#1…70% is what you eat

#2…20% is your activity (exercise, or lack thereof)

#3…10% is related to toxicity, liver, thyroid, adrenal, or hormonal issues

The body is a self-regulating ship as long as you keep the rocks and the coral reefs out of the way. The body constantly strives for homeostasis (balance), but the body can only correct the ship if the captain is sober and there is no damage to the ship.

Let’s start with #1 since 2/3 of Americans are too heavy, and about 2/3 of the weight gain relates to diet. I’m not talking about how many meals you eat or how many calories you eat. If you are eating one meal and snacking all day or eating 5 smaller meals a day and feel great and look great, do whatever works for you.

On the subject of calories...they are not equal. My gift to you. If you type this address into your web browser, you can see one of the best articles I’ve ever seen on calories. I used it in our exercise program. This is one of our exercise days so those of you not in the program can check it out.

http://www.area365.com/?p=67

Password = week12

Now, on to fat. The majority of diet guru’s and nutritionists will die thinking fat makes you fat, all the while living an artificial existence on Viagra or hormone pills. Fat makes you a man or a woman. Testosterone and Progesterone are made from… hold the suspense

…Drum roll please…

…Cholesterol. Oh my gosh! The horrible evil cholesterol monster has reared its ugly head once again. Run for your life…No wait, run for the Lipitor.

The single worst diet advice to come out in the last 50 years was a Low-Fat Diet. Healthy good fats make your skin nice, keep your joints lubed up, and allows your body to make hormones. A low-fat diet will make you less of a man and less of a woman. At least, 30% of your diet should be good fats.

If you want a list of good fats see the chart below for some or head to our website www.docaltman.com and look in the categories for Good Fats.

So what should you do? Cut out sugar. If you are overweight and want to shed a few pounds, get your sugar intake down to zero for 2 weeks and get back to me on what happens. Sugar spikes insulin —> which stores fat. Have you ever seen someone who works out everyday and has for years, and looks the same or is heavier? That’s because you can’t out exercise a bad diet.

You can’t work off 300 calories, have an after- workout shake of 500 calories, and expect any changes. That doesn’t fit for everyone, but that’s where rule #2 comes in.

#2 Sometimes you can do everything “right” but not lose an inch. Your “exercise” is too low in intensity. Think about this.

Would you rather…

…Look like a sprinter or

…Look like a marathon runner?

I know this is a generalization and it doesn’t fit everyone, but that’s the point. What’s the difference in body style? MUSCLE. Sprinters are ripped, and here is lesson #2, muscle is like having a free fat-loss plan. While I sit here writing to you, my body is burning calories to maintain my muscle, and is repairing and building new muscle from my workout this morning.

If you are serious about weight-loss, it would be far more effiecient to redirect your efforts to weight training rather than low intensity cardio. I’m not saying cardio is bad for you, just do less of it, maybe only once or twice a week. Spend your extra 20 minutes on the weights instead, women included. (Check out our exercise program at the bottom of this page.)

#1 Eat your good fats, #2 high quality protein, and #3 eat your green veggies.

Part 4 of the Magic Fat-Loss Formula

Mental toughness.

Here is the hard part…it’s hard. Eating veggies is harder than eating donuts. Working out is harder than watching T.V. Bringing good food to work is harder than getting fast food. I actually know people who could never dream of not having toast for breakfast.

I think you can make changes…but you need to make the decision to do something. Unless you start-you will never finish. It might take a while, but so what, changing the body is slow.

Better Fitness…Free For One Month

Copy this address exactly for more info.

http://www.area365.com/?page_id=82

Those of you already in the program, I will give you office credit.

Last year my kids came home with the food pyramid from school and we had an immediate talk about how that is not an accurate way to eat. Tuesday, my two oldest kids asked me about nutrition and my son pinned me down on what my food pyramid would look like. He was quizzing me and drawing it out. I liked it so much, I redid it for you. Now, if the thought of eating some fat is foreign to you, definitely check out the website address I put at the top of page 2 under Calories. The article will blow your mind. This is 2 pyramids in one.

Some of you are looking at this and going, “what the heck?”. This is how I see it. This is how I see healthier people eating and how I would structure a basic diet for someone with health problems or weight issues. What is one main problem with obesity in America?

People eat too much, right? The solution of the food industry is to spike the food with chemicals that make you crave more and rip out all the natural vitamins so your body craves even more food, or drowns the food in sugar to stimulate appetite = (always hungry). The medical and dietary community says “watch your diet!” “Eat fewer calories”. If you are stuck in those ruts read the webpage on calories on page 2. Here is the plain simple reason I want you to eat more protein and good fats. They make you feel FULL. They decrease your appetite. Natural and simple.

Even though it flies in the face of all you hear on T.V. Struggling for protein?—I use Whey Pro Complete everyday.

I get this question almost every week so I thought I’d make it easier for you to use and see. I will put a list here first then explain more at the end.

Good Fats:
These are the easiest to obtain and use
1. Butter
2. Lard
3. Extra Virgin Olive oil (Not “Pure”)
4. Coconut oil
5. Cod Liver oil (not for cooking)
6. Flax oil (just don’t cook with it)
7. RAW milk or cream (Not pasteurized)

If you have these go ahead and use them
8. Beef, chicken, goose or duck fat
9. Palm oil, sesame oils
10. Flax oil (just don’t cook with it)

Bad Fats:
Unless you are fond of cancer, heart disease, or immune system problems don’t use these oils.
1. Any “hydrogenated oil” (margarines, shortenings, etc.)
2. Any “vegetable” oil
3. Soy oil
4. Corn oil
5. Safflower oil
6. Cottonseed oil
7. Especially Canola oil
8. Sunflower oil

So what’s the difference?

The first list is a list of natural occurring fats that have been around forever and used by every healthy population that ever existed before ours. You might be thinking that there are some pretty natural things on the “Bad” list. It’s true, if you drive around Minnesota or Iowa you will find lots of corn and soybeans. Yes, they are natural but they have other properties that make them undesirable.

The 3 main problems with the “Bad” list:
They are either
1. Heavily processed (that nasty hydrogenation)
2. Man-made (canola)
3. Or high in omega-6 fatty acids. (all of them)

Omega 6 fatty acids promote pain and inflammation. All of the patients I see don’t really need any more of that. The three easiest ways to control pain are taking omega 3 fatty acids, chiropractic adjustments, and water.

Lets explore the good fats.

This is the credits for a medical book I have from 1944. Here is something to ponder, there are 12 pages dedicated to Rheumatic fever and one page and one page only dedicated to a “coronary thrombus”. That’s it. Not once does it ever mention cholesteol, fats, or any other of the nonsense we are bombarded with. Why because heart attacks weren’t the main cause of death back then. If you go back even further to the 1920’s or before there is almost no mention of heart attacks.

What I found fascinating as a chiropractor is the book actually puts more emphasis on the nervous system control of the heart as a cause of problems than on heart attacks. Interestingly enough a medical doctor back in the 1920’s did over 200 autopsies and everyone of the ones who died of a heart attack had a rotting nerve going back to a curve in the spine. Chiropractic has always been more than a way to control pain and joint damage. It is a way to stay healthier, naturally.

Here is a good quote from the book “There is always a certain proportion of such people in any population. They are frequently classified as having real heart disease or as having thyroid disease, or tuberculosis, or as simply being neurotic.”…”When these symptoms are present, rest, recreation, exercise increased gradually and carefully, and attention, to the general health should restore the patient to normal.”

Notice that it didn’t say jack these suckers up on medications and they had some heart drugs back then as well. Also note that they should return to normal. As Bruce West would say, not to become a cardiac invalid. That being said, people are much more unhealthy now than before so there is some important emergency and short term use for medications.

I hate to be the logical one but if we stop and think. “Thinking” doesn’t factor into much in the way of health anymore. What did people eat primarily until about the 1950’s? Eggs, bacon, steak, RAW milk, veggies, butter. People ate food from animals and the earth and heart disease was almost non-existent. HMMM. Now people are told to eat 6-11 servings of processed grains a day and heart disease and cancer are uncontrollable. People are told to stay away from the very foods that got us here. I guess this is our way of population control.

One more added note about “good fats”. They should be from good sources. The animal fats should come from hormone and antibiotic free animals. Grass-fed would also be best. Also organic would make a significant difference for any of the fats.

Some bonus material on fats
1. Fats slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, thus making then good for diabetics and basically everyone else eating the food pyramid.

2. Fats are the backbone of your hormones. No fats, No hormones

3. Fats are needed for mineral absorption on the guts.

4. Fats help you absorb vitamins A,D,E, and K

5. Saturated Fats are stable to cook with unlike vegetable oils

6. Artery clogs are actually only 26% saturated fats the rest being unsaturated.

7. If you are still concerned about cholesterol you really, really need to read “The Cholesterol Myth”