Fat is probably the most maligned, misjudged, and misunderstood of all the macronutrients. In truth, the body needs healthy fats, called essential fatty acids, in very small amounts to maintain many life-sustaining physiological functions. Good fats are the building blocks for hormones and cell membranes, and are responsible for healthy nerve conduction.  Essential fatty acids eaten in small amounts help us to control our weight by slowing down and regulating the rate at which sugar (glucose) enters the blood stream. This controlled release of glucose enhances good blood sugar control.

Essential fatty acids are commonly found in fish, seeds, nuts, and plants. Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, almonds, and avocados are examples of healthy sources of fats. Omega-3 oils from fish (salmon and sardines) or fish oil supplements are also healthy essential fats. Be aware, however, that there are fats that are potentially harmful to the body. Some margarines and other hydrogenated oils are potentially harmful, for example, because they are trans-fatty acids.  Fats that have been artificially altered to preserve their shelf life-a process that is harmful to your cells may be Trans-Fatty Acids. Trans-fatty acids resemble essential fatty acids, making it difficult for cell membranes to distinguish between the two kinds of fat. However, when trans-fatty acids do enter a cell, they cannot perform the normal functions that essential fatty acids do. They trick your body and do damage because the body doesn't know how to distinguish between the good and the bad, thus opening the door for significant health problems.

Saturated fats are also potentially harmful to the body. For the most part, they are found in animal proteins such as red meats and dairy products.  Saturated fats should be eaten less frequently than essential fatty acids. Trans-fats should be altogether avoided whenever possible. READ YOUR FOOD LABELS!!  Foods that are high in fats, "mono-and polyunsaturated", but low in 'saturated fat', are generally GOOD foods that should be eaten in moderate amounts.

The rules are simple. Changing your behavior is not. Accept that. It is natural that you may ‘fall off the wagon’ sometimes. That’s normal and expected. Just make sure that you commit yourself to getting back on the wagon, before you fall off. Believe that you can ride the bicycle and you will ride it. If you don’t believe you can ride the bike, then you’ll always fall and probably decide that you’re not going to try again since you’ve already made up your mind that you don’t believe you can ride the bike. I’ll tell you a trick to believing in anything…feelings. Feel that you are already riding. If you feel it, you believe it. Following below are what I call the HEALTHY WEIGHT RULES. If you abide by these rules, you will:

• lose weight if you are too heavy

• maintain your weight if and when you are in healthy range

• gain weight if you are too skinny

RULE #1. The amount of calories you consume must equal the amount of calories your body burns.

These are based upon normal body mechanics. In basic terms, metabolism, is a series of process by which food is converted into energy and products needed to sustain life. When the body converts food into energy, we call it digestion. The body creates heat during this conversion process. In laymen’s terms we say the body is burning calories.

During your quest for good health, you may have heard about calories, more specifically counting calories, but perhaps have not taken the time to understand exactly what a calorie is or the reason why all this attention is given to calories. A calorie is a unit of energy-producing potential in food. The potential of energy production from food, otherwise known as its calories, have been measured and that information is readily available and usually found right on the packaging.

Perhaps you have learned about it, but haven’t been able to stay true to a diet because it’s too difficult to be practical about how to count calories in everyday life. Well, I’m here to slap you in the face. Guess what. In order to make a change in your lifestyle habits, you must make a change in your lifestyle habit. This does not have to be difficult. It just has to be something you really, I mean really, want to do. But it’s SIMPLE! Initially, you will need some tools:

• small notebook (so you can write down what you eat)

• a small calorie counter pocketbook (the source from which you’ll write down your consumption into your notebook)

• a kitchen scale, in grams preferably (to measure your food-in order to look up a food in a calorie book, you need to know how much of the food you have.)

• measuring cups and measuring spoons

RULE #2. Eat mostly unprocessed foods. The more raw foods, the more organic foods you consume the more nutrition you give your body. The more nutrition you give your body, the better the body functions. Nutrition is the nourishment that we obtain from food. Since food that is processed or grown with chemicals or in depleted soil or poisoned by toxic substances or infused with artificial ingredients, the nutritious elements become reduced or even non existent. The more food (calories) that we consume that are without nutritious value (empty), the less positive energy is created within the body. This leads to disease.

RULE #3. Exercise. The human body is meant to move. It is made for the purpose of being active. If you do not activate its muscles regularly in a fashion to keep them limber and strong, then they will lose their purpose. It’s best if you start with small increments that you can incorporate into your everyday routine. View (daily exercise tips) for some examples.

RULE #4. Eat in proper portions. Listen to your body as to when to eat, which will in most cases be about 6 meals per day. Please pay attention to what is meant by the word meals. Meals are simply a serving of food. This could be classified as a snack, dinner, breakfast, lunch; it can be a liquid or solid.

THE GOLDEN RULE: The more you practice the first four rules, the more you will find that it gets easier to accommodate this way of living. They become natural habits. You’ll start to feel more energy each day you’ll notice an increase in lean muscle mass while you’re shedding off excess fat mass. In fact, as you become more attuned to your body, you’ll notice that if you don’t practice these rules regularly, you’ll be more sensitive to feeling ill at ease. Your body will be telling you what it needs and this time you’ll be listening!!

Now let’s do a mind exercise. Imagine yourself exactly as you would be in your ideal universe. If you could transform your body to exactly what you want it to be, what would you envision it to look like? Your body, your vision of your body. Not some celebrity’s body, because that’s not your body, that’s theirs. Envision your body. Go ahead, close your eyes.

Open your eyes. Print these pages and GET STARTED!!!! Right now.

Fat is probably the most maligned, misjudged, and misunderstood of all the macronutrients. In truth, the body needs healthy fats, called essential fatty acids, in very small amounts to maintain many life-sustaining physiological functions. Good fats are the building blocks for hormones and cell membranes, and are responsible for healthy nerve conduction.  Essential fatty acids eaten in small amounts help us to control our weight by slowing down and regulating the rate at which sugar (glucose) enters the blood stream. This controlled release of glucose helps you avoid getting a quick sugar rush and further enhances good blood sugar control.
Essential fatty acids are commonly found in fish, seeds, nuts, and plants. Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, almonds, and avocados are examples of other healthy sources of fats. Omega-3 oils from fish (salmon and sardines) or fish oil supplements are also healthy essential fats. Be aware, however, that there are fats that are potentially harmful to the body. Margarine and other hydrogenated oils are potentially harmful, for example, because they are trans-fatty acids. Trans-fatty acids have been artificially altered to preserve their shelf life-a process that makes these acids harmful to your cells. Trans-fatty acids resemble essential fatty acids, making it difficult for cell membranes to distinguish between the two kinds of fat. However, when trans-fatty acids do enter a cell, they cannot perform the normal functions that essential fatty acids do, thus opening the door for significant health problems.
Saturated fats are also potentially harmful to the body. They are found in red meats and dairy products like cheese and milk.  Saturated fats should be eaten less frequently than essential fatty acids. Trans-fats should be altogether avoided whenever possible. READ YOUR FOOD LABELS!!
 

So I noticed that my heart needs to work a bit harder now than it ever used to… to do simple things such as… walk me up a flight of stairs, digest a meal after OverEating!, drinking more than one glass of alcohol, dancing…etc.  This is not good.  This is a sign that I must get shaking and moving.  I must do cardio respiratory exercise much much MUCH more often.  What happened? I got out of rhythm.  I had a schedule that allowed me to work out regularly with at minimum 30 minutes of cardio activity 4 days per week for many years and I felt amazing! and now, I’ve let it all go.  NOT ACCEPTABLE.  My heart won’t take that.  I notice it. In everyday activity.  I hate it. I must not be lazy. I must make amends with my body. I must take action. I must force myself to get back into rhythm.  If I do not, my heart will just work too hard and then clonk out when I least expect it…or should I say expect it, because I do realize that I should expect it and I don’t want to expect it, so I will make change….I will make change…. I will prioritize around my health.. how can I not? How could I allow myself to not prioritize around my health. How could anyone? Are we that dumb? Man, I mean… the human species.  I suppose we are, for the most part.  We take advantage of almost any situation we think we could ‘get away with’ because we tend to take things for granted until they fall back in our face and smack us around.  We of all species should be more intelligent..we have the capacity to understand and change our behavior…WHY IS IT SO HARD? I don’t know. But I do know that if I don’t take action right away, tomorrow will not wait and tomorrow may be too late.  
 

Moderation, moderation, moderation…. Balance, balance, balance. 

It can be done. It will be done.
 

The rules are simple.  Changing your behavior is not.  Accept that.  It is natural that you may ‘fall off the wagon’ sometimes.  That’s normal and expected.  Just make sure that you commit yourself to getting back on the wagon, before you fall off.   Believe that you can ride the bicycle and you will ride it.  If you don’t believe you can ride the bike, then you’ll always fall and probably decide that you’re not going to try again since you’ve already made up your mind that you don’t believe you can ride the bike.  I’ll tell you a trick to believing in anything…feelings.  Feel that you are already riding.  If you feel it, you believe it. Following below are what I call the HEALTHY WEIGHT RULES.  If you abide by these rules, you will: 
•    lose weight if you are too heavy
•    maintain your weight if and when you are in healthy range
•    gain weight if you are too skinny
RULE #1.  The amount of calories you consume must equal the amount of calories your body burns.
These are based upon normal body mechanics.  In basic terms, metabolism, is a series of process by which food is converted into energy and products needed to sustain life.  When the body converts food into energy, we call it digestion.  The body creates heat during this conversion process. In laymen’s terms we say the body is burning calories.

During your quest for good health, you may have heard about calories, more specifically counting calories, but perhaps have not taken the time to understand exactly what a calorie is or the reason why all this attention is given to calories.  A calorie is a unit of energy-producing potential in food.  The potential of energy production from food, otherwise known as its calories, have been measured and that information is readily available and usually found right on the packaging. 

Perhaps you have learned about it, but haven’t been able to stay true to a diet because it’s too difficult to be practical about how to count calories in everyday life.  Well, I’m here to slap you in the face.  Guess what.  In order to make a change in your lifestyle habits, you must make a change in your lifestyle habit.  This does not have to be difficult.  It just has to be something you really, I mean really, want to do.  But it’s SIMPLE!  Initially, you will need some tools:
•    small notebook (so you can write down what you eat)
•    a small calorie counter pocketbook (the source from which you’ll write down your consumption into your notebook)
•    a kitchen scale, in grams preferably (to measure your food-in order to look up a food in a calorie book, you need to know how much of the food you have.)
•    measuring cups and measuring spoons

RULE #2.  Eat mostly unprocessed foods.  The more raw foods, the more organic foods you consume the more nutrition you give your body.  The more nutrition you give your body, the better the body functions.  Nutrition is the nourishment that we obtain from food.  Since food that is processed or grown with chemicals or in depleted soil or poisoned by toxic substances or infused with artificial ingredients, the nutritious elements become reduced or even non existent.  The more food (calories) that we consume that are without nutritious value (empty), the less positive energy is created within the body.  This leads to disease.

RULE #3. Exercise.  The human body is meant to move.  It is made for the purpose of being active.  If you do not activate its muscles regularly in a fashion to keep them limber and strong, then they will lose their purpose.  It’s best if you start with small increments that you can incorporate into your everyday routine.  View (daily exercise tips) for some examples.

RULE #4. Eat in proper portions. Listen to your body as to when to eat, which will in most cases be about 6 meals per day.  Please pay attention to what is meant by the word meals.  Meals are simply a serving of food.  This could be classified as a snack, dinner, breakfast, lunch; it can be a liquid or solid.

THE GOLDEN RULE: The more you practice the first four rules, the more you will find that it gets easier to accommodate this way of living. They become natural habits.  You’ll start to feel more energy each day you’ll notice an increase in lean muscle mass while you’re shedding off excess fat mass.  In fact, as you become more attuned to your body, you’ll notice that if you don’t practice these rules regularly, you’ll be more sensitive to feeling ill at ease.  Your body will be telling you what it needs and this time you’ll be listening!!

Now let’s do a mind exercise.   Imagine yourself exactly as you would be in your ideal universe.  If you could transform your body to exactly what you want it to be, what would you envision it to look like?  Your body, your vision of your body.  Not some celebrity’s body, because that’s not your body, that’s theirs.  Envision your body.  Go ahead, close your eyes. 

Open your eyes. Print these pages and GET STARTED!!!!   Right now.

Since ancient times, many spiritual practices have included dietary fasting.  Today, there are a lot of people claiming that fasting also has a lot of health benefits. And, in fact, research shows that short fasts, lasting anywhere from 20 to 36 hours can in fact reduce some risks for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. I wondered about the benefits of fasting and began researching.  One finding in particular caught my interest and I’d like to share it and my thoughts. The National Institute on Aging conducted a study on mice for which, Mark Mattson, Ph.D., chief of the NIA's Laboratory of Neurosciences fed mice nothing every other day. The mice could eat as much as they wanted on the days in between, and they did. They pigged out. They ended up eating very nearly double what normal mice eat in a day. But fasting every other day caused them to live longer and healthier lives. A lot longer and a lot healthier. Mattson said, "We think what happens is going without food imposes a mild stress on the cells, and cells respond by increasing their ability to cope with more severe stress." He said maybe it's similar to what happens when you lift weights: You stress your muscles and they respond by growing stronger. Near the very end of the study, they injected all the mice (those fasting every other day, and those eating a normal diet) with a toxin that damages the cells in the same part of the brain Alzheimer's damages in humans (the hippocampus). Mattson and his team later looked at the brains of the mice and found that those that had been fasting every other day suffered less damage to their brain cells. I read another article that brought up some very good points. It seems likely that at least an occasional state of hunger would have been fairly common throughout our evolution. Our bodies might be adapted to it. Maybe it creates unnatural problems when the body doesn't ever go hungry. Maybe eating three square meals a day, every day, is unnatural. Going without food for several hours does not cause your metabolism to slow down nor does it wreak havoc with your blood sugar. Short fasts actually improve insulin sensitivity and this is pretty big deal. When your cells are sensitive to the effects of insulin, they do a much better job modulating your blood sugar levels after meals and this makes life a lot easier for your poor old pancreas. Loss of insulin sensitivity is a risk factor for both heart disease and diabetes. For the millions of years mammals have been evolving and right up to our invention of agriculture a short ten thousand years ago, mammals often went hungry many times in an individual's lifetime. Surely our bodies have evolved to handle this. Maybe that's why it is totally accepted by most people in the health profession that human beings gain about a pound a year. Maybe that is part of the body's adaptation to the inevitable lean times the eons have adapted us to. An occasional fast might very well be more natural and very good for us. The key here is SHORT FASTS and OCCASIONAL. You want to slow your metabolism down to where you’re not able to maintain a life of very little caloric intake and then end up gaining weight. 

¼ cup orange juice

2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoon canola oil

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1 ¼ pounds in total)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

4 large firm but ripe peaches, sliced into ¼-inch slices

3 cups cooked brown rice

2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes

3 cups steamed broccoli spears

                In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar until the sugar is dissolved.

                 Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Season the chicken on both sides with the salt and pepper.  Add to the skillet and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side.  Transfer the chicken to a plate.

                Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same skillet, then add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.  Add the chicken broth, soy sauce mixture, and peaches; turn the heat up to high and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened and the peaches soften, about 6 minutes.  Add the chicken back to the pan, reduce the heat to medium –low, cover, and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

                Serve the chicken over the rice, topped with the sauce and sprinkled with the toasted almonds.  Place a few broccoli spears alongside.

Makes 4 servings

The energy or calories in the food we eat comes from three macronutrients: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Macro means large, and these nutrients are needed in large quantities to sustain our growth, metabolism, and other bodily functions.

In order to truly understand the food you’re consuming you should be aware of the caloric expenditure of the food. One gram of Carbohydrate equals 4 calories, one gram of Protein equals 4 calories, one gram of Fat equals 9 calories.

One pound of body fat equals about 3500 calories. So, there is a logic of if you can create a deficit of 3500 calories, you will lose 1 pound of body weight. This is a flawed logic though since our bodies don’t operate in a vacuum.  That logic works on paper, but doesn’t take into account that our bodies are working with many a various systems and we are not linear. Be careful when losing weight thought, because when you lose weight, you are also losing lean body mass. That’s when exercise comes in. Exercise will enable you to retain and gain lean muscle mass.  You cannot just reduce caloric intake and expect to lose weight.  Caloric modification has to be done in a way that will work together with your metabolism and not against it.  If you just reduced calories without regard, you may end up slowing your metabolism, keeping weight on, and doing more harm than good.  It’s best to pay attention to how and when you consume your calories, and increase ways to burn the calories (energy).   Some ways to do this is by eating small portions more frequently.  Many times when embarked on properly, a fat reduction plan, which will include exercise, will require more calories instead of less.  This is so because as you exercise, you build lean muscle mass and reduce fat mass.  Lean muscle mass requires more energy (calories).  The more you move (exercise), the more you burn.
 
Over the years, many a various diet has been suggested and tried. The human body has and continues to be studied to understand it’s process of energy, which mainly comes from the ingestion of food. After all that’s said and done, it is widely agreed that the most effective healthful diet is a 40% carbohydrate-30% Protein-30% Fat diet. This practice is endorsed by The American Dietetic Association and has been followed by Europeans as the Mediterranean Diet.

Here are some steps for eating in proper proportions:

1. Study the labels on food products. They are mandated by law in the United States, many countries in Europe, as well as many other countries of the world. Use them to make wise judgements on the portions of what to ingest with each meal. If you take the time to learn about the foods you eat, what they are made of, you will understand how to gain control of your energy, your weight, your body fat, your metabolism, your sugar levels, your thinking power, your efficiency, your overall wellness!

2. In the beginning, don’t change your diet. Just take the time to write down the items you eat and in the portions you eat them. From the food labels, write down the carbs, protein, fat (and what type of fat!), and calories. I know it’s a pain, but make a chart and keep this food log for a minimum of 2 weeks.

3. Study your food log and then decide what items you can change around, minimize, maximize, replace, allow every now and then…etc. All things in moderation. MODERATION!

4. Since every body is different, there is no one exact caloric consumption level you can set to lose weight.  For the most part, you can forget counting the calories.  Yes, that’s right, forget counting.  Instead, pay attention to the balance of the food choices and the quality of the foods.  Pay attention to when your body is hungry.  Pay attention to the cravings you get (these tell you the types of foods you may be over or underconsuming…see ‘what do these food cravings mean?’

5. For the most part, eat whole foods.  Eat foods that have been minimally processed.  Generally, the more the food is to its original natural state, the more nutritious and healthy it is. Remember this at the supermarket.

THIS IS A FILLING, LOW GLYCEMIC, NUTRITIOUSLY DELICIOUS MEAL and I made it up all by myself…oooh, so yummy

1 lb of Soba noodles

1 or 2 lbs baby portabello mushrooms, cubed into bite sizes

2 cups of raw spinach leaves

2 medium yellow onions, diced in bite sizes

2 cloves of garlic

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp allspice

¼ tsp pure ground red chillies or ½ jalapeno pepper

1 ½-2 inches of Fresh ginger, peeled and cut into large cubes

½ cup lemon juice

1 bunch of scallions

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ cup tamarind sauce

6 oz. Firm Tofu cubed

8 Jumbo shrimp, peeled and cleaned, leave tail on

1 cup Vegetable broth or 3 cubes

1. Mix vegetable broth, ginger, and lemon juice with 6 cups of water and bring to boil.

2. Boil soba noodles for 5 minutes, drain, rinse and place in ice cold water.  Let sit.

3. While above is boiling, place garlic and onions into the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  If using the fresh jalapeno instead of ground chillies, add the jalapeno here. Fry until onions are translucent. Place mushrooms into the mix and pour 1/8 tamarind sauce over them and toss in the skillet.  Cook mushroom mix for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

4. Place tofu into mushroom mix and pour the remaining tamarind sauce over mix.  Add coriander, allspice, and black pepper. 

5. Add spinach to mushroom mix. Stir until leaves shrink.

6. Remove mushroom and onion mix from heat and add to the boiling broth water.

7. Drain Soba noodles from ice water and add them to broth.

8. Add scallions and ground chillies (unless you used the jalapeno above) to soup.

9. Add shrimp.  Continue to heat soup until shrimp is cooked…approximately 1-2 minutes or until red.

10. optional, add tamarind to your taste. Eat with chopsticks!

Makes 6-8 servings. 

Guidelines for a naturally balanced and nutritional eating plan

*Eat within 1 hour of getting up of bed… this kickstarts your metabolism. Remember you’ve just been fasting for the past 6-8 hours of sleep.

*Don't go more than 5 hours without a meal or Snack… We don’t want to teach the body to store food (as fat) because it can’t depend on you to feed it when it needs fuel.

*Always drink about 6-8oz of good quality water 20-30 minutes before a meal or snack. This decreases your hunger and makes sure you drink enough water.
 

*Remember the basic Rule of Thumb: every time you put food in your mouth it must be in the correct ratio of Protein to Carbohydrate to Fat… The most favorable balance for overall health, satiety and lifestyle based on years of research old and new is the 40-30-30 ratio diet. 40% Carbohydrate, 30% Protein, 30% Fat. Of course quality of the food matters here and that’s where most people get in trouble. (As you learn to pay attention to what you’re putting into your mouth, when one of your meals is not in balance you can adjust in your next meals throughout the day) That Ratio can easily be thought about in portions on a round plate.  The Carbohydrate (fruit, grains, veggies) should make up approximately two thirds of your plate, the Protein (lean meat, fish, nuts, tofu) should make up approximately one third of the plate and Fat should be thought of as a sprinkle.  Fat is usually a component in proteins and therefore a sprinkling of mono or polyunsaturated fats (olive, canola, sunflower oils, nuts) on a salad or during cooking is usually enough to satisfy nutrition as well as flavor and satiety.    

*Have some quality proteins "ready to use" in the fridge; e.g.: sliced turkey, or chicken, tins of Tuna, Salmon, Sardines, soft boiled eggs, low fat cottage cheese, firm Tofu-dip, reduced fat cheese.

*Eat 5-9 portions of vegetables and fruits everyday

*Eat every 3-4 hours on the average.

*Always have a Snack 30 minutes before you exercise.

Every time you eat a meal that leaves you satisfied and with a good mental focus for the next 4 hours – write it down, it works for you, use it again…

If you like desserts , spare 1 part of your Carbohydrates to include some fruit.

If you like Wine , do the same as above…
1glass of wine 120ml. = 1 Carbo.
30ml. distilled spirits = 1 Carbo.
180ml of beer = 1 Carbo.

If you want to add more protein to your meal, simply subtract carbohydrate and fat to keep everything in balance.

The aim is to achieve a precise ratio, keeping the total calories at any one meal to about 500 or less, and 100 or less for snacks.

Remember, within 2-3days you will feel a reduction in food cravings, increased mental focus and energy.
Increase your exercise level. As you become less heavy and feel more energy, you will naturally want to be more active.

This is an eating plan you can stick with for life.  Following the guidelines above, eat quality foods.  If you get hungry, eat. For best maintenance, plan your meals and snacks ahead of time! Take a few moments of preparation before bed or upon waking.