valshealthblog.com

Imaginary Diet

Hi,

Imagine eating your favorite food.  Really imagine it.

Imagine how it smells, how it looks.

Imagine how it tastes, how it feels on your tongue.

Imagine the pleasure you are getting from imagining all of this.

Now, what if I told you that doing this will help you really lose weight?

You might think I am a little crazy.  Well, you might be right about that part. 

But, what I said is true.

ABC News showed a report about imagining eating and the effects it had on real weight loss.

They used M&M’s in the study.  The subjects imagined eating M&M’s.  they imagined the first one in as much detail as possible.  Then they repeated the process another 29 times. 

Another group didn’t do any imagining.

The study then put a bowl of M&M’s on the table and measured how many each group ate.

They originally thought that the imagining group would eat a lot more of the M&M’s.  But, the opposite happened. 

The imagining group ate about 1/2 of the amount the non-imagining group did.

Turns out that all this imagining stimulated the release of dopamine in the brain.  In this case dopamine satiated the hunger receptors and therefore the appetitie.

So the imagining group actually felt full and therefore only ate 1/2 of what the non imagining group did.

Talk about the power of imagination. 

So how can you use this – especially with all the holiday meals coming up.

Do you have to imagine 30 times. or is 1 or 2 times enough.  Unfortunately, there were no details on this.  But, I will try to find out more and post it at a later time. 

For now at least try to imagine eating your favorite food for a few minutes before you eat, or drink.  (Maybe it also works with drinking – either alcohol or soda.)

Try it and see if the imaginary diet will work for you.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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McDonald’s Pays for Manager’s Obesity

Hi,

Did you see the story about the Brazilian McDonald’s manager?

Turns out he gained 65 pounds over 12 years working at McDonald’s.  That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, but I guess it was to him.

As a manager he felt it was necessary to sample the food to make sure it met the quality necessary for McDonald’s.

And the free lunches everyday probably didn’t help either. 

So instead of taking responsibility for what he was putting in his mouth, he abdicated all responsibility and blamed it on McDonald’s.  And the judge agreed!

 There are some lesssons to be learned here.   First of all, his case is not unusual.

Most people gain weight over a period of time.  Gaining 5 – 6 pounds a year like this guy did is pretty common. 

And it is so slow that most people do not even notice it.  At least not until a year or two has passed. 

But, that is the time to do something about it.  Don’t do like this guy did and just keep eating and eating for 12 years and then realize that you have gained 65 pounds. 

It is much easier to lose 5-6 pounds and keep it off than it is to lose 65 pounds. 

The other point is that somewhere along the line you and everyone else in the world has to take responsibility for your own actions.

To keep eating as you get bigger and bigger is a decision.  This guy made that decision and he got obese. 

If you are overweight, then you have to realize that it is your decisions that got you that way.  (Unless you are a child living at home, then I will cut you some slack.)

Every time you take a bite of food you are making the decision to keep eating.  Now you have to decide how much of it to eat. 

You also have to decide what kinds of food you are going to eat.  This is not rocket science.  I am sure everyone knows that broccoli is better for you than potato chips. 

Yet, more potato chips are sold than broccoli every day of the year. 

What are you deciding?

But, here is a bigger truth.  It is very easy to blame others for your life and health.

Are you overweight?  It is easy to blame others for being that way.  You can blame your parents, you can blame your job, you can blame advertising and so on. 

In reality there is only one person to blame and that is you. 

So take responsibility. 

Once you take responsibility then something fantastic happens.

You can decide to change.  This takes an instant.  An instant to change your life. 

Once you make this new decision your body will start changing also.

That is the miracle of your body.  It will react to you making good decisions.  You can lose weight and fat.  You can build muscle, get stronger.  You can have more energy.

It doesn’t matter if you are 65 pounds, or more, overweight.  It doesn’t matter if you haven’t exercised in 30 years. 

You can start on your new body as soon as you make the decision.

Take an instant right now and change.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

There is a silly debate going on in the diet guru world right now.  It has to do with calories and weight gain. 

Some say that it doesn’t matter what you eat.  It only matters how much. 

So if you eat more calories than you expend or burn then you will gain weight.  If you eat less calories than you burn then you will lose weight. 

This is pretty straight forward and easy to understand.

But, there is another group that says it is more important what you eat then how much you eat. 

Now the smarter ones in this group do add the caveat that there are limits to how much you can eat.  In other words, overall calories are important.

This group believes that if you eat more carbs, then you will gain weight.  If you eat more protein then you will lose weight or not gain.

So what is the truth?

They are both right to a degree.

This has to do with how your body uses the food or energy it takes in. 

Some people will eat and eat and eat and still not gain weight.  For some of them it doesn’t matter if they eat fat, carbs or protein.  They have a higher metabolism and can process more food without gaining weight. 

Wouldn’t you like that problem?

Well you can have it.  Just not to the same degree.

Yes, overall calories do matter.  However, your body will adjust to the overall calories.  Most people notice this when they go on a diet.

As less food comes in, the metabolism slows. 

However, when you eat more, the metabolism speeds up.  To a degree.  You can’t just eat more and more food and expect your metabolism to keep pace. 

Your body has a system of checks and balances and if this gets to far out of whack, then – in this case – weight gain is a consequence.

But, what about the high protein diets that are the rage. 

Here, is the thing.  You can eat more protein than you can carbs (especially processed carbs) and not gain body weight. 

That is because your body takes a certain amount of energy to process foods.  It takes more to process protein than it does carbs.

And your body needs protein more than it needs processed carbs.  

Too many processed carbs plays havoc with your whole hormone system which can more easily lead to weight gain. 

But eating too much protein can lead to weight gain also. 

So the bottom line is, you can not get away from the formula that more calories in than burned leads to weight gain.

However, what you eat also affects the amount of weight gain or loss you have. 

So to lose weight start by eating less processed carbs and upping your protein intake.  Even if your calorie level doesn’t change, you should see a drop in weight. 

Calories and weight gain can be tricky and we’ll talk more about this in future issues.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

There are 10 zillion acai berry concoctions on the market today.  The question is is the acai berry healthy or not?

The acai berry – by itself – is healthy for you. Just like all berries are. 

However it does not have the highest ORAC score of berries.  The ORAC score is a measurement of the antioxidant force the food source has.

Blueberries and blackberries have scores of 6552 and 5347 respectively.

Acai berries have a score of 3800. 

So yes, acai berries are good for you.

That isn’t the problem however.  I have talked about the acai berry scam from a monetary point of view before so I won’t go into detail about it again.

I will just tell you to beware of the free 30 day supply offers.  They are all a scam and it will end up costing you hundreds of dollars to get out of those programs.

There are other problems.  And that is with the combo drinks that have acai in them.

One of the problems is that while companies that make these drinks are required to list the ingredients, they are not required to tell you how much of an ingredient is in their product.

So there might be more food coloring than actual acai in some of the drinks.  One company purports to have over 18 fruits in them.  It also have tons of added sugar also.

And that brings up the sugar issue.  Berries have a lot of nutrition and low sugar levels. 

These combo drinks all most always have added sugar – some as much as in any soda you buy on the market. 

Here is something else you should check out. 

See if the preservative sodium benzoate is listed as an ingredient.  When sodium benzoate interacts with vitamin C (and all fruits have vitamin C) during pasturization benzene forms.  This could be heat or light pasteurization.

Benzene happens to be a very aggressive carcinogen even in very tiny amounts. 

They are expecially harmful to your cells mitochondria or power houses.  Do you really want this in your “health” drink?

Probably not. 

I am not really picking just on the acai berry.  Every fruit drink has the same marketing, same added sugars, same processing, etc. 

Fruit juices are good for you.  Just make sure they are 100% fruit juices and not 20% fruit juice and 80% junk. 

Never buy fruit drinks.  They have no benefit whatsoever. 

Best of all, just eat fruits or make your own juices in a blender. 

That way you don’t have to worry if your acai berry is healthy or not.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

Do you want to live longer?  What if you knew a way to live longer that is simple to do?  Would you do it?

Some research out of the University of Florida’s Institute on Aging measured the effects of oxidation (bad) on DNA.

They found a way that reduced these effects over the year’s period of time for the study.

All you had to do was eat 20% less food.   Now that is pretty simple.  But it is not so easy.  20% is a pretty big drop.

Out of 2000 calories that is a 400 calorie drop per day. 

Yes, I know there are diets out there that proclaim you can drop 500-1000 calories a day and lose weight just by watching TV. 

Problem is most people can’t even stay on a 2-300 drop in calories a day, let alone a 1000 calorie a day drop.

And, if you have been reading these posts for any length of time, you already know the problems of drastic food reduction to lose weight.

But, in this controlled study, it was found that the oxidative damage to DNA was significantly decreased with a reduction in calories.

The same thing was found with a 20% increase in energy expenditure via exercise. 

So exercise 20% more or eat 20% less. 

Here is an even better idea.  Put the two together to get your 20%.  In other words, just decrease your eating by 10% and increase your exercise by 10%.

Again, this is simple, but for many not so easy to do.  However, a 10% reduction in eating sounds way better than a 20% reduction.

And doing some more exercise every day sounds better than a lot more exercise every day.

Now this study didn’t go into details on what was eaten or what kind of exercise was done.

However, if you are getting nutrient rich whole foods, your body will be satisfied and not even miss the extra food.

If you exercise the right way you can increase your energy expenditure by 20% in a matter of just minutes a day.

So if you want to live longer put those two points into practice.  It is simple and almost easy.

Stay tuned as we explore this in further posts.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

Can you raise your metabolism by eating? 

You probably know that you can raise your metabolism by moving more or doing more exercise.  That is pretty simple to figure out.

But, can you raise it just by eating?  Turns out you can.

Your metabolism is simply how much of your calories are converted from food into fuel.  The higher your metabolism the more calories your burn.

This happens no matter what you are doing.  You could be exercising, eating, sleeping or just breathing.  A higher metabolism will burn more calories doing all of these things.

Before we get into how to do this, let’s get rid of the myth that there are negative calorie foods.  These would be foods that if you eat them they will burn more calories then you take in. 

Sorry, but there is no scientific evidence that this is true at all.

Okay, that is out of the way.  One way to raise your metabolism is to eat more times per day.  That doesn’t mean that your should raise your calories.

Just take the same number of calories you eat and spread it out over a couple of more meals.  Eating burns calories.  Eating a couple of more times a day burns more calories.

Now an important concept with this is to eat at least a half way decent diet.  Eating a bunch of junk food and spreading it out over more meals doesn’t really help you and may actually be more harmful. 

Make sure you include more protein for your extra meals.  You could actually eat something like beef jerky, tuna or hard boiled eggs for a couple of extra snacks.  Protein burns more calories. 

Drink some caffeine.  Drinking coffee or tea (without adding sugar and whipping cream) will raise your metabolism by 3-4% for a few hours after drinking. 

There are the ways you can raise your metabolism by eating.  Next post we’ll look at a couple of other ways to raise it without eating.

Thanks,

Mike

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Hi,

Just a quick update to let you know next week I will be starting a series on junk food.  What it is and why we all want to eat it. 

So I am putting the finishing touches on it today and this weekend.

In the meantime, have a great weekend.  Get out there and eat healthy and do a little exercise.

Mike Val

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Hi,

You probably eat or have heard of good foods to eat for your health.  But, are they really.  Here are 5 good foods that have been ruined by man.

The first is coffee.  Natural coffee has a lot of antioxidants and has been shown to help prevent diabetes among other things.  That of course means just the coffee and not the sugar and creams that are added. 

And remember too much of a good thing can be more harmful than good.  And that certainly applies to coffee.

But, that is not the main problem.  The main problem is that -unless you are getting organic coffee – you are getting all kinds of pesticides in your morning brew.  These include, but are not limited to highly toxic chemicals like:  endosulfan, dursban, basudin, and disulfoton.

So spend a few extra bucks and buy organic coffee and skip the pesticides. 

Salmon is the next good food.  Used to be any salmon would do, but in order to make more profits salmon started to be grown on salmon farms. 

And they were fed, corn, soy, vegetable oil and fishmeal pellets that contain PCBs (cancer causing agent).  Wild salmon eat krill. 

This difference changes the structure so much that farmed salmon contain 4 times the omega 6 oils and less omega 3 oils. 

You actually need about a 2-1 to 3-1 ratio in favor of omega 3 oils. 

Wild salmon is a good source of protein and antioxidants as well as the omega 3 oils.  Farmed salmon is none of the above.

Number 3 is cocoa.  Cocoa has the highest ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) units of any food source at a score of 80000.  This measures the amount of antioxidants it has. 

Problem is most of the cocoa you see has added sugars and other non-natural ingredients.  And is has been treated with alkali, a harsh chemical base that cuts its antioxidant capacity in half.

Again, go organic and get all the benefits.

Also way up there on the ORAC base are blueberries (6500 score).  That is way less than cocoa, but nothing comes close to cocoa. 

Blueberries, rasberries, strawberries, black berries are all great for you.  They have lots of antioxidants, fiber and only a little sugar. 

Again, the amount of pesticides in these berries is tremendous – they are all on the top 12 list of most contaminated fruits.  Cherries rank high on this list also.

If you think the pesticides can be washed off, you will have to think again.  Tests show that the pesticides penetrate the skin of the fruit and reduce the antioxidant effects by over25%

Lastly we have beef.  Grass fed beef that is.  Grass fed beef is a natural source of protein, creatine and omega 3 oils. 

Pen fed beef is not a natural source of anything.  But, it will give you a lot more omega 6 oils and fat enhancing hormones. 

Going back to a natural or organic diet will do wonders for your health.  As you can see pesticides, chemicals and hormones have ruined what once once a good food. 

But, you can make a change.  Start eating more organic foods and naturally raised beef and fish.

Then you don’t have to worry about the 5 good foods ruined by man and can enjoy all the benefits of a good diet.

Thanks,

Mike Val   

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Hi,

Hope you have seen all three previous posts on the have you regained weight series.  If not please check the archives. 

Last time we left off with the power of 36 and how it can help you maintain the weight you want.

So the premise is that you have found the lifestyle you want, you have made the choices on what to eat and how much to exercise to maintain those lifestyles.

You have gradually gotten to exactly where you want to be from a health and body weight point of view. 

Now what?  As mentioned last post, just getting to this point the proper way will go a long way to help maintain your healthy body.

But, there is a way to lock it in for good. 

As you are aware most diets never address what to do once you reach your weight, and most people gain all the weight right back. 

Part of this is because it is only natural to celebrate achieving your goal.  And to most, celebrating means food and drink. 

But, reaching the goal is only half the battle.  Maintaining it is the other half.

And this is actually pretty simple.  It only takes 36 days. 

The goal is to make your new lifestyle habits permanent.  Now most psychologists say it takes 21 days to make a new habit permanent. 

I don’t know where they got this from.  I could find no research that shows this to be true.  And I know it never worked for me. 

But, in my trying to find out where this came from I ran across a really interesting study about astronaut training. 

Because astronauts in a weightless environment are sometimes upside down, some of them get disorientated.  This makes doing simple things, while upside down, more difficult.

The researchers in this study were trying to determine what to do about this problem.

They developed some glasses that inverted the images that the astronauts saw.  So even though the astronauts were in a regular upright position in the training lab, everything they saw was upside down.

They had to wear these glasses 24/7. 

Well, a very interesting phenomenon happened on the 34-to 36th day for every one of the astronauts. 

They reinverted the images.  So even though the images they were seeing with the glasses on were still inverted, the astronauts started seeing them as normal right side up. 

The body and mind were actually reprogrammed to deal with the changes. 

So I put 2 and 2 together and came up with my own theory.  And I do not have any proof that this works for everything, but it just seems to me that it will take 36 days for your body and mind to get used to the new you.

So after you reach the new you, then continue doing what you are doing – with no other changes – for the next 36 days to lock in the new you.

Now you will have homeostasis working for you.  It will actually take a concerted effort on your part to regain the weight you have lost. 

And wouldn’t that be a nice feeling, never having to worry about regaining weight. 

For more information on how to change your eating patterns then you might want to check out my stop dieting book.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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