making proper nutrition and exercise a habit

AlexPlatups

AlexPlatups

New member
Hi, my name is Alex Platups, my current weight is 175 pounds. I have been
maintaining this weight for the last 15 years. In 1994, I weighed 285 pounds,
by my 25th birthday in 1995, which is at the end of May, I lost 110 pounds
of unwanted body fat using proper nutrition and exercise.

Since I have noticed that many people are struggling to create "irreversible"
long-term weight loss success, I figured maybe I can spend some of my time
sharing information about what has worked for me, and what I do on a regular
basis in order to maintain this result. Also, little by little I will share what does
not work, and what should be avoided at all costs.

...by the way, I am not here to preach, and say that I am right, and that someone
is wrong, all I want to really do is to help get the TRUTH out to as many people
as I can, and share what has helped me to create the body of my dreams.

I always liked to say that "You can either have excuses or results, but you can't
have both" -- but for many years (from 1986 to 1994) -- all i did was make
excuses why I didn't have the results I wanted. Then luckily my best friend,
a psychologist in my small European country OPENED MY EYES, with some
BRUTAL TRUTH about the root of my FAILURE in the area of weight loss.

...at the end of this post I have written what he told me, and how it helped
to transform my life, and my body completely.

In my diary I will post the exact steps that I am taking NOW, and plus will share
the most effective strategies for losing unwanted body fat while maintaining
your muscle and water. There will be NO ADVANCED strategies or any other
BS, because all I really do is follow the basics and fundamentals of proper
nutrition and exercise.

This is the 1% that produces the 99% of the results in the area of long term
weight loss, and I figure why waste my time on any of the 99% that produces
the 1% of the results. This is only logical right?


Probably the most important piece of information that I can share is this:


...when you want to go from where you are right now to where you want to
be in the nearest future when you reach your ideal weight, you should do
everything possible to start eating the way that you will eat for the rest of
your life, and start doing exercise that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

The structure of "conventional dieting" is flawed, and can't produce
long-term results. The majority of the diaries that I have read on this forum,
and on all the other forums that I have been on, in them the folks that are
trying to lose weight, are using a low calorie approach.

This low calorie strategy is ineffective, and is exactly the opposite of what
is "effective" for creating permanent fat loss. By the way, by effective I mean
doing the "right" things, and NOT simply doing "things" right.

For example sticking to a 1200 calorie daily intake, when your BMR is 1800
maybe is doing "something" right, but for long-term fat loss the "right" thing
to do (as in the most effective thing to do) is to consume the 1800 calories
on a daily basis, make sure that the majorityn of your calories (60-70%)
come from a whole food, plant based diet, and to exercise on a regular basis.

The whole idea behind an "effective" diet is to make proper nutrition and
exercise a life-long habit! while you are "dieting" so that when you reach
your ideal weight and create the body of your dreams you can maintain it
through the habits that you created while dieting!

If this is not accomplished, maintaining your result will be impossible. If you
dream about going back to eating the way you ate before starting the
current diet, permanent fat lose will elude you.

Every person that I have helped in my country to reach their ideal weight,
has maintained it, if what they were doing during their weight loss program
became a habit for them.

While the people that lost the weight and then went back to what they were
doing before they started the weight loss program, gained it all back,
EVERYONE ONE OF THEM, and I have helped over 300 people in the last ten
years. This is not my main business, only something I started doing from
recommendations of my family members and friends that saw how I lost the
110 pounds and then was able to maintain the results.

So, what do I do, and what are the basics and fundamentals of proper
nutrition and exercise, when it comes to losing unwanted body fat, and
then maintaing the results that you produce in the long term?

Well, here is what my nutrition habits look like:

1) I eat 5 meals, every 3 hours of the day, starting at 7am with my
breakfast, and ending with my last meal at 7pm.

2) I eat ONLY whole foods, and the majority (70%) of my calories
come from fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and whole grains.

3) The other 30% of my daily calorie intake comes from lean protein,
fish, and shellfish.

4) I drink 4 liters (one gallon) of fresh water every day, sometimes more.
In addition to this I drink three cups of green tea without sugar or any
other sweeteners. I don't drink alcohol, ever. Besides the water and the
green tea, I don't drink anything else.

5) My five meals are average size, each meal around 600-700 calories
per meal. Usually breakfast is my largest meal of the day.

6) I eat three cheat meals per week, this only happens during breakfast
on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, because this is my cardio-day, and
since I use HIIT, these three cheat meals help me to enjoy the foods
that I love, like cheese cake, brownies, and many other things, while
at the same time helping me to maintain my ideal weight.

7) I don't take any supplements, because all the macro-nutrients and
micro-nutrients I get from my food. I eat a large variety of vegetables
and fruits, and basically this is where all the vitamins and minerals that
are very important for our health are hidden. (not in supplement pills)

Here is what exercise habits look like:

1) I do cardio-training (HIIT) for 45 minutes every M,W,F in the evening
before my last meal, which is at 7pm.

2) I do weight training every T, Th, Sat, in the evening, before my last
meal, where I eat more protein, and less strachy carbs.

3) Sunday I take the day off completely!

A few other thing:

...I don't have any bad habits except maybe drinking green tea (if that can
be considered a bad habit, that is).

...I used to smoke tobacco and marijuana, drink alcohol of all kinds, obviously
overeat on a daily basis, especially in the evening before going to sleep, this
I thought was a good way of dealing with stress from running my business,
and never exercise. This changed on my birthday in 1994 with some help from
my friend who is an excellent psychologist.

Here is what he told me when I asked him during my birthday party, why the hell
I couldn't lose weight for eight years, and instead of losing weight using every
possible diet, skipping meals, fasting, etc, etc, etc, -- I only kept gaining more
and more unwanted body fat, and there seemed to be no end to it.

He said that I was, get this "IGNORING CURRENT REALITY" -- LOL!!!

I thought he was crazy, until the next day after my birthday I woke up,
and all that was in my head was "he is f***ing right" !!!

This turned my whole world upside down, and I finally had the final piece
of the puzzle that I have been searching for eight years, since I was 16
and weighed 185 pounds. For these long eight years I searched in the
area of self-help the answer to "how I could create non-stop motivation?"

...and the answer was given to me by my best friend!

This is when I created my goal setting chart, and here is what it looked like:

on top it had the question, "What is the end-result that I want to create?"

...in between it had all the steps that I had to take to go from where I was
in the present moment to where I wanted to be in the near future when
I bring into reality my primary health objective, which was to have a lean,
healthy, well-toned body with 10% body fat and a visible six-pack.

on the bottom it had the question "What is my current reality?"

After I started using this chart, everything changed in my life. I went to a gym, got
advice from the best coach they had, paid him for consultations, and he gave me the
BRUTAL TRUTH about weight loss, just as I aksed him.

It only took me 12 months to lose 110 pounds of unwanted body fat, and it was a little
difficult during the first three months, but using my GOAL SETTING CHART, and "simultaneously"
focusing on what I wanted and on what I had in my current reality, created an amazing energy
that sort of lifted me, and forced me in a pleasant way to do everything I had to do to reach
my ideal body weight.

...this energy is still helping me, but everything I do is a habit, and I don't even think about it anymore,
to be quite honest, I just DO IT, like that Nike commercial.

Anyway, that's about it for now, if you have any questions, or just want to say Hi,
or want to say whatever you have on your mind, welcome to my diary!!!

Later, Alex Platups
 
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Okay folks, here is the BRUTAL TRUTH about losing unwanted body fat, in other
words, shrinking all your fat cells, and creating a lean, healthy body through
the use of proper nutrition and exercise. Everyone in this forum is an adult,
and hopefully will not feel offended in any way, because the things I am going
to write will be more or less the basics and fundamentals of human motivation,
how to develop proper eating habits, and how to develop proper exercise habits.

First things first:

Based on my 16 years of experience, and a very deep study of this subject,
I have to admit that FAT LOSS is mostly INTERNAL, not external.

This means that it is 99% in "our heads" "our minds" "our internal-non-stop
dialogue" that simply never ends!!!

The thoughts, voices, visions, or whatever else our minds are producing on
a regular basis (without us actually trying to think...by the way) are at the
root of this huge and massive PROBLEM with being obese and overweight.

For anyone that was born with a slow metabolism, and slowed it down even
more due to using low calorie diets, skipping meals, fasting, diet pills, etc,
this inner dialogue basically means that the majority of the thoughts during
the day are about food. When a person is not eating the way he or she
wants to, then the amounts of thoughts about foods increases ten fold,
because of the hunger -- obviously.

If this ROOT of the problem is not dealt with, nothing will help in the long run.

The statistics confirm this! Only 1 out of a thousand people (that have a slow
metabolism obviously, with endomorph-dominant body types) are able to lose
all the unwanted body fat that they have and then maintain it for more than
five years. The majority gain it all back within a year to three years.

Stopping this inner dialogue is the most difficult task, and this is why no one
is talking about this, even the people that know about it. Why? It is very
simple, they don't know HOW!!! They are trying themselves unsuccessfully,
so how the hell are they going to help someone else?

There is only one way to stop this inner dialogue, and I will cover it in another post.

Proper Nutrition, and the facts about using food to lose weight!

When it comes to eating "right" as in "effectively" eating in order to reach
your ideal body weight and then maintain it, the biggest mistake people
are making is focusing on lowering their calorie intake below their BMR,
and the second mistake is eating "unhealthy" foods, but in smaller amounts.

...in other words, there are two approaches that the majority of dieters use,
the first is eating the foods that they have always eaten, but in smaller
amounts, or eating healthy foods, but also in smaller amounts.

...both of these approaches are focused on a "low calorie intake"

Both of these approaches are flawed, period! Yes, you can use advanced
strategies where you lower your daily calorie intake for three consecutive
days 20% below your BMR and then increase your daily calorie back to BMR
for four or five consecutive days, but leaving your daily calorie intake
below your BMR in the long term will NEVER work.

...by never work I mean eventually you will throw in the towel, and will start
eating too much food, and your weight will increase, eventually reaching the
weight you were before starting the low calorie approach, and for some
unlucky folks this weight increase will be even more, in other words they
will gain more weight than they lost.

...the sad thing is that when losing weight using the low calorie approach
you lose mostly water and muscle, and when you gain it back, you gain back
mostly unwanted body fat.

In the end, it does not really matter if you keep eating unhealthy food or
if you switch and start eating healthy foods, the end result for the majority
of people will be the same. You will use force yourself through "willpower"
to stick to your program, and then when the INNER PRESSURE builds up, and
it becomes TOO MUCH, the person will quit and go off his or her diet and
will go back to eating the food that helps to decrease the massive hunger
or desire that has been increasing since DAY ONE.

...the only thing that is different is the AMOUNT of discomfort that a person
can live with, and obviously the more you can put up with discomfort, the
longer you will stick with your diet, but in the end, you will still be forced
to go off your diet and will go back to eating like you ate before.

The only folks that create permanent fat loss are the ones that change their
structure, and create a different "pathway" toward creating their ideal body
weight. For some this happens conscioulsy, but the majority of the lucky few,
this happens "unconsciously."

The most important thing that a person that wants to create "irreversible"
long-term weight loss success can do is to look at the weight loss process
as a series of daily steps that will produce life-long habits in the area of
proper nutrition and exercise.

...in other words, what you do DURING your weight loss program, is what you
will have to KEEP DOING, in order to maintain it in the long run!!!

...so your weight loss program is like BASIC TRAINING in the army, where you
learn the basics and fundamentals, that you will use later in your career.

...if you go through BASIC TRAINING in the army, and then when you arrive
to where you are stationed, and start living life you lived in your "regular"
life, you will not last in the army, and will be dis-charged.

...the same with dieting, if you don't learn how to eat right and exercise on
a regular basis, and then keep doing it when you will reach your ideal weight,
you will gain back all the weight that you lost during your diet.

In the future posts I will cover more details about proper nutrition, and then
go into some important details about exercise.
 
AlexPlatups said:
...the same with dieting, if you don't learn how to eat right and exercise on
a regular basis, and then keep doing it when you will reach your ideal weight,
you will gain back all the weight that you lost during your diet.
Click to expand...

This part, I agree with. But I defy you to show me somebody who has lost weight in some other way than by cutting their calories.
 
This part, I agree with. But I defy you to show me somebody who has lost
weight in some other way than by cutting their calories.
Click to expand...

Hello Harold, first let me congratulate you on the results that you have
achieved. Now as far as your "challenge" of showing you a person that has
lost weight in some other way than by cutting calories.

I have achieved it, and many people that I have helped to lose weight, and
millions of people have achieved this, are achieving it now, and will keep
achieving it in the future.

It is very simple actually, if your BMR is 3000 calories, like mine for example,
and I consume 3000 calories where they are broken down like this: 30% of the
calories come from lean chicken breast or turkey breast, 40% come from fresh
vegetables, 20% come from fresh fruit, and 10% from walnuts

...in addition to this I walk twice per day, 7 days a week, twice per day, each
session is 45 minutes, (except the three nights when use resistance training)
and do weight training three times per week

...then the TOTAL CALORIE DEFICIT will create massive fat loss, and it will
mostly come from unwanted body fat, and not muscle and water, as it is
very well know that is what is lost during a low calorie diet "mostly."

The example above will create a WEEKLY calorie deficit of about 5000
calories from walking, probably another 1500 calories will come from the
"thermic effect" of the protein, and about 1,000 from the thermic effect
of the fresh vegetables, for a total of 7500 calories per week.

This is how I lost the 110 pounds of unwanted body fat, while maintaining
all of my muscle mass, under the guidance of a weight training expert in
my country (Latvia) 15 years ago. This was before Tom Venuto, and all the
other experts that are currently popular in the area of using proper nutrition
and exercise for burning off unwanted body fat, and not simply "scale weight"

Currently, my daily intake is around 3500 to 4000 calories per day, since I am
using high intensity interval training for 45 minutes per session three times
per week, and use weight training for 45 minutes per workout three times
per week, with Sunday Off. And my BMR is still 3000 per day.

The excess calories simply get burned off, because I eat 5 meals per day,
with each meal being 700 calories, and pretty much structured in the
same way as I wrote above.

Hope this helped to explain how this is possible, and a complete reality!

The low calorie approach is flawed, because it ALWAYS leads to muscle loss
and hunger, and goes against our own bodies. I tried that for 8 years, from
when I was 16 to when I was 24, and I know exactly what it's like.

It helped me reach 285 pounds with 44% body fat, and all I could think about
during those 8 years when I was using a low calorie approach was food,
and when I threw in the white towel, the fridge got attacked big time,
like 3000-4000 calories in one meal an hour before going to sleep.

The low calorie approach is also the major reason that we can clearly see
that people are caught in the weight loss/weight regain cycle.

It is an exception that someone creates permanent fat loss using a low
calorie approach, it is definitely not the rule!
 
Sunflower said:
Very interesting, Alex :) Glad you're sharing. It's obviously worked for you!
Click to expand...

Sunflower, it can also wonderfully work for you, or for anyone else that wants
to lose unwanted body fat, and not simply scale weight.

This is not something that I have created, it has been common knowledge
for many, many years. In 1994, as I have written, I hired an expert that
specialized in training muscle builders and also helped overweight women
to lose weight. The advice that I paid a lot of money in those days can be
found these days for free.

The problem is that it is not what most people "want" to do.

But, this is like wanting a car that runs on "petrolium" to start running
on diezel. The fact is that it will not run on diezel for very long.

This is the same way with the human body, it needs the "right fuel" in order
to function properly, and to do everything that it does. Obviosuly we as
human beings are "slaves" to our mind, and don't really think about the
fact that we have a body that needs the right amounts of macro-nutrients
and micro-nutrients, water, and exercise (cardio and weight training)
on a regular basis.

And this is why the majority of people in the west, eat way too many
processed carbs, trans-fats, meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, and this last
"protein group" has massive amounts of bad cholesterol, and the wrong
type of protein for the human body.

In addition to this a lot of people smoke, drink all types of alcohol, eat junk
food, and don't exercise.

Only when I started living in the present moment, and stopped the inner-
dialogue that was spinning in my mind like a broken record that I realized
that it was it was my fault that I weighed 285 pounds, had 44% body fat,
and had a difficult time walking up three flights of stairs.

Thank God, my best friend was a psychologist and he pointed this out to me
and made me realize that I was being run by my mind, and I was like a crazy
person that walks around talking to himself, only this was happening in my
head, and not outloud.

The approach that this trainer taught is not a theory, or a concept, like
a low calorie diet, a low carb diet, a low fat diet, or any other short term
strategy that is not effective for long-term fat loss.

This is based on reality, on what actually works for every person. The area
of natural body-building is what must be studied if one wants to know how
to lose unwanted body fat while maintaining muscle, isn't this obvious?

But, the majority does not want to do this. You know why, it is quite simple,
because it is hard work. The basics and fundamentals that help a person lose
unwanted body fat while maintaining the muscle and the water in your body
is MUCH DIFFERENT than simply losing scale weight.

This is why my trainer told me that if I want REAL RESULTS, that I will have
to track my BODY FAT PERCENTAGE and "NOT" SCALE WEIGHT !!!

He measured my body fat every week, and told me what to eat, and
where I had to make adjustments to my diet. This is why I lost the weight,
and why I was able to maintain it after losing it, and still maintain it today.

That year of consultations cost me a lot of money, but I was running a huge
wholesale office supply business in my country, was making plenty of money
and didn't care how much it cost, all I cared about were RESULTS!!!
 
Here is a post that I made in skroll's diary, this is a very, very, VERY serious
problem that almost everyone is experiencing when it comes to weight loss.

skkroll,

These emotions are normal, just observe them and let them come and then go.
No matters what happens this will pass and you will get your balance back.

This is the consequence of the structure that you are living in. It is called
a structural conflict and it is very simple, let me try to explain it to you.

After understanding this, you will understand that it is not "really" your fault,
no one simply ever explained this to you. But, from now on you will know this,
and will be able to choose a path that will take you to where you want to
go without experiencing these horrible emotions!

Many years ago my best friend, who is a psychologist explained it to me, and
now I will explain it to you, to pay it forward, and maybe help you to get over
this rough time, and help you to make sure this never happens again.

Anyway, here goes. You have two conflicting desires in your life. Imagine that
you are standing in the middle of a room. There are two walls, one on your
right, and one on your left.

The wall on your right has a huge rubberband attached to it, and this
rubberband is also attached to your body.

Both of these rubberbands have the same amount of tension on them, and you
are standing in the middle of the room.

The wall on your left also has a huge rubberband attached to it, and
this rubberband is also attached to your body.

Okay, are you visualizing this? Good, let's continue.

The wall on the right represents the weight loss that you desire to
accomplish. Now pay attention here. When you start to move toward that
wall what happens to the rubberbands?

The one attached to the right wall starts to lose the tension in it, and starts
to hang, but the rubberband attached to the left wall builds a lot more
tension in it and as you keep moving toward the right wall, toward
reaching your ideal weight goal, the tension in the rubberband that is
attached to the left wall builds MASSIVE TENSION in it.

Now, where is it easiest for you to go from here? Isn't it in the opposite
direction, toward the left wall? Especially taking into account how much
tension there is on the rubberband that is attached to that wall?

Now, here is the kicker: That right wall is "hunger and desire" for your
favorite foods. And what happens when you start moving toward the left
wall and start to eat the unhealthy foods that make you gain weight and
feel unhealthy and overweight? What happens to the rubberband that is
attached to the left wall?

Right, it starts to lose its tension, and the rubberband that is attached to
the right wall starts to build tension in it.

This is REALITY, these rubberbands exist, but they are psychological, and
are not visible to the human eye. You can only track the results and the
behaviors which can't be denied if you are honest with yourself!

This is why you are experiencing what you are experiencing, and since you
don't know about this, it is not your fault.

This structural conflict, can't be SOLVED. In other words it's not a problem
that can ever be solved using ineffective self-help and positive-movement BS.

The only way to get out of this structure, is to build a new structure, one
that will not have these two conflicting forces.

These two conflicts are mutually exclusive. In other words, you can't eat
more unhealthy foods than your body can burn off durimng the day, and
simultaneously lose the weight that you desire to lose.

You can only do one of them. And when you can't live with the pressure
that you feel inside (from that rubberband that has the most pressure)
from moving in one of the directions, you switch directions and start to
move in the other direction.

If you want to know how to get out of this structure, please let me know,
because I will post the answer here and also in my own diary thread, so that
other folks in this forum will know how to break free from this conflict
structure FOREVER.

It is quite hard, but it is without a doubt possible!!!

If there is anything that you didn't understand, please feel free to ask me,
and I will do my best to explain it in more detail.
Click to expand...

I will leave this spot for the answer, if there is enough people that want to
know the way to get out of this never-ending cycle of going back and forth

...I believe it is called the Yo-Yo cycle in America, if I'm not mistaken!

okay, here is my answer from Sarahs diary, as promissed:

Quote skkroll:
That was a very interesting analogy and I did picture it all in my head. I feel
stuck in between and I feel the tension within... I guess I just need to find
peace with myself so that my mind can follow, and I won't have to be stuck.


Hi Sarah, the most effective approach is for you to take two steps:

1) ask yourself "What end result do I Sarah truly want to achieve in the area
of my health? Or "What is my primary health objective?"

2) focus on where you are at this present moment, your current reality, in
other words in relationship to your goal.

3) then simultaneously focus on both of these two things at once in your
imagination. The best way is to imagine 2 big screen tv's in your imagination
and on top to visualize your end result that you want and on the bottom
to see where you are at the present moment.

...when you do this (it might take some practice, and some time, since this
is not something many of us are aware off) you will start to sort of feel
what you have to do to go from where you are right now, to where you
want to be in the future!

================================================== ====

To make it simpler, here was my chart that I created 16 years ago, so that
it will be easier to understand:

1) I choose to create a lean, healthy, well-toned body with 10% body
fat and a visible six-pack (very important that you choose an end-result
that is important to YOU, because this desire is one of the elements that
creates this new powerful structure that will help you get out of that
conflict where you are caught between the two walls.)

3d) allow myself 3 cheat meals every week for breakfast, every Mon, Wed,
and Fri, by making this first meal half the regular size, and eating a moderate
amount of the foods I like (cheesecake, brownies, etc.)

3e) make sure every meal is created from whole-food, and includes
fresh veggies, fruit, a starchy carb, lean protein, and some good dietary
fat like walnuts. If I replace lean protein with fish or shellfish, don't eat
the walnuts.

3d) eat 5 average sized meals every 3 waking hours.

3c) drink 4-5 liters of pure water every day, and stop drinking
sugar-based beverages completely

3b) step two: do weight training three times per week

3a) step one: walk 45 minutes every morning, 7 days per week

2) Currently I weigh 285 pounds, have 44% body fat, know very little
about proper nutrition, and don't exercise. (there were a lot more here,
basically had to do with my bad habits at that time)

================================================== ====

...by using this chart, and with the help of my trainer, that helped me
to work on the chart, I was able to lose 110 pounds of unwanted body
fat in 12 months. In the middle of my weight loss program, I increased
my cardio to twice per day, 45 minutes before breakfast, and 45 minutes
before the last 5th meal, and I did this every day until I reached 175 pounds.

Hope this helps in some way, if you have any question, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...
 
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Before I forget, I also wanted to mention that there are two culprits that
were causing me to FAIL in my weight loss attempts before I became aware
of them. These are the two things that all humanity has serious problems
with, and until one becomes CONSCIOUS and actually realizes how they
destroy everything in our lives, they will keep doing their damage!

Anyway, one of these culprits, "ignoring reality" I already mentioned in one
of my earlier posts, but the other one is not living in the present moment.

The extent to which most human beings will go to to ignore reality
and to avoid living in the present moment is amazing.

I have to be quite honest, these two things are very hard to master. Being
able to view reality accurately and to live in the present moment are the
two hardest skills for a human being to learn.

Why? Because of the conditioning that the society uses to force us to
become UNCONSCIOUS, so that the government officials and the huge
corporations (like banks, food producers, pharmaceuticals, doctors, surgeons,
and supplement/weight loss pill producers) can pump money out of us, and
keep us under their control.

When you start to become fluent in reality and start living in the present
moment, you take off the "glasses" that make it impossible for you to be
conscious and start to actually "live."

It is something like wearing the kind of glasses that make it IMPOSSIBLE for
you to see clearly through them. No matter how hard you try, reality is
TOTALLY DISTORTED.

Before becoming fluent in reality and starting to live in the present moment,
most people are sort of sleeping, and are very unconscious. If you don't
believe me, just think about the last week, and ask yourself, "how many
hours did I spend thinking about what happened in the past or what is going
to happen in the future?"

...many folks spend almost 100% of their time in their thoughts.

Okay, now think about this. In reality, there is no such things as past, and
there is no such thing as the future. All there ever has been, is now, and will
ever be -- is the present moment.

This means that if you spend the majority of your time (80-90%) worrying
about what happened in the past, or thinking about the future, you are
living in your mind, in your thoughts, and you are not "here and now" you are
hypnotyzed by your thoughts about the past and/or future.

...and to go even deeper, you are not even thinking, this process is
happening on its own, you just think that you are thinking, while it is
simply YOUR INNER DIALOGUE that is repeating itself like a broken record,
over and over and over, FOREVER!!!

I never understood this until I started working with people, helping them
to solve problems that they could not solve themselves. It is a long story
how this started, but the majority of my clients are from recommendations
of people that I have helped to become more conscious in their lives and
to actually start LIVING LIFE, instead of suffering about what was, or
worrying about what will be.

...by the way, if you spend your time thinking "happy thoughts" about the
past or the future, it is basically still the same, you are not truly living, but
are more or less hypnotyzed by these thoughts and visions.

I have worked with hundreds of people, in my country, giving consultations in
the three main areas of life, which are health, relationships, and money.

And, I have to be honest, 99.9% of the problems that people experience
in life have to do with IGNORING REALITY and IGNORING THE PRESENT
MOMENT. In fact, these two things happen simultaneoulsy.

Being fluent in reality and living in the present moment are a must, if you
want to create long-term reality in any area of your life, and ESPECIALLY
in creating permanent fat loss.

Both reality and the present moment is -- what is, but the mind takes these
two things and creates the most amazing illusions. And, as soon as a person
starts to believe these illusions and tries to be RIGHT, in his or her mind all
the problems start to grow and grow and grow.

It is like cancer, these illusions just multiply and multiply, because the mind
needs to create new illusions to uphold the old ones. I mean it gets really
scary people. Since I have been giving consultations on a daily basis for
over ten years, and I help the same people over and over, you will not
believe it, but after a month people arrive at the next consultation, and have
the same thought back in their mind that has been causing all the problems
in their lives for so many years.

Most of my work is basically repeating the same things over and over. And
this is not my main line of work, it is a side business, and mostly done
because it helps to build a lot of connection in my ex-Soviet country.
 
Alex. Dude. You're coming across like a cheesy motivational speaker. Your posts are ungodly long and hard to read through. And I keep waiting for you to post a link to some website selling something.

If you want to help people, post responses to questions. Greet people. Welcome them. Help them. Don't preach at them. Seriously - be a part of the community. Otherwise you just look really sorta ... well ... pompous and infomercially.
 
KaraCooks said:
Alex. Dude. You're coming across like a cheesy motivational speaker. Your posts are ungodly long and hard to read through. And I keep waiting for you to post a link to some website selling something.

If you want to help people, post responses to questions. Greet people. Welcome them. Help them. Don't preach at them. Seriously - be a part of the community. Otherwise you just look really sorta ... well ... pompous and infomercially.
Click to expand...

Okay! I have never really been on a forum, and most of my days are spent
consulting and running my businesses in the country where I live.

So, this is something that is new for me, and will take a little time to learn.

I would appreciate it, if you could give me an example, so it would be easier
for me to grasp how to be a part of the community. I am good at getting
results, but I guess being part of the community is my weakness.

You know how it is true that we all have our strengths and our weaknesses,
well I just found one of my weaknesses :smilielol5:
 
Just read other's posts. Answer their questions. One place that always needs help is the Newcomer's forum. People post introducing themselves and they usually have questions about how to get started or what to do to help them get motivated.

I try to post a welcome to everyone, but I just don't have time to get to all of them every week. I just post a brief summary of things to do to get started (learn how many calories you need, register for a free site to log your food, get started with some basic exercise, etc.) and say "welcome".

Otherwise, pick an area of the board that you feel you're knowledgeable on and start answering questions there. I tend to hang out in the Nutrition and Exercise areas ... since I feel I'm pretty competent there and have a good bit of firsthand knowledge to share.

Short posts answering questions are easier to read than long ones that preach at them. :)
 
Okay Kara, I think that is something that I can handle. I guess that must
have looked pretty strange making those long posts. I have lived in Latvia
most of my life, and usually only speak Russian to everyone that I know
here. English is a language that I learned while living in Ft. Lauderdale
from 1980 to 1993, after my parents immigrated there when I was 10.

I guess this is why I like to write long posts, sort of practicing English, which
I never get to do in my every day life. Obviously that is selfish, and I am
glad that I became conscious of it so quick, before I made even a larger ass
of myself :smash:

That was a big mistake the way I started posting in here, and I am happy
that you pointed it out to me so clearly.

This is another thing that I will learn in my life, (being a part of the
community) and hopefully will be able to help a few folks with losing weight
and creating their dream bodies.

Anyway, thanks a lot for taking your time, and by the way, did you ever read
that book called The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. ???
 
Not a problem. Glad I could help. Don't ever worry about your English - you certainly speak and write far better English than my Russian (which is comprised of maybe 3 words!)

I have read the China Study and I have to say I don't at all agree with several of the major concepts in it. I think demonizing one nutrient over any other is the way we all got into this mess. Macro nutrients should be eaten in balance, whether we're talking carbs, protein, fats, etc.

I don't believe that protein causes cancer any more than I believe carbs "cause" diabetes.

I do agree that eating more plant based foods (rather than processed foods) is a much healthier lifestyle and I found much of the research about the food industry and so forth to be interesting and informative.
 
Yeah, and there is a decent counter to the 5 year old book here
Click to expand...

Thanks Jerico, that is quite intersting, and very important, especially
taking into account the claims made in that book.

I have read the China Study and I have to say I don't at all agree with several of the major concepts in it. I think demonizing one nutrient over any other is the way we all got into this mess. Macro nutrients should be eaten in balance, whether we're talking carbs, protein, fats, etc.

I don't believe that protein causes cancer any more than I believe carbs "cause" diabetes.

I do agree that eating more plant based foods (rather than processed foods) is a much healthier lifestyle and I found much of the research about the food industry and so forth to be interesting and informative.
Click to expand...

Yes, everything should be done in moderation, including moderation itself!

Kara, for me, the part about the food industry was also very interesting,
and quite shocking, especially since I grew up in America, and was even
in the U.S. Army, in fact I was stationed in Nurenberg, Germany, in an
artilary batallion. To be honest, I loved living in America, and only stayed
in Latvia because I fell in love with my current wife when I came here
for a vacation 16 years ago, and she wants to live here.

Anyway, getting back to that book, the most outrageous part was how the
milk industry keeps it simple and goes after their market so proffesionally.

As far as food, I keep it very simple, and all my meals are planned a week
ahead, and I eat all my nutrients in moderation. Plus, I allow myself three
cheat meals per week, but I eat these foods with my breakfast every
M,W,F, which are my cardio-training days.

Personally, I love the approach that natural body builders use, and the
trainer that helped me made everything so easy, that to be honest I was
quite shocked to find out that so many folks are experiencing difficulties
in creating permanent fat loss.

Well, it is quite late in Latvia, so I am going to sleep, and thanks
once more for showing me to the brutal reality of my weakness. For so many
years I never noticed it, and thank God that I know about it now.

By the way Kara, do you think I should help people with the motivation part
in any way, or just keep that to myself? And, if I should try to help, how
do I go about it? -- so it does not look like...how was it that you put it...oh yes,
...pompous and infomercially.

Thanks in advance for the answer, and I'll guess talk to you later.
 
Well, this week my wife is away on vacation, and it's up to me to take care
of our three dogs. We have a pug, a 3.5 pound chihuhua, and a Chinese
Crested. I am also preparing all my own food. There isn't that much, because
boiling potatoes, rice, chicken fillet, turkey fillet, clams, and shrimp isn't really
all that hard.

The rest of the food, like fresh salmon, vegetables, fruits, beans, oatmeal,
walnuts, and almonds don't have to be prepared, unless pouring hot over
oatmeal can be considered cooking.

So, today after work, I did 45 minutes of my cardio training (HIIT) and then
ate my last meal of the day. Fresh vegetables and fruits with turkey breast
and a handful of walnuts. Plus a green tea without sweetener.

Anyway, today I was thinking about a quote that I have been seeing for many
years, and the majority of the writers that write about self-help and the
psychology of success like to use it in their books and articles.

So here it is: "Before climbing the ladder of success, make sure that it is
leaning against the right wall."

I think this is very important, because when you work so hard and climb and
climb and climb and then you go through the window and find out the
ladder was leaning against the wrong building, you understand that maybe
you were efficient at what you were doing, but you definitely were not
effective. This is what my first eight years of trying to lose weight were
like, so I know exactly from my own experience what this feels like.

I mean, if weight loss is so simple, and it is quite easy when an effective
approach is used, why do so many folks have such a hard time?

I have been wondering about this for the longest time. In my opinion there
are a few major reasons:

1) Structural conflict is definitely a culprit, and I covered this in a previous
post in this thread...when you are caught between two conflicting forces,
i.e. your desire to lose weight, and the hunger that eventually forces you to
fall off the wagon over and over are two things that many people are trying
to solve, but are not aware that this conflict is un-solvable.

2) Inner dialogue, is another major culprit. This is the voice that always talks
to you inside your head. About food, and about another million things per day
like a broken record that never shuts up. This one is a biggie. This is the one
that tells you that it's okay to eat what you shouldn't eat, and you
understandn that you shouldn't have eaten it -- only after you already have
it in your stomach. This is also the voice that reminds you of everything bad
that happened in the past and makes you suffer, and is also the voice that
tells you that you have to stop fooling yourself, and that you will never reach
your health goal, and even if you reach it, you will gain it all back, like all
the other times. The funny thing about this inner dialogue is that we aren't
even doing anything to make it happen, it is more or less 99.9% running on
its own, pretty much saying the same BS over and over.

3) Not living in the present moment. This is the biggest culprit of them all,
and the consequences of this behavior are the structural conflict and inner
dialogue. When you are not living in the present moment the majority of
the time during the day, it really means that you are sort of hypnotized by
your mind, and are not really aware of what is happening NOW.

...if you observe your inner dialogue (constant thinking process) you will be
shocked to notice that you are either think about what happened before
or thinking about what will happen in the future, that the majority of the
time you are not here and now.

...when I noticed this many years ago, it really turned my world upside down,
and the easiest place that this can be observed is with how our minds are
conditioned to think about food.

...this conditioning is VERY strong, and this is why it is really difficult for
the majority of the people to maintain their ideal weight after they reach it,
that is, if they reach it in the first place.

...so maybe you think I'm crazy that I'm writing this stupid s**t, but it is
without the major reason that so many people are overweight and obese.

I mean everyone knows that all you have to do to maintain your ideal weight
is eat right and exercise, right? Then why is it so difficult for so many
people? I mean we're not talking thousands, we are talking over 1.2 billion
people worldwide that are seriously overweight, and these numbers keep
climbing year after year, and there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, that's it for now, does anyone have any thoughts on the ideas that
I wrote above I would appreciate some feedback, thanks.
 
Today was weight training day, 45 minutes, and then ate the last meal (5th)
of the day. I almost eat the same thing everyday, because I like to keep
everything simple, the only thing that I change are the vegetables and the
fruits that I eat. The rest of my food like chicken breast, turkey breast,
lean beef, lean pork, clams, oysters, shrimp, lobster tails, walnuts, oatmeal,
brown rice, potatos, don't really change.

I have my meals planned out for the week in my computer in Excel, and I take
three meals with me to the office. I work every day, including saturday and
sunday, so basically I eat two meals breakfast and the 5th meal at home, the
rest I eat in my office.

I eat at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm every day, 365 days a week, and the
only beverages that I drink are water and three hot green teas per day with
no added sweetener of any kind.

I also work out 6 days per week, and take Sunday off, so that after work
I have free time to go out with my wife. Our kids are grown up, and since
they just started their own lives, I only see them when them once in a while
when we go out to movies during the weekdays.

I currently do cardio 3 days per week, HIIT, and weight training three days
per week, and this allows me to consume about 4000 calories per day, and
still maintain my ideal body weight of 175 pounds with 10% body fat.

The example above will create a WEEKLY calorie deficit of about 5000
calories from walking, probably another 1500 calories will come from the
"thermic effect" of the protein, and about 1,000 from the thermic effect
of the fresh vegetables, for a total of 7500 calories per week.
Click to expand...

this is a quote from a previous post in this thread to a challenge that it is
impossible to lose weight without cutting calories.

Well, this is exactly how I lost 110 pounds of unwanted body fat 15 years
ago. I was consuming my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which
is around 3,000 calories per day while walking twice per day, each session
was 45 minutes, and the first was before breakfast, and the second was
before the last meal of the day.

So while I was consuming 3,000 calories per day, I was burning off around
1,000 calories, and this daily deficit is the reason that I lost the 110 pounds.

So while the low calorie approach is quite popular, I am convinced that it is
totally flawed, and will stick with this conviction until I see at least 10% of
the people using a low calorie approach create permanent fat loss, or what
I love to call "irreversible long-term weight loss success."

Low-calorie dieting is part of the old world, something similar to how many
folks believed that the world was flat, until it was proven that it was round.
And it is only a matter of time until it will be common knowledge that a low
calorie strategy does not produce permanent fat loss, but instead sets a
person up to regain all the weight that he or she worked so hard to lose,
as soon as their body forces them to throw in the towel and go running to
the fridge or to the store to finally sink their teeth into their favorite food.

Yes, there are exceptions, but the rule is that low calorie dieting for FAT
LOSS is not an effective approach, at least not in the LONG TERM!!!

...and this exception might be like 1 person in a million, and not even 1 in
100,000, so it IMO almost never happens!!!

...I can understand the theory behind it, and I used it myself many times,
from the time I was 16 and weighed 185 pounds and until I was 24 and
reached 285 pounds with a 44% body fat percentage.

...but then luckily I was told to "keep it real" and to take off the
"rose-colored-sunglasses" and look at the world as it is, and not as
I wanted it to be.

And, when I looked back on those 8 years of low calorie dieting, low carb
dieting, fasting, skipping breakfast, skipping dinner, and then turning around
after I could no longer force myself to stick to these in-effective approaches
and eating 5000-6000 calories per day, probably half of them being consumed
in the last meal of the day around 10 PM, right before going to bed...

...all I could see is...INSANITY.

I am sorry folks, but it is insane living like this, especially when it is well
known, and well documented that all you need to do is eat less and exercise
more, and that refined carbs, trans-fats, and consuming 1000 or more
calories per day than your body can realistically burn off, on a regular
basis will make you gain massive excess weight.

...and why after living for years eating more food than your body can burn off
and finally being fed up with being overweight, do you think that you can
lower your daily calorie intake "drastically" and that it will be OKAY with
your body?

Anyway, anyone that thinks that this is not true, do me a favor, starting
this week start tracking your weight loss results using a measurement of
your body fat percentage, and do this once per week for the next three
months and look at your results...I guarantee you will be shocked, especially
if you are lowering your calories drastically below TDEE (total daily energy
expenditure).

If you want to create permanent fat loss, then you have to completely forget
about measuring your progress by scale alone, period!!!

Why? Well, it is simple folks, because most likely the majority of your scale
weight that you are losing is coming from your muscle and the water in your
body, and this is the WORST thing that you can do if your primary objective
is to lose body fat. It just goes against everything that is logical.

Anyway, enough for today, tomorrow I will write about what happens when
you lose water and muscle during low calorie dieting, and why this flawed
approach is the OPPOSITE of what you should be doing!

P.S. By the way, just wanted to mention that weight loss imo is a SCIENCE
and an ARTFORM, so in reality, the majority of what's out there are theories.

And all we really have are people who have produced RESULTS (long term,
of course, as in at least 5 years mainatining their ideal weight) and of course
on the other side we have people that make EXCUSES for why they haven't
been able to produce long-term results, but you will never see BOTH COMBINED!!!

...think about that, and "what is the difference between the two?"
 
Last edited:
just wanted to post this in my diary, it is an answer I gave Miss April about
when is the best time to do cardio exercise. With weight training it is
different, obvioulsy it should not be done in the morning on an empty
stomach, just wanted to make that distinction.

xMissAprilx--Is it better to work out in the mornings or before you go to bed? I've read
different things. Also I had read different things about whether you should work
out before you and after you eat. I know Alex said to do so before, and I'm not
arguing about that. I would just like to know what the difference is?
Click to expand...

Anytime is a good time to work out, the main question is "when is the best
time to work out when you want to burn off unwanted body fat?"

And here is the answer: The ultimate time for burning off unwanted body fat is
right after waking up! Get up, drink one small cup of strong coffee or tea,
without sugar and then go for a 30-45 minute fast walk.

If this isn't possible, then the next best time to burn off unwanted body fat is
3 hours after eating a meal, if it was small or average of course, and then
when finished to eat the next meal.

To lose the last 60 pounds of the 110 pounds that I lost 16 years ago, I
walked in the morning before breakfast for 45-60 minutes, and also right
before my last meal (5th) of the day also for 45-60 minutes.

Plus I always shifted back and forth between 45-60 minute sessions, and
also shifted my intensity, some days walking fast, and som days walking really
fast, as if I was really late to an appointment where I had to be 100%,
for example.

...Why is this effective? Because when you do cardio in the morning, or cardio
three hours after consuming a meal, the majority of your calories that your
body has to burn off will come from your unwanted body fat.


...To lose unwanted body fat what is important is to burn off the most "total
calories" and not where these calories come from. Because even if the
majority of your calories come from glycogen (carbs in the body) and not
from the fat stored in the cells, your body still has to take the fat from the
cells and convert them to glycogen to make up for the calorie deficit that
was created during the exercise.

...you might want to read that last paragraph again, because this is very,
very important and even the experts get this wrong.

...Because what it means is that you can lose just as much unwanted body
fat with steady, medium intensity cardio, as you would doing HIIT (high
intensity interval training) as long as you did the steady, medium cardio
exercise for a long enough duration.

...So, for example if I would want to lose 100 pounds of unwanted body fat
today, knowing what I know, I would walk twice per day, for 90 minutes
per session, and would do this every day until I reached my ideal weight.

Of course you have to start slowly, once per day, 15 minutes per session,
and then build your way up, but the fact remains, walking is KING as long
as you make the time for it.

Why? Because it is SUPER EASY, and everyone can walk. You simply burn
off those calories, and your body can't do nothing about it, ha-ha, you
are in control, your organism has to burn off both glycogen (carbs) and
unwanted body fat in order to FUEL this activity !!!

...hope this helps!
Click to expand...

...this is a major distinction, and without a doubt something many folks are
having a difficult time grasping.

If you are lazy as hell, just like me, don't waste your time with intensive
cardio in the beginning, JUST WALK IT OFF, just like with Nike, Just Do It,
this is the same folks.

Food is a little more difficult, but when it comes to exercise WALKING IS KING
and forces your body to burn off unwanted as an energy source.

...I will cover food in more detail in the future, because 99.9% of the people
are going about it all wrong. You can't go from overeating, to dropping your
calories to 1,000 calories per day. You can of course, but you will lose muscle
because your organism will "burn it off" by converting it to glycogen, and
then burning it off in order to slow down your calorie burning.

You can't go from 4,000 calorie per day (or more) to 1,000 or 1200!

This is just plain crazy! Our bodies view this as the start of starvation, and
it is only a matter of time until you will not be able to sustain this and will
go off this low calorie approach and go back to eating those 4,000 calories
once more, but now with a slower metabolism your body will burn less calories
and you will gain back all the weight, plus you will gain a few more pounds
on top of that!!!

This is why people that use low calorie diets eventually gain massive amounts
of unwanted body fat. When you try to diet off "body fat" your body starts
to change its chemistry and starts to store more fat from the food that you
eat. This is all science people, please start reading information that is
written by folks who have actually lost massive amounts of unwanted body
fat and have kept it off for at least 5-10 years, not the ones that just
write BS that sounds simple and easy...okay?
 
Hi Alex,

Just wanted to pop by to say hello and to day that I enjoy reading your posts. You give very good advice.

I went on holiday to Latvia last year. We visited Riga, Kuldiga and Segulda. Riga was lovely but I didn't think much of the other 2 towns. They were rather underwhelming.

Look forward to reading more of your posts!

Lealing
 
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