The secret to easy, lasting weight loss (and I'm giving it away for free)

Before I tell you the secret to weight loss, be aware that you may just ignore it. I can tell you what works and you may just blow it off. It's like how to live happily: Live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not that big a secret. You know you should, but some people would rather indulge in pleasure. And, like the gospel, you need to try living it to see any benefits and learn for yourself if it works.

The secret to weight loss isn't really a secret, but it's not advertised because you can't make money off it. I can give you a list of what to do, but you won't do it unless you understand why. For example, I can tell you to avoid MSG, but you won't if you don't understand how it works. Then if you really don't want to put the effort into getting healthy, and just want a quick fix, you'll be inclined to accept the food industry's disinformation campaign telling you that MSG is safe. 

 

So I'll present some concepts here and encourage you to do your own research on them to understand more. Research tip: try entering something like "health effects of artificial colors" in the search bar at google.com. After what you read, you'll probably wonder why they're still used.

While you're researching, remember that real health solutions are often ridiculed and suppressed by those who stand to profit from your ignorance. 

 

What I'll present is what helped me go from border-line obese to a healthy weight. Around ten years ago, I was kind of shocked when I saw a height-weight chart that said 185 lbs and 5' 9.5" tall was over-weight. It wasn't just borderline; it was smack in the middle of over-weight. I was not a muscular build, so I couldn't make that excuse. 

 

Through a series of fortunate events, I was able to get some really good information that allowed me to lose weight without getting hungry and almost without trying to lose weight. The effort was in learning how to eat healthy. Although I did go down to 140 lbs, I was at 145 for a few years. Then I decided that I wasn't going to watch the scale and I've been steadily pretty close to 150 lbs for the past six years or so. I check my weight and blood pressure monthly at work for their health incentive program. But I don't worry about checking my weight daily on the bathroom scale. 

 

I've found that I feel pretty good all the time. I keep getting offered junk food here and there, and it's become so easy to politely decline because I know that the junk food will make me feel bad for a much longer time than the short time pleasure from eating it. I get sick much less often. I no longer get a cold every couple months. 

Myth

Fat stored or burned is as simple as calories in - calories out

Reality

Not all calories are created equal. In a properly nourished body, hunger regulates the proper amount of calorie consumption, so you don't need to count calories.

 

Weight loss can't be successful long-term if treated only as a calorie problem, or an exercise problem. The approach needs to be holistic. You need to do everything for health. 

 

Calorie counting won't work because:

• It takes too much effort.
• You don't know exactly what you need in calories every day.
• It neglects all the other nutrients. 

To illustrate the point, here's an extreme example. If you lived on 2500 calories a day, but the source of those calories was sugar water, you would soon die a very miserable death because of malnutrition. Then if you added in all the necessary fats, minerals, and proteins, and you will still die because of the lack of vitamins.

Get the nutrients you need.

So how do I know if I'm getting all the nutrients I need? There is a very useful and free tool at http://nutritiondata.self.com/. You can enter in everything you typically eat in a day, and analyze the nutrient content. You can see if you're getting enough vitamins, minerals, essential fats, and proteins. Then search for the foods that are highest in the nutrient you are missing. But remember that it's incomplete data.

Whole, raw plant food is the best source of nutrition. (Not food for plants! That's dirt. I'm talking about eating plants as food). Cooking food destroys nutrients, including enzymes that help in digestion. But use some common sense here. Some food should not be eaten raw, like chicken. 

 

We're not done yet. 

My next few posts will continue revealing the secrets of easy, permanent weight loss. It's a permanent lifestyle change. You won't be able to return to your "eat for pleasure" diet and maintain a healthy weight. There's a big difference between eating to live, and living to eat.

GMO Propaganda in my Inbox

Yesterday, I opened my email to find a HowStuffWorks message with the subject "10 misconceptions about GMOs". I immediately thought it looked like a misinformation campaign. Then after reading it (and having my suspicions confirmed), I was surprised at how often the article contradicts itself. Let's compare their listing of so-called misconceptions, and how their analysis relates to reality. 

You can find their propaganda right here: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/10-misconceptions-gmos.htm#mkcpgn=em16 

Their article starts off stating that scientists first began to test genetically engineered crops in the late 1980s. Today, 60-70% of processed foods in the US have GMO ingredients. Then they go right in to their first "misconception".

Supposed myth 10: Genetic Modification of Food is New

They said "not really". But they just finished telling you on the first page that genetic modification started in the late 1980s. I think they tried to justify GMO as a form of selective breeding. They way they presented it, you would think GMO has been going on since man started farming. According to their definition, if I chose who would be the mother of my children, then according to that definition, my kids are GMO. In this same article, they explain that the process of creating a genetically modified organism is completely different than selective breeding, or cross-breeding, or hybridization. In one method, they shoot DNA fragments into a cell and hope for the best. So yes, GMO is a new technique. Like they said, they've been doing it since the late 1980s. 

Myth 9: GMOs are Just a Modern Version of Selective Breeding

I have to congratulate them on getting this one right. They briefly explained how genes are shot into the target cell. They didn't come right out and say it, but they have no control of how many copies of the gene get inserted, or at what location in the DNA strand they end up. It's trial and error, hit and miss. You never know what you'll end up with. It's almost as bad as shooting computer code into a program and hoping it works. 

 

Weasel worded myth #8: There's Solid Evidence that GMO Foods Cause Cancer

Notice the word solid. Fact: their debunking got debunked. They took one study that showed GMO foods cause cancer and they attacked it. See the rebuttal here: http://www.sott.net/article/237064-GMO-Researchers-Attacked-Evidence-Denied-and-a-Population-at-Risk

The funny thing is, it was pretty close to the study used to approve glyphosate for the EFSA, but they extended the time of the study from 90 days to two years. It's amazing how long-term studies uncover problems that short term studies don't. Not only did studies find that GMO causes cancer, but there are other health problems as well that are attributed to GMO foods. Notice how they didn't mention other studies, like the study on pigs that showed severe stomach inflammation due to GMO feed. 

 

7 GMO Crops are Dangerous Since They Contain Toxic Substances

They only mentioned BT toxin and completely skipped over the glyphosate problem. The whole reason for creating Roundup resistant crops is so you can spray the crops with Roundup. The plants absorb the herbicide and you get to eat it. Try looking up studies on glyphosate that were not funded by Monsanto.

Don't let them fool you into thinking that BT toxin is non-toxic. The LD50 (oral) value for rats is 2.65 to 5g/kg, which puts it in the low toxicity range. But BT toxin infects the gut bacteria, transforming gut flora into BT toxin producing bacteria. BT toxin can stay in the body for months after ingestion, so you need to do some very long term studies to figure out the health effects.

6 GMO Crops Pose a Health Risk to People With Allergies

They cite an incident that happened during product development where the GMO soy with brazil nut genes caused allergic reactions to those allergic to brazil nuts. While they try to calm your fears, they also mention that the FDA doesn't require allergy screening for GMO products. I agree that allergic reactions may presently not be a problem (unless you're already allergic to the non-GMO version). But that doesn't mean that it won't be a future problem, especially with the attitude of putting profits before safety.

5 Altered Genes From GMO Plants Invariably Will Spread and Cause Havoc

They start out saying, well, it probably won't spread antibiotic resistance to bacteria. Well, it's good to know that GMOs probably won't turn in to man-eating venus fly traps either. Then they mention that cross-pollination is a problem. It's nice to see they found their way back on topic. Cross-pollination is a huge problem. It's like lighting a field on fire and hoping it won't spread where you don't want it to.

4 If Patented GMO Seeds Accidentally Grow on Your Property, You Could Be Sued

If a farmer "uses" Monsanto's GMO technology without paying royalties, then they sue the farmer. To date, Monsanto has pursued over 800 cases. But, Monsanto (out of the goodness of their hearts) has promised not to sue organic farmers if GMO crops contaminate their land. I guess it's because (and I'm speculating here) the organic farmer would have to destroy the crops, but the conventional farmer can still sell them.

3 GMO Crops Cause Catastrophic Honeybee Decline

I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Take a problem with GMOs, exaggerate it, then attack the exaggeration to make you feel safer about them. Remember that BT toxin in GMO plants kills insects, including beneficial insects such as ladybugs and bees. 

 

2 Almost All Crops Today Are GMOs

Right, not all, but 80-90% of corn and soy grown in the USA is GMO. 70% of processed foods contain GMO ingredients. They said that they never grew GMO wheat in the USA. But the article in the following link directly contradicts that claim. (It also relates to number 5 above.)  http://newsdaily.cms.newscred.com/article/a5599505526172d7685fcc9fc6db8ba4/refile-kansas-wheat-farmer-sues-monsanto-over-rogue-wheat-release 

1 GMOs Are Unlabeled and Impossible to Avoid

This is a highly misleading claim. In the USA, GMOs are not required to be labeled! Just because organic foods are not supposed to have GMOs, and are often labeled as GMO free, it doesn't mean that GMOs are labeled. The only GMO label you'll see in the USA is one that says "NO GMOs". Then they admit that if you really want to avoid GMOs, you have to grow your own food in your own garden or move to Europe! Does that not just verify the supposed myth they're trying to debunk?

I'm getting the impression that the article was meant to fool the casual reader into only reading the headlines and ignoring the rest of the text.

Mission Statement

At the suggestion of a friend and leader, I was encouraged to set up a blog on healthy living. I've been doing my best to learn and apply the principles of health for the past ten years.

The mission of this blog is to both teach and learn. I'll do my best to:

• Empower you with knowledge. 
• Inspire you to action.
• Motivate you with reason. 
• Uplift you with encouragement.

I'll start you off with how I started my journey.

Principle #1: Make an effort to eat more healthy food, and less junk food.

It was my cholesterol test back in 2003 that "inspired" me to decide I needed a change. Since my family has a history of heart disease, and I didn't want to end up dead before 50, I decided that it was better to eat what was good for me rather than just eat what tasted good.

Principle #2: You need to learn more than what you think you know.

While this may seem obvious to some, others that need this advice most, may think they already know enough. I find this especially true the more educated a person is. Hopefully I don't ever get the attitude that I already know enough.

Why brotherandrews.blogspot.com? With God as our Father, we're all brothers and sisters. It's a way to remember to treat all God's children with love. 

I'll try to add something new once a week or so.