreme for me. I couldn’t eat raw chicken, too many years of brainwashing as a kid.

Are raw foods for you? Who knows but it might be worth your while to read into it. It just might be another weapon in your arsenal of fat burning and healthy living.

Good luck and You can do it!

Business Day has a good article about all of the bad habits people have that are keeping them fat:

The experts have identified seven common diet mistakes most people make and how to fix them.

1. Underestimating how much you’ve eaten

Studies show overweight people tend to underestimate significantly how much they eat, and the bigger their portions, the more their calorie calculations go off track. One recent investigation by Dr Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam Dell), found that people who supersize fast-food meals actually underestimate the calorie content of their burger and fries by as much as half.

2. Discounting the effects of peer pressure

Findings from the Framingham Heart Study reveal that when one person in a family or network of friends gains weight, others tend to gain weight too, perhaps because it becomes more socially acceptable to be chubby.

3. Distracting yourself from eating

Wansink’s studies show that environmental distractions, such as watching television, talking on the phone, reading while eating and eating with others, can be a big disconnect. In one study, he learned that even stale popcorn can lead people to overeat at the movies, not because they’re hungry, but simply because the bucket is there. This occurs as much due to the fact that you’re not paying attention to what you eat, as to a habit you’ve developed of multitasking while munching, he says.

4. Eating too many different foods

The more choices, the more you tend to eat — just think of all the temptations at a food buffet and the overwhelming desire you have to sample it all.

5. Not weighing yourself enough

“We have exhaustive evidence that people who weigh themselves daily lose more weight than those who don’t,” says Dr George Blackburn, associate professor of surgery and nutrition at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and author of Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off (Collins). People who watch their weight are more likely to closely monitor their eating and exercise behaviours and regain control of their diets quickly if they gain weight.

Keep readng the rest of the article. There’s some great information and tips there.

Weighting yourself daily is something I do and something I’ve recommended before on this blog as a way to maintain your weight. People have a tendency to ignore the tightness of their jeans, but if you see the weight go up on the scale a couple of pounds you’re more likely to adjust your diet or workout to lose the weight as opposed to waking up 20 pounds heavier trying to figure out how you got there and how you’re going to drop the pounds…again.

Now I know I’ve been guilty of all of the above habits. However, as far as peer pressure I am usually the biggest in my group of friends, so you’d think that being around the skinny crew would make me slimmer – yeah not so much – lol. Although I will say that I’m from a big city (by big I mean the average person is chunky) and that makes me the “skinny” girl here, so it’s easier to be heavier and not stress about it as much.

So, which of these bad habits is keeping you fat?

How do you work your way around them?

If these aren’t your bad habits what are the habits you have that’s preventing you from losing wight?

So the fruit and vegetable detox has actually turned into a 3 – 12 hour fast each day.

Fast you say?

See, the fruit and vegetable detox was never about losing weight. Digestive issues run in my family, severe constipation, bloating, abdominal pain, severe gas and I’ve had a number of relatives suffer from colon cancer (one uncle had it twice) and as I get older the more these issues affect me.

So I started the detox and it worked…some…but I still wasn’t “going” regularly and 5 Milk of Magnesia pills later and no reults my mother suggested I fast. So the next day I fasted for about 12 hours then ate and – voila – things started working again. Since then I fast anywhere between 3 and 12 hours a day, on average between 5 and 7 hurs and for the most part thing are back to normal.

I feel good, which is what this was all about to begin with.

What I have learned however is that my body wil not process large amounts of food. I can eat very small servings throughout the day or a couple of larger meals during the day, but that’s it. And when I say small, I mean small and larger to me now would probably equate to  normal serving size.

Now, the unintened side effects is that I’ve lost 7 pounds…4 of which I lost in one week. The interesting part, however is that if I was eating more then I’d probably be losing more weight, but like I said it wasn’t about the weight loss to begin with.

As promised!

1 pkg frozen tilapia (four pieces)
2 tblsp olive oil
garlic powder, pepper, sea salt, to taste
1 pat of butter
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1/2 lemon

I have one of those stovetop grills/griddles which works really well with not only fish, but any meat! If you dont have one of these, thaw the fish before cooking in a nonstick pan.

Heat grill – coat with nonstick spray if needed.
Place two pieces of fish on grill. Sprinkle 1/2 olive oil over fish.

Add garlic powder, pepper and sea salt to taste. Cover fish with a lid and cook on high for two minutes or until exposed side turns white.

Turn fish – add other half of olive oil and seasonings. Cover fish again and cook on medium for three minutes.

Uncover fish and top with spinach, some of the lemon juice and 1 pat of butter. Cover and cook on medium until the spinach just wilts.

Remove fish, squeeze rest of lemon on top and enjoy!!

Total carbs – 5 gr

Now that is eating!!