Watch Dropping the Fat Episode # 5

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the programme that helps you to lose more fat in no time flat!

In this programme we have a good look at how properly measuring your progress on a weight-loss diet can be the difference between success and failure. Our Burning Question tackles the thorny subject of controlled carb diets and diabetes; and we look at a very unusual click that if you follow it can change the way that you look at your life. All that, and more to come, in this edition of Dropping the Fat.

Intro

The best way to measure your low carb weight loss Progress

Just what is the best way to measure your weight-loss progress? Nowadays, it seems to me that people want instant gratification, they want everything to happen straight away; and for some that means they want instant weight-loss too. Well, no matter what the adverts tell you, that is never going to happen. Dropping the fat from your body is not something that will, or should ever be, instant. Think about it for just a moment. If you took time to gain weight, then it’s going to take you time to lose that weight as well. Which brings us onto the first of our ground rules, and this is one of the most important distinctions we can make. Simply that 99% of us diet not to lose excess weight, as in truth we are dieting to lose excess fat. It’s a very important and fundamental distinction, and if you can’t accept it for what it is, then you’re always going to find getting your ideal body very difficult indeed.

Never forget, you don’t want to lose weight, you want to lose excess blubber, grease, wobbly bits or more specifically, FAT.

Another important thing to remember at all times is the scales are not your friend. They are no more accurate at measuring your fat loss than say your horoscope is about your day to day finances. So, if the scales aren’t going to give us a reliable measure of our move towards getting fit, just how can we accurately measure our progress? Well, before I answer that one, one thing we need to understand is why the scales aren’t good at measuring fat loss. It’s simply because there is a big difference between the density of fat and muscle. A litre of fat weighs about 920g, whereas a litre of muscle is heavier, weighing about 1,060g. That makes muscle about 15% heavier than fat. Knowing that, any fat loss programme of any worth will encourage you to get more active. If the one you’re on does not do that, then change it for one that does – P.D.Q.

There are two main reasons for my saying that, the first is that getting more active is going to help you speed up your metabolism which in simple terms means that you’ll burn fat more quickly, especially if you’re on a low carb plan. The second is related, because if you increase your activity level you must increase the amount of muscle you have to match it. Remember, we use up energy in our muscles, therefore the bigger the muscles the more energy they need, and therefore the greater benefit we get in fat loss.

It follows then, that if we are following a proper diet, while at the same time increasing our activity levels, we’ll be losing fat but at the same time building muscle. Generally, and especially in the early stages of a well-designed fitness plan, fat-loss is faster than muscle is built up. But as you progress this ratio can change drastically. So, if you’re relying on monitoring your weight to see how you’re getting on, you could very easily get disappointed, as at some point, it could look like your fat loss is slowing down – even though it’s not!

It’s simply that the weight you used to struggle to cart around as fat has been replaced by muscle that’s now carrying you around with more grace and less effort. But of course, the scales won’t know that the weight they’re measuring is now made of better stuff – they’ll think it’s still as it was before.

The second ground rule is one on how to start any diet properly, and if you haven’t done this, please do it today. Anyone who’s joined my personal coaching programme will know just how much I stress the importance of the next thing we are going to cover – simply because it is so effective. When you begin any diet, and particularly a low carb diet, you should record the following:

Your weight – preferably first thing in the morning before you eat; and also the following body measurements: your waist; your chest; both upper arms at the largest part; both thighs at the largest part; both calves at the largest part, and around your neck. I’ll show you why in a minute. If you can, it’s also a good idea to get your body volume measured. Now you can get this done professionally at a health centre or a gym that has the equipment for the purpose, or if you don’t want the hassle or the expense of that, here’s another way that’s cheaper. Choose a pair of pants and a top that are a bit tight, or better still one or two sizes too small, and try to put them on. Note how far up and on you can get them, and maybe take a photo of yourself with them on as well. Now I promise you might think you’re ridiculous, but you’ll come to love those early photos, because as new ones come along, you’ll be able to compare them and marvel at how well you’re doing! Keep the clothes together on a hangar, say, as you will need them later on.

Now you do these measurements and put the clothes on on the day you start your diet and then only every seven days after – you weigh, you measure and try on the clothes. It is important you make a note of all the weights and measurements and just how far you can get the clothes on. Don’t forget to take the photo. You can record these in your diary if you keep one, in the columns on a sheet of paper, or for the ‘techy’ types you could open up a spreadsheet say, just for this. However you do it, it’s up to you, but it is important that you do keep a good record.

Now after you’ve been doing this once a week for, say, five weeks or so, you’ll notice that each week different measurements change at different rates. Some weeks, everything will seem to be going down fast; other weeks your weight might drop a bit, but your waist say may have hardly moved. You get the picture, I’m sure. The thing is that by monitoring how a dozen or so different things are progressing, you will always have some areas of progress to show for your efforts in making you a better you. Even if the weight doesn’t go down every week, the clothes on the hangar will fit better and better each time you try them on. But the serious point here is that if people rely just on measuring weight to gauge how well they are doing, at some point the weight-loss will slow down, might even stop. It may even go UP a bit. In that case, it would only be natural for them to be disappointed. The truth is that some people do get disappointed and that disappointment has caused them to quit the diet; when in fact if they had used other methods to measure their success they would have been encouraged to stick with it.

That’s it. Now, this edition of Healthy Clicks.

Healthy Clicks – How to get and stay encouraged

Dieting is not only about losing fat. The underlying reason we diet is so that we can feel good about ourselves, physically, mentally, emotionally, in fact on every level. This desire can come from all manner of things, whether it’s about simply staying alive (after all, many people have found having a heart attack gives them a good reason to get in shape); or say wanting to get and stay healthy to give support to those we love. So this week I’m not going to give you a website to look at – that would be like giving you a fish. Instead, I want to encourage you to go and learn how to fish by clicking on the things you may already have on your computer or you can easily find.

It’s all down to your reasons. If you’re getting fit because, say, you want to be able to run around the park with the grandchildren, why not put a picture of them on top of your, on your desktop? Maybe you just decided that you could not stand being fat any longer and decided you wanted a change. Why not put a picture of how you want to be in a place where you can see if every day? Whatever your reasons are, get something – a photo, a drawing – just anything that will remind you of why you are getting fit, and put it somewhere where you can’t help but see it.

And if you have lots of reasons, say, then count yourself lucky, and make a personalised collage of all the things that motivate you. Well actually there is a click, at the end of all this. If you think the things that motivate you could motivate others, why not click on your email programme and send me a note about it? What I’ll do is I’ll post the ones that have the most effect on us here at Dropping the Fat as an encouragement to you and to everybody else. Send that email to: motivation@droppingthefat.com (it’s on the little sign above my head), and don’t forget, if you know a good website that you think we should feature, also drop me a line at weblist@droppingthefat.com – that’s also just above my head!

As an incentive, if we use something you’ve sent in on the programme, I’ll give you six months free access to lowcarbmonthly.com. That’s a great resource for you as well.

Burning Question – Low carb for diabetes sufferers

Moving on to this edition of your Burning Question. Now Michael from Trentwell has asked: “I’ve noticed that a lot of the recipes for folk with diabetes are low in carbs. Does that mean that a low carb diet can help diabetics?”

Well, the short answer to that Michael is Yes, it can. In fact, as I have said in a previous programme, many of the situations faced by diabetes sufferers are similar to those faced by low carbers with regards to food. We both want to control our blood sugar levels, and we both know that eating food with a high carb content can mess that up. It’s therefore vital that both low carbers and diabetes sufferers continue on a low carb regime, although those in the diabetes camp prefer to use the term “low glycemic index”. Whatever you choose to call them, from most food groups, the effect on the body is much the same. However, there is one difference. Most diabetes sufferers will consume far higher levels of carbs than would most low carbers, who are following a well-constructed low carb diet. The bottom line is this: in the main, people who have a problem with diabetes will find a low carb diet is just the thing for them, particularly if they are having a problem with excess fat, as they can still eat well on foods that are not alien to them. Many diabetes sufferers who have embraced a controlled carb regime have not only got their fat under control, they’ve also found their condition improving as well. So, well done, Michael, for asking your question. You of course win six months free access to lowcarbmonthly.com where we answer many more questions on diabetes and many other things as well.

Well that’s all for this time. In the next programme we’ll be looking at dealing with hunger; our Healthy Click will surprise you in more ways than one; and we’ll have a real scorcher of a Burning Question over low-carb bread. All that, and more, from the show that helps you to drop more fat in no time flat!

This is Mark Moxom wishing you the very best until next time on Dropping the Fat.

Watch Dropping the fat Episode # 4

Transcript

Hello, I’m Mark Moxom, and welcome to Dropping the Fat. In this episode, we take a long look at the Induction Phase and different ways you can use it to make your diet more successful. Our reader’s question this week is about supplementing vitamins and minerals, and in our Healthy Click feature, we look at the recipe section of lowcarb.ca. All that, and more to come, in this edition of Dropping the Fat.

intro

Low carb and Atkins induction phase secrets

Now everyone who does a Low Carb diet properly must go through a period that we call induction. All the main controlled carb diets use it – Atkins, Protein Power, South Beach and the rest – and they all have an induction period, although Protein Power likes to call theirs the “intervention”. It’s during this period that you drastically limit your carbohydrate intake for typically two to three weeks, although some people get quite a buzz out of the rapid weight loss and they may continue, without ill effects, for longer. Normally, after that, each of the controlled diets allows more variety and with that, slightly more carbs, so that you reach your target rate at a slower pace the nearer you get to it.

Now it’s a sweeping generalisation, I know, but it’s also true that practically everyone loses fat during the induction period. However, it’s after that that the problems start for some. Here’s why:

The induction phase of all these diets is, as you know, the first real contact that people have with any low carb diet of any worth. Its newness normally means that we don’t actually have any experience or knowledge about the subject, so we are obliged to follow guidelines – and that would normally be something like a book, or a well constructed programme, hopefully. Naturally, when you’re doing something “by the book” you follow a well worn, tried and tested path that others have proven works; so it’s no surprise at all that it’s going to work for you too.

However, after having achieved what for most people would be terrific fat losses, and having proven to all especially ourselves that the diet works, most people move onto the next phase of the diet; and quite rightly. The ones who get to this stage are happy to tell anyone who will listen about their amazing success. Now, with such brilliant results under their belts and the resulting praise and adulation that’s heaped upon them, it’s no surprise if at this point, they become “experts”, well, at least in their own opinion.

Of course, experts don’t really need to consult books, do they? After all, they know it all.

At this stage people move onto having more choice about what they can eat, meaning that they have to start making more decisions about what they eat. They’ve now built up a certain amount of knowledge about the diet, so they don’t have as much need to consult the manual any more. They’ve proven the diet works by doing it, and so as far as they’re concerned, they’ve become veterans of the diet. Now, veterans of course no longer need to do things “by the book”, they can make their own decisions after all, and even if they make a mistake about it, well, it doesn’t matter, because, well, they’ve lost weight easily the first time and it’ll be just as easy to do that again.

I think you probably can see where this is going! Too many people get post-induction slowdown in fat loss, sometimes even a fat gain, because they get cocky and try to go on their own. Honestly, if any of these points strike a chord with you, just get back to the book – or the manual – or the plan – and follow it!

If you do that, nine times out of ten, you’ll be back on track in no time. And the joys that you knew when you first started will be yours again. Which leads us neatly onto the first of the alternative uses for the induction phase of a Low Carb Diet.

In truth, induction is not just a once in a lifetime experience. Far from it – you can use the induction phase as many times as you need to when it’s appropriate. Induction, if you like, is the big RE-SET button. You can use it to overcome bad habits which may have crept in like we’ve described above; or if you’ve gone totally off-track for a while and become what I call a prodigal dieter, it’s a great place to come back to to restart your plan for health and fitness.

Some have described it as a bit like coming home, to something familiar, wholesome and something that just works. Similarly, if you’ve been on a bit of a binge, say for a wedding feast or you’ve eaten to excess over the festive season, induction has a wonderful way of righting wrongs in both body and conscience. And don’t forget, the induction phase of virtually all carb controlled diets is a very successful way of breaking a stall, so if you slow down a bit, go back on induction – it works nearly every time.

Also, a use that’s not widely known is following it as a way of limiting your intake of different foods while you go through an elimination diet to see if you’re sensitive to certain foods. Many people have found this to be true for them, in that they have seen problems with their skin, their digestive system, energy levels, brain fog, and many other things improve when they’ve been on the induction phase of their diet.

Let me quote Dr. Mercola. He says “In terms of food sensitivities, a comprehensive nutritional approach is extremely important, as most people sensitivities dramatically improve when they follow the nutritional plan. This includes avoiding sugar, fruit juices and most grains and pasteurised diary products.”

On a personal note, it helped me discover I was sensitive to grain based carbs. Also some people have found that their IBS has been reduced or eliminated when they went on induction. All those things are food for thought!

Taking all this into account, one of the most important jobs that the induction phase does, either the first time you use it or if you use it later on in your path to health, is that is helps you get back in control of your body and how you want it to be.

Healthy Click – www.lowcarb.ca

Now, here’s something we can all have control of, as we see what’s in this edition of Healthy Clicks.

Truth Number 1: Food was the thing that got you into trouble with excess fat in the first place.

Truth Number 2: Food is the thing that will get you out of that problem as well.

So, how can food be both the problem and the solution? Simply, eating the right or wrong food can be the one thing that will make a diet work for you or cause you to abandon it at the earliest opportunity. That means that one of the keys to success in any diet is eating the right food. Now the easiest way of ensuring you get good food on a new diet, is to get hold of a recommended recipe book suitable for that diet. Another way of course is to look online for recipes that you can use. Before we continue though, I just want to point out I have two caveats about recipes, either from a book or from online. The first is that some recipe makers fall into the trap of using artificial sweeteners instead of natural sweeteners for some recipes. Those of you who know my work will know that I dislike these intensely. The other thing is that many use effective carbs, or similar units, where they offset fibre against carb so that it seems like you’re able to eat more. Well that’s never been a good idea, quite frankly. You can get more information about those from the lowcarbmonthly.com.

Anyway, down to business. One of the better online resources for recipes is www.lowcarb.ca – this is a Canadian website. Yes, they still do have recipes with artificial sweeteners but not as many as many of the other websites do. The other thing about this online resource is that many of the recipes are sent in by the regulars of the site, so to a certain extent you know that they will have been tried and tested, and they are quite yummy too! In additional to that, they have Karen Barnaby. She’s a professional chef with a restaurant in Vancouver, and a number of published cookbooks to her credit. She’s put a number of recipes on the site for your enjoyment.

On the plus side, it’s a very easy site to use with simple and direct access to the recipe topics you want, and there are many but not all of the recipes that have the carb/calorie/and fat counts included, which makes choosing what you want to eat much easier. Also the site is free, you will have to put up with a certain amount of advertising though, but on the whole the advertising is not too intrusive and certainly doesn’t hinder getting around the site. Lowcarb.ca is at the heart of a community bulletin board, so fair play to those that manage the site for making so much information freely available – and you don’t even have to register to view the information.

Well, that’s all for the Healthy Click this time. Remember, if there are any sites you think we should be featuring on the programme, do let me know by dropping me a line at the email address just above my head.

Burning question – Vitamins and mineral supplements

Now, onto this week’s Burning Question.

One of our viewers asks “Is it good to supplement vitamins and minerals while lowcarbing?”.

Well, most of you will have understood by now that I’m an advocate of supplementing for vitamins and minerals when they are deficient in our diets. However, supplementing will never take the place of a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet. It’s far better to use food to get our requirements of vitamins and minerals than it is to rely on a pill. What we need to remember is that vitamins, minerals and trace elements often serve as catalysts for the different processes going on within our bodies. They can do no good whatsoever if the primary ingredients aren’t good or aren’t there in the first place. Generally speaking, if you are not eating adequate amounts of good quality food, then no amount of vitamins or minerals will make you any healthier. In truth, the bulk of our vitamin and mineral intake should come from the good quality food that we eat, preferably grown on good vitamin and mineral rich soils as that aids bio-availability.

However, there is an important rider to that statement. That food should come from a certified organic source for the best results. The vitamins and minerals that we get as part of our food come in the form that our bodies can use most efficiently, and nine times out of ten, they come with all the other enzymes and cofactors that we need to use them in the most efficient manner. As I said earlier, there are a few cases in which ongoing health conditions caused by mineral and vitamin deficiency can’t be treated by diet alone. If the problem is the result of a deficiency then the solution will often be to reverse that and make up for what’s been lacking by the use of properly diagnosed and quantified mineral and vitamin supplements. Doing that often negates the need to resort to drugs.

It goes without saying there’s one last over-riding statement that must be made. That is that vitamins from natural sources are always going to be far more effective than any synthetic vitamins. So where you have the need to take a vitamin supplement, make sure that yours are high quality, organically based, and from a reliable producer. Never buy the lowest price, as you’ll only get trash.

Well, that about wraps it up for this episode. Next time we’ll be looking at the best way to give yourself a lift each time you measure your progress. Our viewer’s question looks at diabetes and we’ll be having, we’ll be seeing rather, how one click on a website can change your life!

Anyway, remember that this is the programme that helps you lose more fat in no time flat!

This is Mark Moxom wishing you all the best until next time on Dropping the Fat.

Watch Dropping the Fat Episode 3

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to Dropping the Fat. In this episode we have a look at a website that’s an unusual choice but nonetheless it’s a good one! For many it may be a breath of fresh air.

We answer the big problem of overcoming bad habits to make your diet more successful, and in our Burning Question feature we cover the best way of handling the situation when you’re invited to eat at friends, or out in a restaurant.

All that, and more to come, in this episode of Dropping the Fat.

Intro

Overcoming bad habits

First of all let’s have a look at overcoming bad habits. Well, I’m sure you’ll agree that in order to get a solution to any problem, we first need to know exactly what the problem is. So what are bad habits as far as dieter’s are concerned? Well if you take a casual poll amongst any group of dieters, at the top of the list of bad habits you’ll find snacking or eating the wrong type of food for the diet. Now for low carbers that might mean eating that left-over slice of toast the kid’s didn’t eat for breakfast; or just having that one potato at Sunday lunch – it can’t hurt after all. I’m sure you get the picture.

Next on the list would be not doing enough physical activity. Now notice I didn’t say “exercise”. Remember, sitting around only makes you get round, and the more you sit around the rounder you’ll get! So not eating properly and not exercising are the two main problems that virtually all the other problems could be listed under. Let me explain a little.

Let’s take the first of those two main categories, not eating the right food. Eating the wrong food can only come from being able to get your hands on it. That means we leave ourselves open to temptation. In this instance, the solution is to take control of the situation as much as we humanly can. Now one of my favourite home-truths is that the diet starts in the store. Just take a moment to follow my logic here. Things we should not eat only end up in the cooler or the cupboard if someone buys them and puts them there. They don’t walk up and jump in on their own, do they?

So if we shouldn’t be eating them, it follows we shouldn’t be buying them in the first place. Now you might say: ‘I only buy them for the kids/or my partner/or whoever’. Maybe that’s true, but if they are not good enough for you, why are they good enough for them? Why not buy something else that you can ALL eat instead? For instance, maybe candy bars are your weakness. Well, just remember that those around you will be just as keen on low carb candy as you are. Now if there’s stuff in your cooler, cupboard, desk drawer or wherever, and you know you shouldn’t be eating it – get rid of it and don’t buy it any more.

That way it’s easy to avoid temptation, just with a little thinking, planning and organising. The next area of temptation that folk find difficult is where they’re among friends, family and work colleagues. It seems wherever we go there’s temptation all around us. For instance, in some companies there is a tradition of buying birthday cream cakes, where the birthday guy or girl has to get the cakes for their workmates. They come round saying: ‘I’m 21 again, have a cake and help me celebrate’, it just seems so churlish to refuse. Well frankly, whatever the situation you find yourself in, no matter how tempting the offers or how rude it may appear to refuse a well-meant treat, we only have ourselves to blame for being in that situation.

‘How can that be?’ I hear you ask. Well, actually, it’s quite simple. Most of the people we like, as a general rule, like us back. Which means that on the whole they want what’s best for us too. Now if they know we’re on a path to better health and fitness, then they are not going to want to be the ones who lead us astray – not if they’re real friends. So the best way to handle all of these situations is to make it known that we’re doing our best to get fit and that we now eat only food that’s good for our health. The thing is, of course, you have to be very tactful. Remember, it’s human nature that if you decide not to eat something because you have learnt they are not good for you, some folk might take that the wrong way, especially if they still eat it. Imagine blurting out on your colleague’s birthday that you don’t eat cakes any more because they’re bad for you – well, they could quite easily jump to the conclusion that you are saying all cakes are bad and they are trying to give bad food to everyone in the office, thus inferring that they are a bad person as well. Well, you don’t want to do that, do you? So whatever you do, use tact and diplomacy. I suggest you use the scientifically based fact that each of us have certain foods that our bodies respond well to and other foods that it doesn’t respond well to. Let’s face it, nowadays most folk will quite happily accommodate someone like a vegetarian without a second thought. So if you bring your change of diet in an informative and non-accusatory way, then the same courtesies as offered to the vegetarians will be offered to you too, and no-one’s feelings will be hurt.

The best time to do this of course is now. Don’t leave it until you’re faced with a situation like someone coming around with a box of cakes to make your new diet known. That could actually be quite disastrous. The solution for this type of situation is to make your dietary preferences known in advance. Simply tell people in a tactful way. Now this advice is as good in the home and with friends as it is in the workplace.

However, sometimes there are situations in which temptation to eat badly just seems far too strong. I know. Thankfully, we have a couple of ways to overcome those situations as well. The first is, if it’s difficult, just don’t go there. Do something else instead. For instance, you may have a regular meeting with friends at, say a pizza or pasta restaurant, where you know there is nothing on the menu you can eat. Well, why not suggest another venue that you know is good for you too? If that doesn’t work, don’t go; but do take time to keep in touch with the people you would have met there, and I’ll bet they’ll appreciate the time you spend with them just as much, if not more, than they would have spent the time as a group. Especially if you get the time to do that one-to-one.

The second thing you can do is to get some moral and practical support. Remember, you’re not alone. There are always folk you can call upon to help, but it’s up to you to find out who and where they are.

Next, the other main area that gives folks problem is that of exercise. First, look at how you behaved before you decided to drop the fat. I’ll bet exercise, or any other slightly physical activity, was something that, if it ever got on the list, was only ever at the bottom, in brackets and only ever written in pencil. Meaning that if you could find a reason not to do it, that was OK. Well, maybe that’s not you, but you know what I’m saying.

To be frank, exercise is something that does not have to be a stand-alone event taking up part of our day. With a little forward thinking and planning, we can integrate physical activity into a lot of what we do. For instance, why not take the stairs instead of the lift? Walk to the store instead of taking the car? Well, I’m sure you get the idea. Take a look back at Episode #1 as I go into doing “Exercise without going to the Gym” in much more detail, so do take time to view that episode.

The bottom line is this – a bad habit can only continue if we continue to provide a habitat or venue for it to happen in. In order to get rid of these bad habits we need to:

1. Take charge of our lives

2. Don’t leave things to chance, you know what is said about idle hands.

3. Plan for those situations we know we find difficult, even if that means doing something else, and

4. Be prepared.

Before you drop off to sleep each night, just take five minutes to think through the coming day, and when you spot a possible problem, briefly work out in your mind the best way to handle it. Honestly, that five minutes of your time could turn out to be the most useful part of your day.

Healthy Click – Mike Eades at protein power

So that’s it – how to overcome bad habits. Now, onto another life changing few minutes, as we take a look at another Healthy Click.

It’s a quick one this time, also it’s an unusual website to recommend. Now I’m sure many of you will have heard of Protein Power by the good Drs Michael and Mary Edes. Well, that’s not the site we are looking at this time, worthy though it might be and just the place if you want to get more info on the protein power diet. However, some of you may not be aware that both Michael and Mary each have a blog that contain a wealth of information on many and diverse subjects; though of course much is on the subject of low carb. Anyway, the thing we are going to have a look at here is Michael’s blog which you can find at www.proteinpower.com/drmike.

Now in amongst the advertising, you’ll find a wealth of interesting articles written by Dr Mike, and to me at least it seems like he’s writing in a far more relaxed way. It’s like you’re getting to see the real man shining through. Now the information there is as you would expect top notch and low carb based, and the quality of links off to other sites is good too. So I do recommend you have a look, not just for the information, but also when you want something that’s as interesting as it is diverse. So there we go, Dr Mike Ede’s blog at www.proteinpower.com/drmike.

Burning Question – Surviving eating out or with friends

Very quickly, let’s move onto our Burning Question. A Low Carb Monthly member writes: “I’ve just started doing low carb and I love eating out, and even more so with friends. Do you have any guidelines that would make this easier, as I don’t want my friends to think I am being difficult.”

Well frankly, eating in a restaurant or any other situation should not be a problem provided you follow some basic guidelines. To begin with, choose a restaurant that you know does food you can eat. Obviously a steak-house would not be a problem, but perhaps a restaurant specialising in pasta would. Next, try and get a peek at the menu beforehand to confirm what dishes are available. Most chains now have many of their menus online and some even have the nutritional values as well, so you can be well aware of what you can eat beforehand. By the way, many smaller restaurants will have a website as well and they often list both the menus as well as their speciality dishes. Alternatively, you could phone up or call by to get the information before your meal out.

Now if none of these are possible, then all is not lost, as even without foreknowledge, you can still choose wisely, leaving off (or just not eating) the things you know you shouldn’t. Remember, you’re the customer and within reason, you’re paying to have what you want to eat. Well frankly a restaurant that didn’t want to please its customers would be a very strange one indeed. So that’s all well and good for eating out, but what about eating with friends?

Well in fact the same rules apply, well almost! The only thing is that eating with friends may require a little extra tact more than anything else. So here are my top tips for the eating with friend’s situation:

Firstly remember that many people have favourite dishes that they like to do on special occasions. If you’re host or hostess has one, and it’s low carb friendly and you like it, why not ring up and request it? That can only really be received as a compliment, and on the night you could explain how lucky you are that your friend’s speciality is something you can eat and really enjoy in your new diet, with no guilt, worry or stress.

Otherwise, find out what’s planned and just let them know well beforehand what you can eat on your new diet. Stress the fact that you don’t want them to do anything special. The fact is that most people can cope with special diets and many will rise to the challenge of finding something tasty that will fit everyone’s needs – even if it’s only making sure they prepare a bigger joint then normal!

In any case, your host will appreciate knowing beforehand, as at least that way they have the opportunity to prepare and they won’t be seen to fail or fall short as a host. An alternative is to offer to take over a low carb dish that will complement the ones that your host is planning to do. If all else fails, you could offer to invite them over to your place. This can sometimes be an easier option as then everything is down to you. The bottom line is, as in all these situations, to take control and make sure it works for everybody. Leaving things to chance might mean you could go hungry or worse still, cause your host anxiety.

Well that’s all we have time for this time. In the next programme we’ll be taking a look at the induction type phases of low carb diets and how you can use them in other ways than just kick-starting a controlled carb diet. There will of course be another Healthy Click and yet another reader’s Burning Question will be answered. Until you join me again, this is Mark Moxom wishing you the very best until the next time on Dropping the Fat.

Watch Dropping the Fat Episode #2

Transcript

Hello, I’m Mark Moxom, and welcome to Dropping the Fat. In this programme, we get a little personal, as we look down the tubes as it were, at the nasty smells people associate with Low Carb diets. Our Burning Question this time asks about fat measurement, and we take an unusual look at a website that’s not meant for Low Carbers, but has some real treasures to click on. All that, and more to come, as you join me in Dropping the Fat.

Bad breath and other low carb smells

So, have you got bad breath? Does your body odour seem more pungent than usual? And isn’t that a good thing? DOesn’t it mean you’re in ketosis? Those are just some of the things I’ve heard said to Low Carbers, because many people associate the Low Carb diet with nasty smells – and to a certain extent they have some reason, but only if you listen to the hype and rumour that abound among those who, quite frankly, don’t know better.

The truth is nasty niffs don’t really need to be a part of a Low Carb lifestyle, and it’s frankly one of those things that has been blown out of all proportion, to the point that many Low Carb dieters think that nasty smells are the norm, and so therefore they should be getting them! In my view, living with that type of mindset means that folk just aren’t doing all they would normally do to eradicate the odours they would normally get. Simply, if you’re body is used to eating Low Carb you should not be overly troubled by nasty niffs, it’s as simple as that.

Anyway, we can break down the perceived problem into three main causes of offence; the one at the top of the list is bad breath. Then we have smelly sweat; and for some, foul smells in the bathroom. However, the one thing that joins all these together, is that any change in diet will necessitate a period of bacterial re-adjustment in your digestive system, from the mouth down to the rear end. Anyway, let’s have a look at those, one at a time, starting with bad breath.

Now many folk have the idea that bad breath is caused by keytone bodies being exhaled. Well, to a limited extent, that is true, however, the main cause of bad breath is actually down to a change and imbalance in the levels of bacteria in our digestive system. Remember, we don’t swallow one hundred percent of everything we chew. Food particles break down in between and around our teeth, and that process can often be the cause of a foul odour given off. The solution here is obvious, it’s good dental hygiene. Also, in the early stages of some Low Carb regimes, we are encouraged not to drink tea, coffee and other similar drinks. That means that low-level dehydration can become a problem, because most people are not very conscientious in replacing this liquid by, say, drinking more water. That results in them getting a dry or partially dry mouth. Remember, saliva helps to keep the teeth clean.

However, the things we swallow can be a problem just as well. Things like onion and garlic are probably the best known examples of foods containing spicy, pungent oils that can be the cause of bad breath. And they are not alone – as there are other vegetables, too numerous to mention, that can do the same. Once these foods are digested, the spicy oils find their way into our blood stream, some of that will end up in our lungs, where it’s given off in our breath until the food has gone from our body. Even on a high carb diet this would happen to a greater or less extent. The solution here is to add more variety to our diet, incorporating other just as tasty, but less pungent flavours, to the list of things we eat. Another key, is to cook in such a way as to let the natural flavour of the ingredients come to the fore, or we can use herbs or less smelly spices to flavour our food. The best advice though, is to get a good cook book and jolly well use it!

Another cause of offence is what you might call “coffee breath”. This is the sort of thing that people who don’t eat breakfast but then just drink, say, coffee, get quite often – even non-dieters. It’s just simply a poor choice of food.

OK, what about smelly sweat then? Well, urine is the most natural exit for any keytones produced by the body. When we are in ketosis these will be present in the bloodstream, which means that to a limited extent, they can also come out through our breath, as well as when we sweat. Getting rid of the keytones by going for a ‘pee’ would generally cause the least problems, and it’s also the one we can control the easiest, again simply by drinking adequate amounts of liquid. So the solution to overcoming this problem is to make sure we drink enough fluids, and to keep on top of our personal hygiene. We only really get a problem when keytones mix with stale sweat. No stale sweat, no problem!

At the bottom of the list we have those foul smells in the bathroom. Now I know it’s not a nice subject, but someone’s got to talk about it. Under ideal conditions, our stools should have a slightly earthy odour that is actually not that unpleasant, and they should consist mainly of dead, digestive bacteria and indigestible fibre. Now any change in the food you eat can cause an upset in the balance of the natural bacteria in your digestive tract (as I’ve already said), and in some cases this can be severe enough to cause excessive gas and the unpleasant smells that go with it. Skipping meals and not eating regularly can also increase the problem many times so the solution here is firstly to eat a variety of your permitted foods, including vegetables, salads, meats, cheeses, in an adequately varied mix. Secondly, don’t overtax your digestive system with big meals. Instead, divide up your daily allowance into four or five or more sittings, evened out over the day. You can be sure your stomach will thank you for it! Lastly, eat foods that are bacteria friendly, things such as kale, mustard greens, collard, spinach, and even dandelion leaves, and make sure you eat regularly without skipping meals.

Now, while there will be a short adjustment period as the bacteria in your gut adapt, it is something that can be quickly and easily got through. A little-known tip I can give you now is to eat natural yoghurt, or bio yoghurt, at the end of each meal, and in between meals if you’re feeling peckish, especially while you are going through the adjustment period. Natural yoghurt is good for you in that it provides an ideal food for the gut bacteria to thrive in, meaning we digest our food more effectively and we get all the goodness out of everything we eat.

So, the key solutions are: To drink more, make sure you eat regularly, feed our friendly bacteria, brush our teeth and keep on top of personal hygiene. By following these simple steps you will find that the incidences of all these problems are drastically reduced or eliminated. And, on top of that, you’ll feel much more satisfied during the day.

The bottom line – well, I maintain that when you’re doing any Low Carb diet properly, diet related causes of bad smells should not be that severe in the first place, and they are certainly something that can be readily treatable.

Now, something that’s guaranteed not to smell nasty is our next item – as we take a look at another “Healthy Click”!!

Healthy Click – DLife.com

This time, we’re looking at a website that may not be one that immediately comes to mind for someone on a diet; Low Carb or otherwise. Today’s choice is full of really useful information and has tons of recipes too. The website is called “Dlife” and it can be found, unsurprisingly, at www.Dlife.com. It’s a site that is primarily aimed at folk with diabetes – hence the big D – but as many of the dietary choices they have are similar to Low Carbers, then much of the information is applicable to us as well. In fact, whatever diet you follow, there’s something there for you. The site is clear and it’s easy to find your way around. But I’m just going to pick out one of the links at the top of the page – in this case, it’s the one marked “Diabetic Recipes”. Now surprise, surprise, that takes us to the recipe section, which again is divided handily into useful subcategories such as carb content of various values; things like low sodium, and others. Or you can search by meal types, such as breakfast, dinner, tea, or the main ingredients, such as poultry, fish. Well, I’m sure you get the idea!

The quality of the information presented is on the whole top notch, and frankly it’s well worth spending some time there. There you go . . . Dlife.

Now if you have a suggestion for a website to appear on this programme, drop me a line at the email above and if it’s a good one, I’ll share it with the others on the programme.

Burning Question – "Is my BMI Important?"

Right, moving on. Here is something to wake up the brain cells as we take a look at our Burning Question.

Today’s question is from Sally Mountjoy in Greenwich, and she asks “Is my BMI important?”

Well, BMI (Body Mass Index) is actually a very effective tool to find out if you are carrying excessive fat. However, you can get a very quick idea if you’ve got a significant weight problem simply by taking note of your waist size. That’s the reason why the clothes manufacturers use it so much, because it’s just so telling on our overall body shape. Within certain limits, we can use this one measurement to see if we are carrying too much body fat.

If you are male, of average frame size, and over 100cms (which is about 40”) around the waist, you are obese. For you ladies, the same would be true if you are over 90cms (which is about 36”) around the waist.

Now during a diet, measuring your waist size can be a better indication of fat loss than say, watching the scales. However, when used properly, knowing your BMI can be a really useful tool, however I must say that this: that there are many of the BMI calculators that you find online just aren’t accurate enough, as they only take into account your height and weight. Fortunately, the one on the Low Carb Monthly website is, as you would expect, more accurate. So I would recommend you use that one.

Anyway, I’ve got to say watching that percentage go down each week can be really encouraging, even if it’s only by a little bit!

Well, that’s all we’ve got time for this time – don’t forget to send in your Burning Question – after all, it could be YOU whose winning that coveted three months’ free access to Low Carb Monthly.

Next time, we’ll be looking at breaking bad habits to make your fat loss more successful and we’ll have an unusual website to have a look at.

Anyway, this is Mark Moxom wishing you all the very best until next time on Dropping the Fat.

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  How to exercise without going to a gym

• Is it possible to do Low Carb as a vegetaqrian?

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  We visit Jimmy Moores web blog at living La Vida LowCarb

Watch Dropping the Fat Episode # 1

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to Dropping the Fat. In this edition, we look at the topic of exercise as we try to answer the question “Can you get exercise without going to the gym?” We’ll also be having a look at a web resource that has lots of information to help make your diet more interesting. Later, our Burning Question this time is asking about vegetarian low carb. All that, and more to come, on a show that’s dedicated to helping you have fun as you’re Dropping the Fat.

Intro

Well, first of all, many of you might be wondering what this show is all about. It is about providing you with the tools you need to make your diet work. Let me just say first that I am very much a maverick when it comes to following the conventions commonly associated with the world of dieting. That’s because so much of what is peddled today is not so much concerned with about what benefits YOU, but it’s more concerned with what benefits, or should I say what profits, those who are trying to tie you into buying their products. Frankly, I am much more concerned about letting you know about the things that work. In fact, you could say I am on a mission, that mission is dedicated to outing outdated and ineffective things that just don’t work. And at the same time, highlighting those things that have been shown to work and work well. Remember, we are talking about your body here. I’d like to help you take control of your dietary health, and at the same time put some effective tools into your hands, so you can really get the benefit of the time, effort and money you put into making YOU a better YOU. Along the way we are sure to have some fun.

Anyway, on to our first topic.

I don’t know about you, but I for one, don’t really enjoy spending time in the gym. It’s not just the cost, although that does have some bearing on it. After all, you can easily pay up to what, a thousand dollars or more for a year’s membership, which is OK if you’re using it. But if you only attend, what, one aerobics class a week, well that actually works out to be very poor value. There are, of course, many other reasons why you would not want to go to a gym. Maybe you just don’t like that sort of activity, or maybe you don’t have the time. After all, family commitments do seem to be taking more and more of our already busy schedules. Or perhaps you are just like me, and you might find going to the gym just too plain boring. There are, after all, so many much more interesting things we can be going.

Well frankly, whatever your motives are, you are to be congratulated. It seems that expert opinion is now catching up with reality. Which means that, whether you know it or not, you are now at the forefront of expert opinion. Actually, probably a step or two in front of it, but we won’t tell them that! The current professional opinion can be summarized in five words: “The gym won’t fix it.”

Andrew Hamilton, of Peak Performance Sport Performance Magazine, has been quoted as saying “The problem with gyms is that they compartmentalise physical activity.” It goes further, saying: “You become locked in the idea that you need a special place and special equipment to exercise, when the truth is that gyms only exist because we aren’t leading our lives properly.” Now I for one would wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments. Let’s have a look at the figures. A one-hour workout in the gym burns about, what, 400-500 calories easily, and frankly it’s not that hard to burn the same amount of calories by doing other more useful things, simply by putting a bit more vim and vigour into doing our everyday activities.

My advice is to let the world be your gym. Quite frankly with a few minor adjustments, many of our activities throughout the week could be turned into a useful form of exercise that is done as part of something else, rather than as an isolated activity on its own. Just by doing that, many of us can regain valuable time each week, over the course of a year that could add to what nearly an extra weeks worth of enjoyable time spent doing things we want to do rather than spent doing things we feel we OUGHT to be doing.

Now, before we get on to the active part, let’s put things in context. You’ll probably be pleased to learn that you can only really reap the benefits of healthy exercise if you also ensure you get a healthy amount of rest too, so I’m not suggesting that anybody should sacrifice the Saturday or Sunday morning lay-in. If that’s what you like to do, just do it. And let’s face it, if you had a late night the night before, it may be just what your body needs. So, have your lay-in if you want to. But when you do decide to get out of bed, do so with a spring in your step – take your first exercise of the day in the shower. Well, that’s what David Stencil says, and he should know as he’s the senior lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Loughborough University in England.

He says he alternates standing on each leg for 30 seconds. This apparently is a useful way to improve strength, especially in those smaller leg muscles that we use for balance. That should be followed by a vigorous drying, which will raise your heart rate a little, stretch and loosen your shoulders, and tone your arms and back. Breakfast is important too, and that should conform with a regime that works for you and your body. If you follow that with a brisk walk to collect the papers, say, even if it’s only a few hundred yards, well that’s good too.

Again, David Stencil says that research suggests if you take 10 brisk walks of three minutes duration over the course of the day, then that has the same health benefits as a one-half hour session all at once. An apparently, some of these benefits are almost immediate. The next day, for instance, your blood pressure is reduced and blood fat levels get lower compared with having no exercise at all. Now, if walking just one mile briskly burns about 100 calories, then in just over a month of walking an extra mile a day, you’ll have burnt about 3 and a half thousand calories, which is equivalent of a pound of fat. That’s about, what, 10 pounds a year. Now, when you get back from your walk, how about a quick trip around the house with the vacuum cleaner? Or better still, take a brush around the yard. Doing that is good for the biceps, triceps, chest and stomach. Or maybe you fancy hand-washing the car? After all, that sponging, polishing, bending and reaching are great for back and shoulder mobility, and you can easily burn 300 calories an hour just by doing that.

Of course, part of what we are doing here is to make sure we don’t miss out on doing family stuff. So, why not head off to the park with the kids and a ball? as even the gentlest of kick-a-bouts can bring on a sweat. Pushing a swing is a good low-key workout for the back; while throwing a stick for the dog can build explosive power in your arms. All these exercises will enhance your main body flexibility and muscle strength.

So now it’s time for lunch. But here’s the good part. All this activity has raised your core body temperature, so you’ll find you’re not so hungry. That in turn will reduce your appetite, in just the same way that you don’t feel like eating so much on a warm summer’s day. Now, an afternoon spent in the garden not only ensures that you get the pleasure of a great outdoor space, additionally you can get in some serious exercise – mowing the lawn for instance for just 20 minutes will not only raise your heart-rate, but it will also help to develop power in your lower back and legs. If that’s not enough, it will burn 80 calories as well! However, it’s in the digging and lugging stuff around that you’ll see the real results to the tune of 600-700 calories an hour. That’s actually more than you’ll get in the gym!

Most of our big endurance muscles are in the lower body, so lifting stuff around will strengthen your back and thighs. On the other hand, digging provides a great upper body workout, as it works the back, arms, shoulders and chest. Weeding and reaching are good for extending mobility. Now of course, to be really effective, the week-end workout should be on top of your normal activities, not instead of them. And if you don’t have your own garden, well you could become one of the most popular people in your neighbourhood, by offering to help others do their gardens while getting the exercise you need at the same time!

Now, onto our next feature, which is our “Healthy Clicks” feature.

Healthy Clicks

This time we are going to look at a site that many of you may be familiar with, but then again you may not. It’s run by a guy who, like me, lost a lot of weight, and has lived to tell the tale. The site is called Living La Vida Low Carb, and this is what you might call a life project of a guy by the name of Jimmy Moor. You can find it at www.livinlavidalowcarb.com.

Now, if you look at his site you can see what Jimmy looks like now, but just down the page on the bit about him, you can see what he used to look like. As he says, he was a morbidly obese 410lb man on a one-way ticket to an early grave. Now after trying a number of ways to drop the fat, he eventually tried the ultra low fat diet because, as he says: “…that’s what we’ve always been taught, that eating fat makes you fat.” With which he managed to lose 170lbs in nine months, but there was only one problem, as he says: “I was constantly hungry which made me irritable, tired and feeling like I was going out of my mind. My stomach was so bloated and big I felt I was a lot worse off than I was before my weight loss.” It’s no surprise it didn’t last, and he gained the weight back, going way above the 400+ lbs that he was before he started.

A series of events in the fall of 2003 made him look again at dropping the fat, and the break-through came when he adopted the low carb approach by reading Dr Atkins book cover to cover, and doing what it said. In many ways Jimmy agrees with me in that he makes a great deal about doing what the book says, rather than doing what folks think it says. Jimmy went on to put his story into a book called Living La Vida Low Carb, which is both inspiring and informative, and there is a handy link on the site if you want to get a copy – and no, I don’t get a commission!

There’s lots more on the site, and so I would recommend you have a look for yourself, it includes a large number of before and after photos and links off to various sites, blogs and other interesting and useful places to visit.

So there you have it, Jimmy Moor’s Living La Vida Low Carb.

Burning Question

Now, have you got a Burning Question that you just have to have answered? Well, this next section is just for you.

Here’s a question from one of the readers of Low Carb Monthly. She says “I’ve had several friends and colleagues at work who have done the South Beach Diet, and I’m amazed at how much weight they’ve lost and how quickly they’ve lost it. I would like to lose weight as quickly as they have, but I am a vegetarian. Can I do a low carb diet?”

Well, yes you can do a low carb diet but it’s not going to be easy. A lot depends on what type of vegetarian you are. For instance, a vegan will have a very difficult time as their food choices are already fairly limited. However, if you are an ovo-lacto vegetarian then you should be able to find enough variety in what you can eat, so that your diet won’t be too boring. Obviously, people who are semi-vegetarian and eat perhaps fish, but not meat, as part of their regime, would have no problem in doing a low carb diet at all, as their food choices are far, far wider.

Now, if you would like to get a no-nonsense answer to your Burning Question, use the link on the site and send it to me in an email. If your question gets chosen, not only will you get a straightforward reply, but you’ll also get three months free membership to Low Carb Monthly.

Well, that about wraps it up for this time, next time we’ll be tackling the thorny subject of bad breath and other low carb smells – they’ll be another Burning Question to answer as well. Don’t forget, just use the link above to email me your question.

You could be the lucky viewer who gets that three months free access to Low Carb Monthly. We’ll also have another Healthy Click to add to our list, and this is Mark Moxom, wishing you a healthy and happy time, until next time.