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I Gained Pounds (haha... tear😢)

This isn't going to take long. Suffice it to say that I have struggled with a weight problem my entire adult life. And since my last post I have gone up in a scary way. I am at 286 pounds, which is not terrible now. Last year at this time I was weighing 313 lbs.

NOT GOOD! 

So I guess in a way this is a positive update. 

But the bad news is that I have come up on a plateau. I was losing about .5 lbs per week for the longest time since last February (give or take) and suddenly in December the scale stopped showing this pattern. I got stuck at 286 and the damn numbers won't budge! 

I haven't changed much of my habits that were working for most of 2024, so I don't get it. I do some small strength training but nothing crazy like a body builder who practically lives in a gym. And it's only about two to three times a week at the most. So it can't be muscle gain. 

It's a mystery. A conundrum. 

If someone out there knows what's going on, or got tips on restarting my weight loss let me know. 

I do fast most days. At the most I fast up to 16 hours. But I refuse to go all crazy doing 24 hour fasts or anything that involves depriving myself. 

I eat up to 2000 calories a day and on Saturdays I splurge. Some apps have indicated that for my height, age, and current weight, I should be consuming about 2800 to 3200 cals per day to lose one pound per week. 

That's got to be bullshit. 

At 2k cals per day plus the extra cals on Saturday, I'm well below the 3200 per day every day of the week, and though I'm not gaining, I'm not losing either. 

Damn my fat genes!

Okay, so I'll come back in about a month to update on the effort. What about you? How's your struggle going? One thing I recommend after a lifetime of this is:

DON'T DEPRIVE YOURSELF!  It's not worth it. 

That's my motto now. If my body is comfortable at 286, perhaps it's because my body is smarter than my brain and knows that that is an ideal weight for my size. It's not like I don't look hot or anything...🔥😜

Author Gabriel Hugo

Author Gabriel Hugo: Gabriel Hugo's latest book "Tenochtitlan Must Fall" is book 1 in his collection "The X Series".

Back to Black...Beans

Well hey there, what's up? I'll tell you what's up. My weight. Shit happened around my life and I let it influence my practices. The result: a gain of 58 lbs in the span of the four years since I published an update here. Sucks.

Luckily, I am happy to report that I have recently (within the past month) gotten back to a diet similar to the one I described here on various posts and the results of that effort? A loss of 20 lbs in just one month! Can you believe it? Proof that the diet that I had been adhering to all along when I was actively updating this blog is 100% effective.

So I decided I will return to post updates here from time to time. Sort of as a way to keep track of my progress and possibly impart to those who may want or need a guide some ideas for what to eat. The number one rule that I have discovered in this weight loss/gain/loss journey of mine is this: Food = Results.

It's damn near a law, actually. What you eat determines your weight. It's not even about exercise. And I know that many will be happy to know that. It's true. The 20 lbs I have lost in the past month have been lost solely by eating right. That and trying to have my dinners at or before 6 pm. That's it. Simple. Easy.

So I'll come back at some other time to update with a recipe and pics of foods. I'm discovering a whole new way of cooking that makes me excited again about eating. Especially because this type of eating leads to weight loss. So it's eating to lose weight. How freakin' cool is that?

See you soon. I'll leave a picture here of just one discovery I have made for myself lately.

Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes" on my plate. Guilt-free pleasure.

Quick update

I weigh 257. I feel like I weigh less but the scale insists on the same reading. I get to eat what I like without gaining. 

Next time I will share a photo and a recepie of something I came up with as a dinner option that involves zero carbs and tastes incredibly good.

The Line-Up

This is the typical breakfast or lunch that I am having these days on weekdays:

It is usually accompanied by a lot more veggies. But the main ingredients are: some kind of meat (in this case salami), veggies like cherry tomatoes, broccoli, snap peas, and in this lunch I used pine nut hummus and garlic herb cream cheese. It was delicious. This stuff really works to make you get trimmed. But you have to be consistent. And like I said, you need to include way more veggies than are shown here.


This is what an occasional late afternoon snack or dinner substitute looks like (depending on how many servings):

 

This is a great way to have your fruits with all those micronutrients. Plus it is very refreshing and really sweat and tasty. The ingredients are: banana, strawberries, blue berries, papaya, cinnamon, stevia extract (sweetener), purified water and ice.


You stick to this pattern of eating and you are sure to lose weight like crazy. For me, though, lately it has been about maintenance more than continued loss. And the reason for this is....:

Yes, good eating on the weekends. It is inevitable. In my part of the world, it is a ritual to grill or barbecue meat EVERY WEEKEND! And it's really not the meat but the bread or tortillas and chips and sides like potato salad and rice that are the culprit. Oh, well. The good thing is that I am still NOT gaining. But I realize that to begin to lose weight again, weekends must be sacrificed. It's coming. I'm trying to psyche myself for it. Mmmmmmm...argh! There goes this weekend's battle. The barbecue won the day. Hahaha. Don't judge me!

So long.


GHS

Just an Update

Last Saturday I weighed 256 lbs. I am anticipating another two lost by this Saturday. The trick is a little exercise and eating a lot of veggies, some canned fish, cheese, avocado and spices. No soda. Just diet green tea.

This coming weekend I will try not having soda even on my day "off" and also no alcoholic beverage. That's going to be a tough one. But I think it will make a significant difference for the following weekend's numbers. Let's see if I am strong enough to resist beer this Saturday.

Ahh, but beer tastes so good, the sound of a can being popped open--simply beautiful! It will be difficult but I am feeling more motivated than I have been in a long while. I hope you all have had some positive effects in your diet/weight loss efforts from reading this blog. I will try to write consistently on weekends at least.

Hasta la proxima.

If you ain't gaining, then You ain't lost

The title of this post is exactly what it's all about. I was getting quite depressed this past month, because for exactly one full month I have been doing nothing in regards to the plan I lay out on past posts in this blog. The reason being, as I have stated before, personal problems I have been going through.

I have been feeling a lot better these past few days. I have begun a very light activity routine, otherwise known as an exercise regimen. This is only to speed up the process of recovery. In the past month I undid all the progress I had achieved since I started in April to write this blog. I had lost 15 lbs. and was weighing 250 lbs. But after a month of no discipline and a lot of booze, I have gained 9 lbs.

You might be tempted to call this a failure. I was, too. For that whole month my mind was plagued by thoughts of failure in my weight loss and in my personal life. But just last night I realized something hugely important.

And that is

IF YOU ARE NOT GAINING WEIGHT, YOU ARE NOT A LOSER!

In other words, it has been over a month that I got terribly sidetracked by life's unexpected changes, and still I have maintained myself at or below the weight I started off with in April, which was 265 lbs. Not only that, but I am actually still weighing 6 lbs LESS than what I started off with. That, my friends, is a

RESOUNDING VICTORY!

That's right. Not only am I six pounds under my initial weight, but I seem to have gotten past the worst part of my depression and stress that I was going through during that month of difficult life changes.

I feel myself recovering my funk, getting my groove back, finding my mojo again! I am starting to gain confidence in my abilities and resolve in my goals. But life is hard when you are trying to lose weight without the use of products of any kind, and are a single father of two boys, and have to worry about work and chores, etc.

So I can only hope to continue on this increasing optimism and motivation which seems to be coming back to me. We'll see in about one month. I think I had said I would give myself until sometime in August to lose the intended weight of 30 lbs. However, I know this is not going to be possible, even if I give myself and extension of one more month, which technically I do deserve, since I was out for a good reason.

So then there it is. I am giving myself until September 23 to see how much of the 30 lbs. plan I will be able to lose. And in the end, if I only manage to keep a couple of pounds off, then even that will be a cause for celebration.

Remember:

The goal of weight management is always one of two. Either you need to lose some, so you focus on that for a while. Or you at least change your habits so that you can stop the gaining process. When you can manage to halt that process, that in itself is a huge improvement.

GHS

Thank You

People are coming to this site despite the fact that I have written scarcely lately. Thank you. I have been in a slump. No diet, no exercise, no discipline. I am back to 259 lbs. because for three weeks now I have been "off" the schedule. I will be going back on soon. Just yesterday I began by working out for 20 mins. which was brutal. 

And what is it all due to? A break up. It causes stress, it produces compulsions usually toward destructive patterns or habits. But it's understandable. I will write more in-depth soon. For now I just wanted to fill you in since you have been coming back and I appreciate your interest. When I recover from this snag I hope to improve this blog to its old format but I make no promises! Thanks again.

The Loss

People keep coming back to this blog. I guess it is to follow up on my progress. It's wack. I gained 7 pounds since the last time I wrote a  post. And the reason is that I took an entire week "off" and just ate whatever I wanted and no exercise and plenty of boozing. And one thing about boozing is that it absolutely does not help you lose weight.

So what is the plan? I am barely hanging on here. The other thing that absolutely does not aid in weight loss is being constantly perturbed by troubles. What can I say, sometimes life is just not that easy. It's a miracle I haven't gone on a blind binge-eating frenzy yet. Sometimes I can't help feel like I just cannot hold on to the goals I set for myself here. Everyday is a constant struggle.

Today I began the day on the dark side. Angry, frustrated, and ready to call it quits on my weight loss goals. But slowly, and with the assistance of some very loud and uplifting music in the sun I have begun to recover a positive view.

As I said before, everyday is a challenge on its own. I cannot let myself be discouraged by yesterday. Only what today brings. Only for a while. While this unstable disposition fades away and I achieve balance.

Until then, I can guarantee one thing: many more setbacks.

But that's okay. As long as the setbacks don't become defeat. And even then, the world won't end. Just maybe this blog will be ended in failure. But I still have two more months to work with.

Good luck to me.

Results for Saturday June 8, 2013 (and for today Saturday June 15, 2013)

[For some reason I overlooked posting this up last weekend. Here it is. By the way, No changes for this weekend. Except only half a pound less. So official weight today 6/15/13: 250 lbs.]

I weighed 250.5 lbs. today.

That's another 1.5 lbs. less than last weekend. I will not promise I can maintain this rate of weight loss or even maintain this weight level for next weekend. It feels like it has cost me a lot more than usual to lose the weight and I feel like taking a break from it all for a while. 

Don't know yet. Still mulling it through. We'll see how I feel about it tomorrow and especially on Monday. 

Maybe the solution is to change up the methods. I could go with veggies all next week. Or maybe counting calories strictly but eating anything and everything within that allotment of calories per day. One thing is for sure, increasing the exercise effort is not an option at all. But maintaining the level of activity that I have been keeping I think is achievable.

So far it has been 15 lbs. lost since I began this endeavor in mid to late April. Not bad. 18 lbs. to go from here to late August. 

Time will tell. 

GHS

Results for Saturday June 1, 2013

Weight: 252.5 lbs.

1.5 lbs less than last Saturday

Not quite the standard set of 2 pounds a week, but at least it is progress, not stagnation or regression.

Method: Eating high protein, carbs only from veggies, real butter, olive oil, two meals a day with one snack during the day (peanuts), lots of water, and some form of activity that can be considered exercise but that does not involve a gym membership, repetitive and unproductive routines, and none of the "no pain-no gain" torture.

Life is good. Next Saturday's goal: 250.5 lbs. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

I will!...Hopefully.

GHS

When Life Gives You Lemons...

First off, I went up two pounds this week, so I am back at 256 lbs. Am I disappointed? No! See I was in a two-day workshop as a presenter. This involved me going outside of my regular schedule and diet. In essence, I had to take my "day off" on Thursday instead of today. That means that my next day off the diet will be next Thursday. Therefore, a two pound difference is really not at all that bad. I am willing to bet that, if all else remains the same, I will be able to not only lose these additional two pounds, but perhaps another two on top of that.

You could say that me gaining two pounds is an indication of failure in my approach, but in fact I do not believe the approach is flawed. What I have recognized is that what has been missing from my daily routine has been the constant movement, "exercise" that I used to engage in. This is simply because recently I have been under certain stress, which leaves me fatigued and mentally, and physically, drained everyday. If you ever try losing weight while under any kind of stress, you will see that it is almost impossible. This is because the body is designed to respond in a specific way to stress. This involves elevating cortisol. Here's an interesting quote:

"One of the most common symptoms of elevated cortisol levels in the body is progressive weight gain, explain health officials at Up To Date, a peer-reviewed health information website for patients. High cortisol levels typically cause excess fat to accumulate around the face or neck, causing patients to exhibit round, puffy facial features that are collectively referred to as "moon" face. These patients may also experience weight gain around the neck or abdomen that occurs in conjunction with thinning of the legs and arms."

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/107934-elevated-cortisol-symptoms/#ixzz2UL8szLTJ

So if you are being put under a lot of stress and life hands you lemons, don't make yourself a high sugar-content lemonade drink! Instead grab those lemons and throw them at the face of those people putting you through hell! Ha! But seriously, do something about the stress first and you will see that the weight-loss effort will begin to work again. My strategy will work, I know it. But it takes time. First there must be the achievement of balance and the rest will follow.

Paz.

Gabriel

Results for weigh-in on Saturday, May 18

Just the skinny: 254 lbs.

YES! Last weekend I went up a pound. This weekend I recovered. After my "day off" on Saturday and all the good eating and drinking, I checked the damage today and it was minimal. I think I will be able to begin losing at a faster rate this week. I have gotten over certain hurdles that had kept me stagnant as far as this weight loss goes.

So look for more posts coming up. I'm feeling my mojo returning.

Paz

GHS

Last Week's Results

My first major defeat. Last Saturday I weighed myself. Outcome: 255lbs. A one pound increase. Surely it is no big deal. But it's bad because the trend was down, then stable, now upward. But it's okay. I have been under a tremendous deal of stress and depression-like symptoms. Extremely low energy due to mental fatigue and just an aweful lot of things to ponder and worry about and handle, so it is a miracle that I was able to confine the damage to only a one pound increase.

I am determined to get back to 254 lbs and then lose another two pounds at the very least by the end of this week. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

I hadn't written since last week also because of internet server problems and scheduling. But I hope to take back a more active role again on this blog. I think it helped when I was more actively writing. Perhaps at least one or two posts per week. Good thing I am feeling like I am coming out of this stump.

The Stress Factor

Losing weight is harder said than done when your life isn't as simple as you might like. Life has a way of tripping you up and causing your plans to constantly change. With change often comes hardship. No one likes to have to change their usual ways especially, as they say, "cold turkey". That's the whole point of this blog, isn't it? Undertaking a commitment to lose weight at a certain rate by forgoing my typical American diet of high carbs, high sugar, low fiber and micro nutrients and everything else that is actually good for the body.  

This strategy is extremely difficult to accomplish for anyone trying it. Empty carbs and sugar abound in our food options at every turn. And we are addicted to them. But combine this habit of bad food consumption with high stress and you have a recipe for disaster. Anyone who has been under serious amounts of stress knows well that the easiest way to relieve it is through some good old tasty meal with plenty of bread and oil and sugar. Yum. 

Of course, there are those who are not bound to food for their escape from stressful situations...namely drug addicts and alcoholics. But otherwise, it's the food that goes straight up to your brain pleasure centers like heroin. And it can't just be any food. If it were like that, then how easy would it be to pick up an apple and chomp on that and some carrots all day long? 

No, it's a combination of the highly addictive nature of processed food, fast food and junk food along with our view of them as "comfort foods" that gives us the most sense of relief from stress. That's right, it's partly the food itself, and partly the way we look at that food that leads us to reach for it when we are confronted with unforeseen or necessary, but stressful, change.

I guess what I am saying is, if there is a situation in your life which is causing you stress, then try to remove yourself from it. If this change itself will involve stress, then perhaps it is necessary for you to be able to eventually be free of the stress completely. Say, for instance, that you have a job that is highly stressful but financially rewarding. You could stay on and keep making good money, but eventually the stress is going to kill you for sure.

Now let's say you decide to make a break for it and get a different job. This job won't pay you anywhere near what you were making in the previous one, but at least the stress factor is non-existent. There might be some stress attached to the change of job because it involves gaining less financial reward, which means that your standard of living might have to be downgraded. But not to worry, all you gotta do is simply adapt. 

No more outings to fancy restaurants, no more name brand clothes and shoes, no more gizmos and gadgets that you don't need. In essence, a total life change so that you can actually enjoy life, instead of clinging to your old habits which only force you to have to be tied to a high-paying job that makes you totally miserable anyway.

So, if you want to have a better chance of losing the pounds, get away from stressful situations as much as possible. Seek out proper stress-relieving activities, like exercise or meditation. And always keep an open mind to total and complete change whenever that change is necessary for your health and well-being. 

Here is a very good (and very short) article about what happens in our bodies as a result of high stress:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/255134-how-stress-affects-weight-loss/

UPDATE

I have been under a lot of stress lately, that is why last week I wrote minimally on this blog. The results for last Saturday were not impressive. I didn't lose any weight. But the good news is that I also did not gain. I stayed right at 254 lbs. This is a victory in my view, because I know how difficult it is to lose weight, especially when under a lot of stress. I managed to keep myself in line. 

I do not anticipate much of a difference for next Saturday, either. If there is weight loss, it will be because I will have incorporated more exercise. That's the plan, anyway, but we know that plans are made to be changed. We'll see. Small steps. 

Weight loss should never be a race or rushed. It is a long-term process that will involve a lot of pitfalls and false starts and a whole lot of setbacks. But this should never deter you. Always come right back to it, and never give up. You will persevere. I guarantee it. 

ONE DAY AT A TIME.

Results for last week

I failed the test this weekend. I jumped in the river and I got soaked! In other words Friday night and all day Saturday I ate party food indiscriminately. But there was a reason for this self afforded "green light".

On Friday morning I weigh myself and saw that I had lost another 2 pounds! Which puts me at 254 lbs. However, since Friday night I broke my regular diet/eating habits, I changed the results that I would have had on Saturday morning. I could have lost up to three pounds, had I held firm. Oh, well.

Hopefully, I will continue this weight loss pattern. I am happy losing 2 pounds a week. This morning I weighed myself on another scale, not my regular one. It said 248.4 lbs. I am certain it was wrong.

There is no way that could be accurate. Unless my scale has been wrong all along. Because, otherwise that means that I would have lost close to 8 lbs. in one week! It is not impossible, but I think I am going to take that as a misreading. I will continue to rely on my scale for my official weigh-ins.

That is all for now. I just thought I should post up the results. I didn't get to before because life got in the way. Parties, family time and deep thoughts occupied my weekend.

I hope I can lose another two pounds by next Saturday and not put myself in any more situations that lead to excess.

Excess creates imbalance.

Imbalance creates disharmony within the self and with others. The most difficult thing to do in life is to strike a good balance and keep it.

Temptation Is Innocent

If you find yourself being incredibly tempted to betray your own commitments, it is likely that this is the product of your own doing more than anything else. In other words, if you fail to stay away from the "bad" foods, chances are that you didn't distance yourself far enough from them to begin with, so of course the challenge is going to be that much more difficult to overcome.

As with anything else that we seek to stay away from in order to be faithful to a prior commitment, when trying to lose weight and change the course of your life, it is essential that you open your eyes to your own everyday actions and see where the flaw lies. It is within your control.

You are the one who, when out at the supermarket, allows yourself to grab that bag of potato chips (empty carbs) and soda pop (about 8 to 12 teaspoons of pure sugar) with the idea that,

"It's just a small treat. I don't eat this stuff everyday".

But then the next day you buy yourself a candy bar and orange juice and think nothing of it, because - hey, see, I'm not eating those chips and soda everyday. This line of thinking takes place in our minds. I call it justification. You justify your bad habits by attempting to fool yourself in the way you look at the things you eat.

And then there is the idea of situational temptation. If you know you have a weakness for chocolate cake, don't hang around at a party around the time they are going to cut the cake.

Make up an excuse to leave.

You can come back later when the cake is gone and the pressure is no longer there to participate in this mass sugar overdosing event.

I personaly don't understand why the celebration has to be marked by the inclusion of some decadent treat like a cake?

Why can't it be some other treat, like fruit or beer?
Hmm, beer versus cake...yup, beer wins.

It's easy to not be tempted to eat the bad stuff. All you have to do is walk in the opposite direction of where the bad stuff is being offered. If you go for a swim, chances are you will be getting wet. You don't want to get wet? Don't dive into the river!

With that said, I am confronted by a situation which could very easily lead to me being participant in a night of drinking and eating beyond necessity. I don't have to, but it is a party. And when you go to a party in South Texas, and you don't eat or drink, well that's just like telling your family to go bend over somewhere. Not appreciated. Maybe that's just my family. But anyway, I will be tested. Let's see if I am able to hold and not give in.
Tomorrow I will have new results. Let's hope I can hold. If not, then I will count today as my "off " day, and will start the new week tomorrow. I don't want to do that because I like taking the whole day Saturday to do whatever I like. Oh, well. Until tomorrow.

10 Ways to Avoid Relapse

Alright, let's get right to it.

The 10 Ways To Avoid Relapsing Into Bad Eating Habits.

In descending order, from 10 to 1, Letterman style!

10.) Throw all your junk food in the trash can immediately.

9.) Dump some disguisting filth on top of your junk food already in the can, cuz you know you'll be digging in there when the cravings hit you.

8.) As soon as the cravings hit, don't fight the craving, instead engage in a task that will require time and effort to accomplish and feign interest in returning to fulfill your craving after you are done with that task.

7.) After you have completed the task, if you are still craving, punch yourself in the face to remind yourself that what you would be doing by eating junk is hurting your body just like hitting your face for no reason, like some idiot.

6.) Drink plenty of water.

5.) Drink black coffee or green tea with Stevia extract sweetener. They both contain tons of antioxidants that help clean your cells and give you energy to burn more fat.

4.) Don't sit around letting the cravings get the best of you. Get up and move, exercise, play with your kids, go for a walk, get involved in conversation; anything that will get your mind off that craving. If you have eaten properly, the craving is artificial, therefore will go away in moments. Just ride the wave.

3.) Allow yourself to snack on watery fruits or veggies. Throw in some peanuts or sunflower seeds.

2.) Go to the nearest mirror and place the scale right in front of it. Weigh yourself and look at yourself. If you are happy with what you see, then by all means, go crazy with your junk food. If not, then remind yourself of your goals and your accomplishments so far, and remember that no one and nothing has power over us other than the power we concede.

AND THE NUMBER ONE THING TO DO TO AVOID RELAPSE IS....

1.) Come back and read this blog for more tips! Ha!


But seriously, folks, look at my previous posts. Check out my pictures. You can see I was pretty huge. If I can lose 100 lbs. you, too, can do it. There is nothing special about me, other than determination. You have the power. Take charge and nothing will defeat you. Suerte!

The One-Two, One-Two of Servings

Today I almost slipped back into a hopeless overall attitude, which could have landed me right back where I was yesterday, comforting myself with food. But it was on the trip to drop off my kids at school early this morning that I happened to look into the rear-view mirror and caught sight of my youngest son eating a potato and egg taco in the back seat that immediately brought a smile to my face. The way he was chewing it looked like he was so thoroughly enjoying his food, that it inspired me to be positive again. It got me thinking that this is exactly how it should always be. We should be able to fully enjoy our food without being preoccupied with abusing it.

It is not easy to stop yourself from enjoying a great meal, when all your life you have been accustomed to indulging in tasty food, ignoring your body's loud calls for you to stop, it's full already! That has been my problem for a large part of my life. And I know this is the main problem for most people who become overweight and obese. It may not be entirely that they always overeat, but they certainly indulge by eating mainly foods that please the pallet and do nothing else.

Today I spoke to a young man about weight issues. He is overweight. His family members are overweight. One of his relatives was once known as the largest man in the region. Obesity is obviously a problem that prevails in his family. So in discussing food options and eating habits, I asked him to tell me what he had eaten last night. I assumed immediately that he had eaten all sorts of decadent sides like mashed potatoes and gravy. But he quickly proved me wrong. He had eaten only ground beef on rice. Nothing else. I was impressed...momentarily, that is, until I asked how many servings he had consumed. He admitted he had eaten three servings.

I asked him what the reason was for him to have eaten three servings? He felt put on the spot, of course. Instead of answering forthwith, he justified the extra servings by indicating that the bowl was relatively small. I asked him to be completely honest with me and say whether or not the extra servings were simply because he had enjoyed the taste of the food, and not because he had remained hungry after the first serving. He admitted that it was for the taste of it.

The majority of us do this all the time. I did this just yesterday. We indulge in tasty foods because the act of eating involves so much of the senses. It is addictive. And the worst part of it all is that we indulge in all the foods that immediately go toward creating or storing fat in our bodies.

While I sat with my young friend at lunch today talking about weight issues and how eating the wrong foods and overeating is directly tied to this, behind us was a table with pizza boxes stacked up on top of each other. There had been a meeting in that area where we had sat down. There had not been that many people there, but there sure had been a lot of pizza consumed. They had nothing else but the pies. My friend looked at me and said, "Imagine all the fat that comes with eating that." This, I recognized, was the beginning of an awakening in his awareness about the role our food choices play in our health.

So if you wish to begin to undo some of the bad habits surrounding your eating, start by identifying what foods you usually consume and how often you do. If most of the food you are eating involves flour, wheat, sugar, fried foods or a list of ingredients so complex and scientifically named that you can't even pronounce them, then you are in serous need of a food/eating habit change. If you are the type that can't handle going cold turkey, start by eliminating one of these from your everyday meals.

I would recommend starting with the sugar. Identify anything in your diet that contains sugar in any form: being regular sugar, fructose, sucrose, corn syrup or any other label that is used to disguise it. This will do wonders to normalize your insulin levels. If you are a coffee or tea drinker, hit the supermarket and buy yourself a box of stevia extract sweetener. Make sure it contains erythritol. This kind of sweetener has fewer calories than sugar. There is a product called Truvia, which is the one I use on my coffee.

Check it out here: http://truvia.com/about/?gclid=CLbc7-er4rYCFUyY4AodNXQAzg

As with anything, use in moderation. Nothing in this green Earth is safe to consume in unending quantities. That should never be the case when eating or drinking. That kind of practice is precisely what leads to obesity, because there is no balance. Even "healthy" food can make you obese if you abuse it.