Get ready to learn more about mitochondrial genetics than any other high school students in the US. Get ready to apply the concepts you’ve learned about mitochondrial function; to understand the relationships between molecules, organelles, cells, tissues and organisms. Get ready to apply your knowledge of the Central Dogma of Molecular biology learn more about the structure and function of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Get ready to learn how to interpret pedigrees and then construct patient pedigrees based on a family history. Get ready to use molecular biology techniques like restriction digests and gel electrophoresis to look for a point mutation in mitochondrial DNA. Get ready to put all the peices of evidence together to make a claim about mitochondrial diseases. (Oh yeah, and get ready for the cameras in 9th period.) (One more thing, I’ll have slides and protocols available in class.)

Monday (11/30): Pedigrees and Mitochondrial Genetics, Lab Day 1

Tuesday (12/1): Mitochondrial Diseases, and molecular diagnostics, Lab day 2

Wednesday (12/2): Diagnosis of a mitochondrial disease by gel analysis and pedigree construction (Lab due on Thursday 12/10/09)

Thursday (12/3): Begin Review for Semester Exam

Friday (12/4): Genetics Quiz (4o MCQ)

FINAL EXAM: WEDNESDAY, 12/9/09 (100 MCQ; 2 x 10 FRQ)

Advertisement heard on PBS – “Can Planet Earth be Saved by the Sun?”

Oh urp! You would think PBS would use their words to educate rather than to confuse us all. This question is misleading, anthropomorphic, irrelevant, ignorant and more seriously this is a question which by its very nature denies reality. It tries to imply that we need not fulfill our own responsibilities to the living earth ecosystem of which we are a part. And this quote is from one of the better programs available to us as we try to understand the reality of the earth ecosystem. It’s no wonder that most people are confused about the realities of energy metabolism.

The fact is:

1. The planet earth is not a living thing, and certainly doesn’t need saving. But, not to quibble, we can understand they are talking about the living earth ecosystem. In that case, the answer is NO. The sun can not prevent us HUMANS from destroying the living earth ecosystem. Either we stop ourselves or it doesn’t get saved.

2. The living earth would not be here at all without the sun, but that doesn’t mean the sun is actually DOING anything that will save us. It is life that maintains life, within the suitable environment. Life sustains life by means of: (1) the flow of energy, that is metabolism; (2) the flow of information; (3) the cycling of materials. Without the sun we would have no flow of energy, but the sun energy can not be used for food. The limiting energy factor is conversion of light energy to organic energy by photosynthetic organisms.

3. The program PBS was advertising is about solar power. The answer is: Solar power can be used to generate electricity and heat but not food (organic energy). It is not the sun that can save the living earth ecosystem. The living earth ecosystem was doing fine until we unbalanced it.

4. The metabolism of the living earth ecosystem is limited by photosynthesis, not by availability of sunlight. It is limited by the availability of organisms that can convert the light energy of the sun into organic energy of food. The only thing that can save the living earth ecosystem is to restore a sustainable balance between the amount of organic energy that the ecosystem can produce and the amount of growth that goes on within the ecosystem (that includes biological and economic growth

The only way solar energy can be used to help save the ecosystem would be if we use it for heat and light and to STOP using more organic energy than the earth ecosystem can produce, and the only way that can happen is if you choose to help.

To do that we, especially our activists and politicians, voters and parents, need a much better understanding of how the metabolic processes function to maintain life. So it is time I stop watching television and explain, beginning with the simplest sort of self-sustaining living organism, the energy metabolism of the individual photosynthetic cell.

So did you torture yourself and actually get on a scale after all that food? Sure hope not. Scales are not only inaccurate, they’re also discouraging. Don’t believe me? Get on the scale first thing in the morning, then mid-day, then right before bed. Your weight will be different every time. All in the span of maybe 16 hours. Scales. Total illusion.

Don’t do it. Back when I was a Personal Trainer, the first thing I’d tell my clients (especially the ladies..who seemed to be completely obsessed with this weight thing) was THROW IT OUT! Or give it to the Goodwill. Just get it out of your house. You don’t need it, it won’t help you, and it’s essential for you to see your training from a different perspective.

Did they? Not all of them. But I can tell ya this: the ones who did always had better results in a much shorter time. Why? Because they got it. Not at first. But eventually. Here’s the deal:

It’s not about your weight. It’s about size…and how you FEEL. Point in fact: if you were to train with me (or any other good trainer) and begin to build muscle mass, you’d actually WEIGH MORE. Oh yes  you would. Cuz muscle weighs more than fat (in terms of size). What I mean is, if you took a chunk of fat the size of a grapefruit, and a chunk of muscle of the same size, the muscle ‘grapefruit’ is going to weigh more than the fat one. So, weighing yourself when you’re trying to lose weight is totally self-defeating. Anyway…kinda got off subject here…

What I was about to say was that I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving festivities and didn’t get all bound up in that guilt crap. Like I said earlier…forget the calories. Now we’ve got several weeks before all the Christmas and New Year’s Day festivities begin…more parties, more food, more drink. More (gulp!) calories. So how are you going to move through all this without gettin’ yourself all in a tizzy?

Here’s a little suggestion: Every day, from now until the parties are over, start eating more frequently in smaller portions. If you’re one of those who eats 3 times a day, start eating 6 times a day. More frequently…SMALLER PORTIONS. Here’s what’ll happen: your body is going to crank up its metabolism. It’s going to start burning more efficiently. It’s going to process the food you eat faster than when you’re only eating 3 times a day. Because…it can only process so much at one time anyway. Did you know that? If you eat, say, 1000 calories in one sitting, your body is likely to actually USE about 600 of those calories (depending on your body, and how much you move your butt during the day). So where do the rest of those calories go? You guessed it. They get STORED. Stored = fat. Unless, of course, you happen to be into hard-core resistance training, in which case some of it will be turned into muscle. But let’s not get off track again..

Eat more often in smaller quanities and drink more water. (you’ll be amazed how much better your body runs when you do). Stay off the scale. And for Pete’s sake…quit worrying about what’s coming. This is not the time of year to be doing a major make-over…nor is it the time to add even more stress to an already stress-filled ’season’. Stress also messes with your metabolism (bet ya didn’t know that either). The more stressed you are, the harder it is for your body to process the food you’re eating. Cuz it’s too busy tryin’ not to have a freakin’ heart attack. So then….to recap:

Eat more frequently.

Eat smaller portions.

Drink more water.

Quit stressin’.

ENJOY YOURSELF!

End of lecture.

This week was a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so I worked out with Alan 3 times this week instead of the usual four. Enjoyed two fabulous turkey dinners, one for lunch and one for dinner with different sets of friends; and both were really fun and muy delicioso. I abstained from any pie but nibbled on the olives. I’ve still only lost 14.5 pounds, so I ordered some goodies off Amazon to give me some extra help… more on that later.

It seems everyone assumes that I must be eating like a horse since I’m being completely faithful to my workouts yet not losing weight, but in fact, I’m eating healthier than ever and in very reasonable portions. For instance, a yogurt for breakfast; a salad with hard-boiled egg for protein for lunch and no dressing; a bowl of homemade chili for dinner; yogurt for a before-bed snack; and water, water, water, water. That can’t be more than 1200 calories, surely. All I know is to stick with it, and my contrary metabolism has got to cave sooner or later. I did splurge and have one beer on Wednesday evening at the school festivities, but all I got for that was a horrible headache. Me + beer = Le Miserable!

Alan is planning to mix up my workouts since he says my core is very strong now; so we will be doing an assortment of upper and lower body weight training in addition to cardio intervals and core exercises. I just keep doing whatever he recommends, because I always feel better after my workouts than I did when I walked in; and I’m so energized and strong, I don’t want to lose all the progress I’ve gained. I just want to keep making significant gains in my confidence, endurance, energy, and strength. The amazing thing is that when I first started I was so far behind everyone else, but now I’m one of the strong ones. I’m one of the people who’s always hanging out in the weight room after school, dressed and ready to work. I’m realizing that one reward I’m receiving that was totally unexpected is the confidence that other people are expressing in my determination, and the respect in their voices when they comment on how I’m so consistent and faithful to my regimen.

Another thing that never seemed real to me before is that once I started to change my story, I could also help other people to change theirs too. I mean, if I can become disciplined in this, ANYONE can. And it’s not by strength of will except for the first two or three weeks; after that, my motivation has been totally based on the benefits I’m reaping in how I feel every day, and how I sleep, and how much more content I am with my life. It also helped me a lot to have people I didn’t want to let down. Alan is a terrific friend, and I didn’t want to let him down. My friends Gretchen, Kim, Beth, and Rhonda were cheering me on. That has been so helpful! So even though I’m kind of bummed about not magically dropping 25 or 30 pounds over the last 13 weeks, I know I’m on the right track, and since this is a life change, I’m not stopping for anything.

Things I never imagined before have now become a possibility to me. Firstly, trekking all over Egypt and climbing pyramids was my short-term goal. And that is only two weeks away!!! But I’m also looking forward to coaching soccer next year. I was already planning to do it this year, and all excited about it, but then there was a scheduling conflict with the classes I’m teaching to my colleagues every Tuesday and Thursday after school, so now that is postponed till next year. I’m thinking of my future vacations as opportunities to hike and bike and climb and swim and challenge myself in all sorts of ways. Isn’t that crazy?

More importantly, as I take more risks in the physical realm, I believe it will empower me to meaningfully demonstrate more faith in other areas of my life… being courageous and positive in my actions where before I was fearful and negative.

This week, I watched the movie Pay It Forward, and the words of the main character, a middle school student who believed in the power of change, really stuck in my mind.   It was less about helping yourself than being available to help others.  He said that it’s not enough to plan something out that you want to do for someone; you need to keep your eyes open and see where the need really is; and the thing that you give has to be a huge sacrifice, something you really don’t want to give.

No Guts, No Glory

After reading the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller this week, I became inspired to “rewrite” my own life story, to throw away the boredom and routine in order to live a life more stressful, more painful, more sacrificial, and more REAL than I could have dreamed possible. Because things that are worth achieving are worth earning the hard way.

Open to Change

I no longer desire a life of comfort and ease, of TV and movies and pseudo-happy endings; of selfishness, vanity, safety and security. I want my life to BE more, to MEAN more, to MATTER more. I don’t know exactly what that entails, but I’m open to change. And at my age, I don’t have a lot of time to waste!!!

Isn’t it interesting that so many cultures have historically honored or revered the sun as the source of life — and then science found that the sun is indeed the source of the energy for our individual lives and for the life of the entire earth ecosystem. And we know it is accomplished by metabolism, and we know how metabolism functions to convert the energy from sunlight into organic energy that the ecosystem then uses for every little bit of work in every cell that it requires to stay alive.

According to Webster’s Handy College Dictionary, metabolism is: “The chemical process of absorbing food.” The computer says: “the ongoing interrelated series of chemical interactions taking place in living organisms that provide the energy and nutrients (that is food) needed to sustain life.” I don’t like either of those definitions, and it is easy to find books, videos, all sorts of information about human physiology that tell us how we eat and absorb our food and get rid of the waste products. So I also won’t discuss those in detail, for the same reason. All these resources tend to be so anthropocentric (human centered, as though the whole process is all about us) that many people imagine, as did the primitive peoples, that food is magically provided for us on this earth and the only thing we need to do is find it and eat it. This is so far from the reality that we are threatening the health of the ecosystem by our voracious finding and eating.

The reality is that our food is only a subunit, a natural part of the whole system of energy flow through the ecosystem that is and must be maintained in a delicate balance if the entire ecosystem is to be properly nourished. Because we can not survive without the ecosystem, it is important that we know as much as we can about the entire system if we are to help it maintain that balance so we can continue within it.

The whole scheme of energy flow in the ecosystem is built upon the first and second laws of thermodynamics. How was the whole system created? We have no primary data. But we do have measurable facts that describe how the flow of energy NOW maintains the life of the ecosystem minute by minute and day by day in our physical universe, and that will be my definition of metabolism.

The incredible beauty of the living process is the way in which organisms convert the light energy into organic form to circulate the energy throughout the ecosystem so that it can be used to do all the tiny and huge kinds of work that all of life requires. What I am calling organic energy consists of several sorts of energy relationships — energy bonds that join atoms together to make molecules.

A molecule is a group of atoms that are joined together by energy bonds. Big molecules have more energy bonds than small molecules. Organic molecules are big molecules. They are composed mostly of atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen because of the ways in which they are capable of joining with each other. We will remember again what you probably already know, that the major organic molecules are proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids.

We will not try to describe all the chemistry of these reactions for two reasons:

1. That sort of information is rather easy to find in books, text books and on the web and it is usually presented more or less accurately — though out of context.

2. The context is the most important part if we want to survive within the living earth ecosystem. So that’s what we will talk about. However, we do need to know a couple things about molecules and energy. So for now, we will make one point of chemistry that matches the point we made recently about the second law of thermodynamics.

The major organic molecules are actually macromolecules. Macromolecules are big molecules that are made of smaller molecules that are joined together by energy bonds. Proteins are made of long strings of amino acids; large carbohydrates are composed of smaller carbohydrates; lipids are composed of smaller lipids; nucleic acids are made of nucleotides. Just to give you an idea of comparative sizes of these molecules, the smaller subunits might consist of 12 to 25 or 30 atoms joined together, while the larger sizes can contain hundreds or thousands of the smaller molecules. All held together with energy bonds. So there is more energy in big molecules than there is in little molecules.

When you remove or break the energy bonds of a large molecule, it comes apart. For example, when a protein is “digested” in your gut it is broken down to the amino acids of which it is composed. In organisms, both the joining together and the taking apart is controlled by other molecules in the cell. Every cell is a hotbed of molecules doing this kind of work and other kinds of work that keep the cell alive.

If that is confusing, please let me know so I can make it more clear because from now we will refer back to this idea. Living cells are able to make large organic molecules from their subunits by adding energy to the system. This requires work because it is an “uphill” process relative to the second law of thermodynamics. Living cells are also able to break down the large molecules. This is a “downhill” process according to the second law, and so of course it could happen spontaneously with the release of energy. However, these are strong bonds so it might take as long as a mountain falling down if we wait for it to fall apart by itself, and the energy would be of no use to us in that case. Living cells, therefore, also have systems to break apart large molecules into smaller molecules, in a controlled way, at the right time when the energy is needed, and save the energy and circulate it around in the cell to do whatever work is needed for the cell to stay alive.

VERY IMPORTANT POINT. At every step of using the energy that is released, about 10% of the energy is lost from the system as a byproduct in the form of heat energy that can not be used to run the metabolism of life. That’s another manifestation of the second law. The WHOLE SYSTEM — the whole ecosystem — takes energy from the sun and converts it to organic energy that it shunts around in the ecosystem to do the work of staying alive. However energy does not RECYCLE. When it is used up it goes away as heat energy and it is gone from the system forever. Light energy comes in, it gets used and converted to heat energy and it goes away. As always, this balance must be maintained if life is to be.

3102707    เมแทบอลิสมของแร่ธาตุในปศุสัตว์    Mineral Metabolism in Livestock

ความต้องการของแร่ธาตุชนิดต่างๆ ที่จำเป็นต่อร่างกายของสัตว์ โดยเน้นหน้าที่ อาการขาด การก่อให้เกิดพิษ การเสริมและการต้านฤทธิ์ ของแร่ธาตุต่างๆ

(Macroelement and microelement metaboliam in livestock; deficiency; symptoms; requirement; toxicities; interaction of various elements.)

(3102707 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3102711    กลไกการควบคุมเมแทบอลิซึมและการทำงานของฮอร์โมนภายในไต    Regulation Of Metabolism And Hormone Actions In Kidney

การทำงานของไตเกี่ยวกับเมแทบอลิซึมที่เกิดภายในไต การควบคุมปฏิกิริยาเคมีต่างๆ ของเนื้อเยื่อไต ปฏิกิริยาเคมีต่างๆ ที่มีผลต่อการสังเคราะห์สารหรือสลายสารประกอบต่างๆ เช่น คาร์โบไฮเดรต ไขมัน โปรตีนและวิตามินภายในไต การสังเคราะห์ฮอร์โมนภายในไตและการออกฤทธิ์ของฮอร์โมนต่อการทำงานของไต เช่น การสังเคราะห์และการทำงานของ ฮอร์โมน prostaglandins ภายในไต การสังเคราะห์และการทำงานของระบบ reninangiotensin การสังเคราะห์และการทำงานของระบบ kallikrein,kinin เมแทบอลิซึมของวิตามินดี การควบคุมและการทำงานของไต เช่น ฮอร์โมน aldosterone antidiuretic hormone ฮอร์โมนที่มาจากต่อมพาราธัยรอยด์ จากต่อมธัยรอยด์ ฮอร์โมน อินสุลิน กลูคากอน เอสโตรเจน และโปรเจสเตอโรน การทำหน้าที่ของไตในการสลายฮอร์โมนต่างๆ ต่อการทำงานของไต

(The regulation of metabolism and hormone in the kidney. The renal metabolism study will be focussed on carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. Renal hormones and nonrenal hormones, their effects to renal functions will emphasize on the mechanism of regulations, actions, degradations and interactions.)

(3102711 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

Okay. Nobody really likes to think that the cocktail they happen to be drinking may add pounds they can’t get rid of later on. But, as someone who used to drink pretty frequently, unfortunately I know this to be true. If regular drinking is indeed your lifestyle, be prepared for potential extra pounds. Especially if you’re a girl.

Now, if you’re a guy, you happen to be lucky that your metabolism is naturally speedier than a girl’s due to your testosterone factor. But, excessive drinking kind of quashes that. If you’ve got a beer gut, that’s whatever you couldn’t burn off. (And if you’re just one of those toothpick-skinny men that stays that way in spite of copious amounts of booze, count yourself lucky.)

But, back to the ladies. Girls, our metabolisms get fussier, especially with age. And if we consume more than 10 drinks a week on a regular basis, it will mess with you. For one thing, the alcohol generally prevents us from losing weight properly. And if you’re attempting a serious fitness change, the booze won’t let you cruise. (I also know from personal experience that jogging with a tequila hangover is not pleasant. I don’t recommend it.)

And then there’s the calories. Oh yes, there are indeed calories in those sneaky little shots.

A shot of vodka can easily have close 70 calories as it is; factor in how your favorite bartender pours, and you could well have two shots in your drink, which is about 140 calories right off the bat. Also factor what you’re drinking your liquor with- cranberry juice, Coke, or sour mix- and you’ve got additional sugar calories that are floating around in there.

Pound back enough of those, and you’ll fit into a Santa suit just fine. Heck, given that I’ve drank about 15 shots on an average weekend night and over 20 shots on some of my more raucous evenings, I’ve had a few moments where I thought I could be the parade float instead of the beauty queen on it.

When I stopped drinking about three months ago, I lost weight almost instantly. I wasn’t consuming loads of excess empty calories during the week anymore, and my body started metabolizing what I was eating far more efficiently. Within two or three weeks, friends and neighborhood acquaintances remarked on my weight loss. I dropped a size, and it was all from giving up drinking.

If, however, you choose to keep drinking as part of your lifestyle, even as you choose to try to lose weight, the only answer I have is to be sensible. Stick to two glasses of wine while out. If you’re consuming liquor, cut it with club soda and a piece of lemon or lime. Avoid darker-colored liquors like Southern Comfort or Amaretto, for it contains more sugar than the clearer liquors like vodka or tequila. Be especially careful around rum, for even the clear variety has a lot of sugar.

And, finally, be informed. Look up your poison of choice, figure out just how many calories you’ve been taking in, and don’t let the high number stop or shock you. Instead, just factor how much you can drink that won’t cause your scale to yell at you later on, or elicit any comments of, “Have you gained weight?” Stick to a handful of drinks during the week, and you’ll generally be okay.

And, if you do end up drinking like you’re the president of your very own fraternity, just remember that your body WILL hate you the next day. And you might not fit in your pants later on.

So here we are week 7.

I lost a pound this week which is great because it means that I have now lost a stone but having had a couple of weeks losing 3 pounds each time I must admit I was a little disappointed.

So what did I do differently this week?

Looking back I realised that I have eaten a lot less fruit and veg this week. Instead of having a salad at lunch time I had some low fat noodles on a couple of days. This might not seem like much but they do say that lots of fruit and veg will supercharge your weight reduction…I think they speed up your motabolism or something.

Talking of speeding up your metabolism, I came across this great e-book on the subject which I can’t wait to read.

Maybe if your weight reduction has slowed up a little then this may be something for you to read too.

Check it out for yourself here!

Anyway have a great week. Remember, lots of fruit and veg is the key!

x

Your body uses energy no matter what you’re doing, even when you’re sleeping. Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day.

If you’ve noticed that every year, it becomes harder to eat whatever you want and stay lean, you’ve also learnt that your BMR decreases as you age. Likewise, depriving yourself of food in hopes of losing fat also decreases your BMR. However, regular exercise can increase your BMR by improving your health and fitness when your body’s ability to burn energy gradually slows down.

It is partly determined by how much muscle we have:

More Lean Muscle = Faster Metabolism!

Lower Lean Muscle = Lower Metabolism!

 Muscle naturally burns much more calories than fat so when we lose muscle, our metabolic rate drops and we burn fewer calories. With a calorie restrictive diet the body is likely to lose weight. Unfortunately, this weight loss comes from a loss of lean muscle which we have already established leads to a reduced metabolism. In fact, research shows that the body loses a proportionately high amount of muscle with a very low calorie intake and this may considerably suppress your metabolism by up to 45 percent.

 To help, I’ve put together a list of top 10 ways to maximize your metabolism:

 1. Eat Breakfast

Eating breakfast is essential to increasing your metabolism. I’m sure you’ve hear that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’. Well, it’s true! Eating a balanced breakfast supplies you with the fuel to help you maintain energy levels and set up your metabolism for the day.

2. Stay Hydrated

It is important to drink plenty of water each day plus more on the days you exercise. Drinking 5-6 glasses of water has shown to improve concentration, help regulate body temperature and to curb appetite.

3. Eat Fat to Lose Fat

The key here is to eat less saturated fats and to get enough of the essential fats. Sources of healthy fats included nuts, fish, olive oil, and flax oil.

4. Don’t starve yourself

Cutting calories too much is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Starving yourself actually causes you to lose much more water weight and muscle than fat.

5. Eat a variety of High quality foods

Eat high quality foods that will help you control your blood sugar levels, insulin levels, and energy levels. Insulin management will help you lose fat and prevent you from gaining fat.  Combining food groups in the correct proportions will ensure that you receive a steady flow of energy and the body converts foods relatively slowly into glucose.

6. Protein Intake

It is recommended to try to consume 1g of protein per pound of body weight.

7. Avoid Sugar

Our bodies break down sugar into glucose very quickly which will contribute to fat production and weight gain. Also, there is a quick sugar ‘high’ and the resulting ‘low’ causes you to feel hungry!

8. Eat Regularly

Doing this will give you a constant supply of energy throughout the day. This will help make hunger, tiredness and food cravings a thing of the past!

9. Follow the 80:20 rule

It is perfectly normal to stray from your healthy eating plan every now and then. If you stick to it 80% of the time means you don’t need to feel guilty about eating out for social occasions etc for the other 20%

10. Strength Training

Having already established that more lean muscle = a faster metabolism, strength training is essential to an increased metabolism.

If your metabolism has slowed down due to improper dieting or lifestyle, then follow these tips to help you get back on track to lose fat and gain muscle. Once you correct your metabolism, you will be on the road to losing the fat for good.

Today in Biochem I got a gem of wisdom that has made taking this 8am class (5 days/week, mind you) worth it.

We are studying sugar metabolism.  Today I learned why HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP makes you fat.

It’s call the TCA cycle.  In a very small nutshell – it’s how we oxidize sugar to produce water, carbon dioxide and heat (ie, the calories from sugar to use as energy).

Fructose, unlike glucose, doesn’t quite work in a fashion that makes for ideal digestion.  It bypasses certain steps and you end up getting the TCA cycle going in full swing.

Problem?  Yes.  When we get too much ’substrate’ (ie stuff to metabolize in the TCA) our bodies are so clever that we have a back up plan.

Look closely at the diagram of the TCA cycle.  See that molecule called “CITRATE’? This is a regulating step in sugar metabolism.  When we get too much citrate (from lots of sugar being broken down), a second pathway is activated.

That pathway is the lipogenesis pathway.  Fancy name for making fat (lipo = fat, genesis = making/creating).  Clever, huh?

Having too much general sugar can do this as well but fructose is different because even smaller amounts will activate the fat pathway.  That is why HFCS goes right to your a**, or wherever in your body that you store fat.

Solution: Avoid HFCS.  Unfortunately, there are other sweeteners that are high in fructose, such as agave and honey.  I’m investigating the word on the science street about those sweeteners.  My mentor professor is against agave, and she’s the gal at Davis doing all the fructose studies.  They’ve shown in studies that consuming fructose (not HFCS, just fructose) elevates fasting triglycerides, and seems to promote weight gain more than glucose does.  Hmm…….

Off White might have to change it’s M.O. and be about not just cutting out white sugar, but just cutting out sugar.  Granted, that is ultimately the point, but I may be learning some things about unrefined sweeteners that aren’t so sweet.  I’ll keep you posted!

So many people I work with are taking totally the wrong approach to fat loss and getting lean physiques.

Cardio, cardio and more cardio seems to be the answer for most people. But in reality building lean muscle is the number 1 most important factor in anyone’s fat loss journey.

The more lean muscle you have the faster you metabolism works and the quicker you burn fat. It’s really is that simple! Muscle burns fat super-efficiently.

But please don’t think building lean muscle means you are going to have great big muscles and look like bodybuilders. YOU WON’T! This won’t happen ladies, please believe me when I say that.

Doing weights in the gym is one way of achieving this, but by no means the only way. You can do resistance exercises at home without any equipment whatsoever that will build lean muscle. Search the site and click  the link at he bottom of the page for examples of how.

Today’s Takeaway – Building Lean Muscle = Fat Loss. Simple.

To grab your copy of Rob’s Free Report ‘Cheat’s Guide to Fat Burning From Home – Simple 5 Step Plan,’ plus 2 other great free gifts, click here; ‘www.homeworkoutsuccess.com/free-report.’

Ten tips on how to eat well and live healthy:

1.   Do not eat until you are genuinely hungry.  When you are hungry our stomach will tell us that it needs food.  This means the stomach is empty from the previous meal and is ready to digest a new meal.  If you eat when you are not hungry or continually eat and mix semi digested foods with new ones, it will cause the mixture to stay in the stomach pouch for a longer time.  This causes purification and fermentation of foods leading to health problems.

2.   Do not over eat.  The stomach has a limited capacity for food and needs some space for mixing and digestion.  If it is completely full, it cannot function properly.  The stomach is located beneath heart, and when the stomach is full it expands and applies pressure on the heart.  The process leaves very little space for the heart to beat at its proper pace.  Too much pressure can cause the heart to palpitate or to beat at irregular intervals.  Always stop eating before you feel full.  It takes approximately 20 minutes for the stomach to let your brains know you are in fact full and that it is best at that time to stop eating.

3.   Take liquids before solids.  Foods that are less difficult to digest and require less time should be eaten first.  After the easier swallow food has been consumed, start with harder to chew foods that need more time for digestion.  The food, which is more solid and has the lower water content, should be taken after the food, which has highest water content.  Soup and vegetables should be taken before the main meal.

4.   Do not drink while you are eating.  Water, juices or carbonated drinks should not be taken with a meal as they dilute the stomach juices and enzymes and interrupt digestion process.  This causes gas, bloating, pain, constipation and toxicity of the whole body.  Undigested food goes into the intestines and then into the colon where it putrefies and ferments to create more gas and acid, which is then re-absorbed, into the bloodstream.  Water and all kinds of drinks can be taken half an hour before and about two hours after the meal.

5.   It is best to chew each bite of food 20-30 times.  Chewing food is a very important process in proper digestion.  Dieticians recommended chewing solid food to the extent.  This ensures for proper breakdown and causes the food to change to the more liquid for before making for a more simple digestion process.  Many problems and diseases are caused by not chewing food adequately.

6.   Do not mix different food groups together and try to eat a single food group at one time.  There are different groups of food in nature, for instance fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.  Most of the food we consume is complex, but in order to have better digestion it is best not mix proteins with carbohydrates or fats with proteins.  For example, the traditional North American dish of steak   and potatoes in not a good mixture for healthy digestion and nutrients absorption.  If a potato, which is carbohydrate, gets served with vegetables it makes an ideal food combination.   Carbohydrates and vegetables also make a good combination.  A proper combination of the right foods makes for over all healthy digestion.

7.   Do not eat any processed or manufactured foods.  Any food that has been altered by the process using heat or the adding of chemicals to preserve or add flavor or is vitamin enriched is not healthy to eat.  For example, white bread does not have any food value left in it nor do cold cuts which are full of chemicals and coloring.  All added chemicals are hazardous to your health.

8.   Add lots of fiber to your meals.  The human digestive system is a long tube which should be filled with a large amount of fibrous foods.  Fiber absorbs water and cleans the digestive track.  A lack of fibers in your diet causes many kinds of disorders and diseases; from constipation to cancer.

9.   Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.  Our body is made up of 65% to 70% of water.  Without an adequate amount of water, the body does not function optimally and there is a general lack of energy and concentration.  All nutrients and vitamins must be dissolved in water in order to be absorbed into the bloodstream.  The amount of water to be drink is based on the body weight of the individual; for each kilogram of weight, one ounce of water is needed.  Note that too much water is also not recommended as it flushes the nutrients out of your body. 

10.   Exercise.  Exercising makes the muscles strong and keeps the bones dense.  It stimulates the lymphatic system keeping the fluids moving so it works better at keeping us healthy.  Our lymphatic system is responsible for waste collection and immunity protection.  It does not have a pumping system like our bloodstream has to the heart; therefore, the speed of fluid movement is very low.  Regular exercise keeps the continual appellation of toxins through the lymphatic system removing them from the body.

Until next time… Stay healthy

Katarzyna

Many people ask me: “How do you keep in shape despite eating like how you eat?” You must be wondering what they mean when they say, “How I eat”.

Alright, let me just use last Friday as an example. To start my day, I had a bowl of extremely spicy minced pork noodles, two half-boiled eggs, a slice of bread with butter and jam, and a tall glass of iced Milo. Mid day, I had Bak Kut Teh with Pigs’ Trotters (not lean meat, I like it when the fats melts in my mouth). Dinner, according to my dictionary, is the most important meal of my day, as I need to justify for working so hard and unwind after a day’s work. I had Japanese buffet which made me feel like exploding. Thank god I felt like a glut at the end of the day. Otherwise, I would have gone for Cheese Prata with Milo Dinosaur before meeting up with the food monsters in my dreams.

Wow, that’s a lot of food in a day! Now that I’ve listed them down, I should be extremely guilty if I had to count my calories! Well, I’ve been stuffing myself since god knows when. I’m a foodie and it makes me happy. So what the heck!

Perhaps thanks to the good genes that run in the family, I’ve been maintaining my weight in the region of 50-55kg. Not too bad for my height. I didn’t do much until I touched my third decade. When you are young, your metabolism is your greatest friend.

I guess the nature of my work does play a part too. As a realtor, it is required that I go around the island for viewings. Just last month, I was trying to sell a 4^th floor walk-up apartment. I wished I had my running shoes on. I went up and down the flight of stairs in my stilettos 8 times. And this was just one occasion. I was there 3 times. Luckily I was not wearing a pair of Manolo Blahnik.

I’m always very high in energy. Whenever I’m out for a social gathering, I will be the one who will try to spice up the party. If you say this is not part of an exercise, I would like to hear from those event organizers and party planners. Do you feel tired after trying to keep everyone entertained?

I have my lazy days which I refuse to even climb a step of stairs. Occasionally, I allow myself to be the couch potato. This is when overhauling takes place. While following the Gossip Girls and Lipstick Jungle serials for hours with chips, I would plaster masks on my face and nails (No prospective boyfriends allowed during this ritual). Excessive moisturizing follows, and finally ends with a nice rub of my legs and feet. They deserve a break too, after serving me and walked from Singapore to London in my size 10 slippers, and from Jurong to Pasir Ris in my Aldos.

And you know what? Just last night, I have a new addition to this weekly ritual. I’m referring to my brand new uKimono. Yeah!! Finally in my hands!! I felt like an anxious child unwrapping my new toy. Like a curious kiddy, I was exploring this cute and cheerful looking belt. Hmm… no pictures of my plastered face with singlet and boxers yet. Will get in a better suit for public eye and snap a picture for you in my upcoming article.

Apart from what I’ve mentioned, any other fun exercise suggestions you can contribute? Or keeping in shape the “lazy” way? Let me take a peek into your room, I’d love to hear your own rituals too!

I’ll be waiting…. *wink*

Metabolism is a word that the weight loss industry uses freely when pushing its various weight loss programs. What many of these programs do not tell you is how the endocrine system relates to our metabolism and how changes to that system can drastically affect our ability to lose or even gain weight.

At the center of the body’s hormonal system is the thyroid, a small butterfly shaped gland that sits atop the adams apple. The thyroid and the hormones it release’s control most of the body’s metabolism. When the thyroid begins to malfunction or a disease affects its processes the metabolism of the body can become seriously affected. One of the biggest changes that can occur as a result of a thyroid problem is weight gain or weight loss. With a weight gain because of thyroid problems one can find it that much more difficult to loose that weight.

What many people who are trying to loose weight do not take into account is how well their metabolism is functioning with regards to their thyroid. The main problem is most weight loss experts and programs recommend cutting calories. For many people this does work, but for those with a malfunctioning thyroid cutting calories can do more damage then good.

There are two forms of thyroid disorders, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Both conditions can have profound affects on a person’s metabolism.
Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid does not release adequate amounts of the hormones T3 and T4. When this happens the metabolism slows, causing fatigue, weakness and rapid weight gain. For people trying to loose weight an under-active thyroid can make attaining any sort of weight loss nearly impossible. Cutting calories will not help with weight loss when suffering from this condition. In fact, because of the already slowed metabolism the body will start hoarding what little calories it is getting, further exacerbating the fatigue and weakness associated with hypothyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, occurs when the thyroid releases too much thyroid hormone. When this happens the person’s metabolism raises drastically. While this may seem like a good thing for someone trying to loose weight the truth is that both forms of thyroid dysfunction are extremely dangerous and must be treated with thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

For those with normal thyroid function loosing and gaining weight is a matter of calories in and calories out. But for those who are having difficulty loosing weight despite trying all the normal routes making sure the thyroid is functioning properly may be the first step to restoring the body’s hormonal balance.

Twelve Ways to Revive and Boost Your Metabolism – When You’re Hypothyroid, What You Can Do to Jumpstart Your Metabolism

When you’re hypothyroid, fatigue, difficulty losing weight, or continued weight gain can all be attributable to a drop in the metabolism that frequently accompanies hypothyroidism. Even after your hypothyroidism is properly treated with thyroid hormone replacement, you may find that your metabolism has not bounced back to where it was before. This sluggishness in your metabolism can leave you feeling exhausted, and finding that you can’t lose weight, despite a healthy low-calorie diet.

Here are some ways you can help revive and boost your metabolism.

Make sure you eat breakfast.  If you don’t eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into “hoard mode,” thinking it’s starving because you’re going a long period of time frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food.

Eat the majority of your food earlier in the day. Dinner should be your lightest meal, and some experts recommend you don’t anything after 8 p.m., or any later than 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. This helps your body process and burn the food when you’re aware and moving around and burning more calories per hour.

Don’t starve. Dropping your calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism.

Eat smaller meals more frequently. Smaller, more frequent meals keeps your blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism.

Get enough aerobic exercise. As much as you can is really a help for your metabolism, and if you do it in the morning, you’ll raise your metabolism all day.

Build muscle with weight training or resistance exercise. At least two to three times a week, you should add weight training or progressive resistance exercise that builds muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest!

Water, water, water!! You’ve heard it before, but drink those 8 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively.

Get enough B vitamins. Among supplements, if you are suffering from flagging energy, you need to make sure that you are getting enough B vitamins. Vitamin B-12 in particular is one that is essential for energy. To ensure you’re getting enough B vitamins, consider taking a B complex, plus a separate sublingual B-12.

Try a supplement for fatigue. Another type of supplement useful for fatigue is in the area of substances that the body naturally produces for energy production.
Supplements in this category include:
        – Co-enzyme Q10, also known as CoQ10, which supplies energy to muscles 
        – L- Carnitine 
        – NADH (Nicotinamide Adenine Finucleotide) which helps cells convert food into energy 
        - Green Tea extract 
        - Try Chinese Herbs

In terms of herbal remedies, while you should avoid ephedra and ma huang stimulants, you can ask your practitioner about schizandra–a Chinese herb that is used for fatigue. Ginseng is also popular for energy. Before trying any herbs, supplements, or vitamins, you should of course consult with your practitioner to ensure they are safe for you. Ginseng, for example, is not recommended for someone with high blood pressure and many herbs and supplements are not recommended during pregnancy.

Try mate tea.  In the process of writing my book, Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You…That You Need to Know, I had the opportunity to interview herbal and aromatherapy expert Mindy Green of the Herbal Research Foundation. I asked her what, as a person with hypothyroidism, I should reach for when I’m just completely out of steam, and am ready for a giant double espresso in order to make it through the day. Mindy, said, unquestionably, mate tea. Mate, pronounced, “mah-tay,” is an herbal tea native to South America. Mate is considered far more nutritious than black tea or coffee, and though it also has some caffeine, its effects are energizing, rather than making people jittery.

Consider Energy Work. Energy and bodywork , such as yoga, tai chi, qigong (pronounced chee-gung), and Reiki, can all help in adding and balancing energy. In qigong, tai chi, and yoga, gentle movements are used to move energy along the energy pathways of the body. In Reiki, a practitioner helps open up energy channels.

Hello, hello, hello!  Or in the words of Ann Curry, “Good morning, good morning, everybody, in the news this morning, good morning.”  Oh what the heck, I’ll just let her say it.

Gets me every time.

So as some of you guessed, my prolonged absence was actually due to a misguided and ill-conceived attempt to grow a mullet like Tom Brady.  Now David Beckham is getting in on the weird mullet act.  Should such a beautiful man get a roadkill haircut?  And again, like Tom Brady and his lady, isn’t David Beckham like, married to Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, aka Skinny McPencil?

It may seem like I’m digressing.  I’m not.  Posh, who likes to be called Victoria, (it’s a compliment, she says… How is your name a compliment, unless your name is Damnyouresexy Jones?) recently said in an interview that she won’t lie–she eats lots of salads.  ”Salad.  I’m not going to lie.  I’m not one of those people that says “Oh, I eat hamburgers.”

And the sick thing is, I’m so glad she said that.  I never thought that she ate anything other than salad, except for maybe the occasional kilo of cocaine (jk, no one can pry the cocaine shipments from Kate Moss’s kung-fu grip), but I’m just glad that she finally publicly said something honest.  This helps take away the stigma from women in this country who DO eat hamburgers (guilty!) that we’re somehow inherently flawed because we can’t seem to look like Victoria Beckham.  I do like Victoria Beckham, because she let her son wear his astronaut suit out in public, because she seems to love her children and her husband, and because she’s not shoveling loads of bull at the average American.  For that, Victoria, (can I call you Vicky?) I am grateful.

Now enough about boring, skinny famous people.  Let’s talk about me!  I have been noticeably absent for the past five or so days.  Honestly I was working like a crazy person trying to get something ready for tomorrow.  Of course, I’ve wanted to blog so badly the whole time that I’m staying up way too late tonight as a trade off, but no matter.  Back in college I’d never go to sleep before 3am.  I was so nocturnal I thought I’d begun to grow a marsupial pouch.  (In reality I was just getting another fat roll on my stomach.  I blame Taco Bell for being open til 2am or later.)

During my absence, I did not let you down, dear readers.  I stayed within my calories and tracked them compulsively.

One thing that I really must work on is eating regularly.  I eat breakfast every day, because as reader Christine mentioned on her blog the other day, eating breakfast kickstarts the metabolism.  Now I’ll be honest.  There’s lots of dietary information out there that I think is total crap, but I’m a big believer in the metabolism.

Thyroid issues aside, I don’t think that some people are born with a fast one or a slow one.  I think we train ourselves into one end of the spectrum.  For instance, in high school I “ran track.”  (Translation: I did shot-put and discus on the condition that I never, ever had to run in practice–a condition to which the coach agreed because I held the county records and he needed the meet points.  Despite the common assumptions, shot-putters are not all Helga and Thor.  It’s all about technique, really.)  My friends were some of the distance runners.  Not surprisingly, they were very, very thin.  In the off season they ran cross-country.  In their spare time, they ran around their neighborhoods.  Meanwhile I was sunning myself in the backyard and biting individual grapes from a bunch I dangled from my hand.

It is my opinion that, (and I am by no means a doctor–I don’t even play one on the internet–so feel free to ignore this non-medical advice), a slow metabolism lives in a body that moves less, and a fast metabolism lives in a body that moves more.

The metabolism is what allows a bear to hibernate for months and wake up thinner but healthy.  His metabolism slows to a crawl and he stores all his fat.  His body works very efficiently on little energy.

That’s the same thing we do when we skip breakfast!  We send the bear into hibernation and our bodies start conserving fuel (FAT) because there’s no new supply.

Think about the first people on this planet.  I’m of the they-were-put-here persuasion, but you might be of the they-evolved-from-sea-monkies persuasion.  Either way, they didn’t have it easy.  They basically walked around (which is why walking is so important to a healthy lifestyle) looking for food, ate when they found it, went hungry when the didn’t.  That’s why our bodies can work much like a bear’s.  We were built for such occasional periods of hunger.  It’s not a flaw that we gain weight, it’s part of the intricate design of the human body.  This was all worked out long before Glen Bell ever dreamed of opening the first Taco Bell.  And even longer before someone realized that a drive thru meant never even having to stand up to get your food.

So the moral of the story is eat your breakfast.  Otherwise you’re just making weight loss harder.

In other news, I have a puncture wound on my right pinkie where the dog bit me when I was trying to take away a pecan tree branch that she wanted to bring inside and chew into sawdust.  I was very concerned about this at first, but then I realized that I’d be really ticked off if someone tried to take away my 7 Layer Burrito, and then I kinda see where she’s coming from.  However, that’s no excuse.  So I’m going to work on enforcing the rules with her more.  It’s been hard because I’ve been so busy, but she’ll be happier if she’s not biting me and getting a subsequent spanking.  The Ranch is a mess too, and the Mothership is coming to visit tomorrow, so I’ve got to get cleaning as soon as asap.  (My best friend used to say that.)

I promise I’ll try to keep updating regularly.  I’m also thinking progress photos once a week.  I know I said that earlier, so now I’m going to make good on it.

Today I ate:

-Breakfast-

Grits –130

1 T. butter –100

-Supper- (chicken soup)

chicken breast –220

1 small russet potato –59

rotini –239

rice–180

water

garlic

Calories remaining: 790 (TOO MANY!)

Should I buy some Nutella for situations like this, when I have almost 800 calories left?  I think I just might…

Oh and by the way, I had my “I feel skinnier” moment this morning!  I’ll tell more tomorrow afternoon or night.

Goodnight!

It’s that time again! HOLIDAYS. They are a fabulous part of life, they’re going to continually bless us with sharing and family…..and can become a repeated excuse to “let it all go” because the Holidays “gave you permission” to do so.

Let’s take a look:

1. Thanksgiving prep is underway!
2. Relatives are comin.
3. Meeting the new boyfriends/girlfriends for the first time (awkward as HELL I mean, the first meeting and you’re the newbie and get left all alone with the family’s drunk uncle? Oh yes, when I was a new girlfriend it happened to me. So………we went high class all the way, it was a bud night–from the can!)

4. Food is everywhere and your mom begs you to help clean something, but you escape and go play across the street, and I almost died that day, I didn’t get one toe out the door are you kidding?
But this year my only escape is to my Thanksgiving Day Body Blast—and you can escape too!!

Check it out here: http://wp.me/pmtrp-98

5. People start arriving and all the “OMG you’re getting so big” comments fly. By the way, I don’t think I ever really received that comment. I mean, I’m 5’0 for chrissakes!
. THANKS FOR THE PIC HAPA!!
6. In goes the first piece of….whatever cause everything just looks sooooo good!
7. And the onslaught begins!
8. Pile on more……….everything and “don’t come back unless you bring a beer with it.” (Ummm, how does one eat like a cow AND drink beer? I get too full which is why I choose Grey Goose Orange straight up. No bloat, can eat more. Ahem).
9. FOOD COMA!
10. Wake up to the football game and screaming people, (and to the sound of somebody opening another beer), so you get up believing there’s still one cubic centimeter to shovel in some more.
11. Kinda like “well its Thanksgiving I deserve MORE food,” like what, you’re never going to eat again….ever?
12. So you do.
13. Pants ready to rip (even though you deliberately wore stretch).
14. Walking around, or I mean SWISHING around desperately in search of comfort and relief of the pressure on you belly just waiting to burst- -
15. And you find comfort….in another slice of pie, but this time ala mode.
16. Wishing you hadn’t deserved that last piece of death on a leash you contemplate another coma saying, “Maybe I’ll feel better when I wake up.”
17. Thanksgiving was a blast! Family. Food. Fun.
18. The Holidays gave you permission (remember) to gain the 10 to 15lbs, and please do it freely, after all, you deserve it, so post Thanksgiving, actually during the day of the feasting, you’re planning the office parties, how much fudge you’re going to be making, talking about all the treats that the vendors bring to your office (not your fault you ate, right? DAMN VENDORS!).
19. New Year shows up (like you had no idea it was coming), and you’re feeling guilty at the 15lbs you happily gained (and let’s remember, it’s the Holidays’ fault),
20. Ahhhh incomes the deliberate stance for breeding and nurturing stress over the 15lbs resulting in creating the fat cells to get bigger, (stress triggers fat cells to get bigger to protect you—nice huh?).
21. And now gotta dig out of a bigger hole due to procrastination on the New Year’s Resolution.
22. All the while the guilt is making you eat more, and what do you know, spring is already here and what you had planned to do went to the wayside.
23. “God I feel like shit.”
24. Awww “screw it” you say, “I still have a couple months till summer, and I’ll get the weight off.”
25. “WOW I didn’t know summer was here already,” you say in absolute amazement.
26. “I hate shopping for swimsuits.”
27. “But I have a wedding in July, I have more time.”
28. I better wear that one black dress I have; it’s my “fat dress.” Black is slimming.
29. “Why did I wait so long to get anything done?”
30. I’ll wait till the kids go back to school and then get back on my routine. (By the way, you haven’t created one but thought you did by planning to do so without action. “BUT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT ! DON’T I GET POINTS FOR THAT,” you say?).
31. Back to school: “I’m exhausted, I can’t exercise today, I’ll start after I get back into back to school groove.”
32. “NO WAY it’s Halloween? Aww no problem! It’s the first official day of the holiday celebration and now I’m FREE again to eat whatever till the New Year!”
33. “New Years Eve-I’ll wear that black dress AGAIN; it’s the only thing that fits me.”
34. “I worthless.”
35. “HAPPY NEW YEAR………..”
36. “What’s so happy about it? I’m now 30 lbs heavier-I gained 30 lbs in two years?! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?”
37. “I can’t do anything right.”
38. “Okay, January 5th I’m goin back to the gym.”
39. “I wonder if my friend will go with me
40. “I have a workout buddy!”
41. “But they said they aren’t coming today. I guess I’ll stay home and wait till they can pick me up and then we’ll go together. (I can’t believe they cancelled; now I can’t get a workout).”
42. “I’m fat, unattractive and nobody is ever going to love me.”
43. “Spring?” Psssssssssshh. Summer’s coming. When the kids are out of school I’ll have more time to work out.
44. Ooooh-quick diet! Starve for 30 days on some crap juice losing my muscle tone leaving my arms to the easy task of: weathervane! Just stick my arm out and the FLAP will tell you where the wind is blowing. Perfect.
45. Nah, I’ll just wait till kids go back to school.
46. Back to school: “I’m exhausted, I can’t exercise today, I’ll start after I get back into back to school groove.”
47. “NO WAY it’s Halloween? Aww no problem! It’s the first official day of the holiday celebration and now I’m FREE again to eat whatever till the New Year!”
48. “New Years Eve-I’ll wear that black dress AGAIN; it’s the only thing that fits me.”
49. “I worthless.”
50. “HAPPY NEW YEAR………..”
51. “What’s so happy about it? I’m now 40 lbs heavier-I gained 40 lbs in three years?! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?”
52. “I can’t do anything right.”
53. “Okay, January 5th I’m goin back to the gym.”

Yes, this is a very common pattern.

How about breaking the cycle at # 18 and find some redemption?

Find redemption here: http://www.absolute-fitness-results.com/usana-challenge.html
This is your chance to make a difference in you, period. There is no need to fear all the evil, pending and absolutely 100% going to happen “holiday weight gain” like its accepted and allowed.

It’s only allowed if you give it permission.

And while there is full pleasure on pleasing our palettes, visiting with family and eating to our heart’s content on Thanksgiving, there’s also a plan in place for the “after the party is over.”

Click here for the already done-for-you plan: http://www.absolute-fitness-results.com/usana-challenge.html

“Yes, it is a miracle that I lost weight on RESET, 6 pounds to be exact, because seriously I have been in a plateau with my weight for two years…that’s right I said it 2 years!!! I have changed my exercise routine, tried not to eat junk and increased my fiber intake, I started running…miles (which I thought I would hate and never imagined doing when I used to weigh over 200lbs.. a lot has changed since then). Nothing has helped or made a shift except the RESET. I am absolutely glad I did it, being on the program reminded me of things about food that I have heard a million times before but for some reason this time it sinked in my brain, food is a drug and effects your mood, health, and obviously weight. I have learned to treat it as such because in all honesty it has been my choice of addiction. Smoking…no, drugs…no, food…pile it on! The pleasure is only momentary.

Thank you Annette for your daily support it meant a lot on the days where I thought the headaches and light-headedness had me in, I just knew that someone was cheering me on and it did help. I have continued to use the protein shakes as meal substitutes and I have already lost a pound and a half this week. Life is good and getting better!! Thanks gurl!”

~ Regina Sanchez

“I starting this Usana cleanse thinking “I love food too much what the hell am I doing to my body”. This first day (Monday) I was scare, apprehensive and eager to get through the day. I had plans to go to a concert that night with friends and while they were eating buffalo wings and drinking beer there I was with my chocolate shake, veggies and strawberries. After that night I thought, ” Hell yeah, I can do this”.

Thanks for all of your support Annette.”

~ Adina Somoza

“I love your daily emails they make such an impact for me. I can’t believe that I am still able to do all of my workouts and by day three I was like really I ate so little worked out hard and my body was satisfied with what I had, really I couldn’t believe it.

Day 5 here I come!”

~ Trish Perez

This is it guys, the post Thanksgiving PIG OUT RESET Challenge-and I guarantee it will not only work, but you will find greater pleasure this year in extending the benefits of belly fat loss for the amount of time you choose.

Change the pattern, here’s where to start: http://www.absolute-fitness-results.com/usana-challenge.html

The proof is here.
You can do this.
Choice is always yours.
There are no mistakes.
Choose what your heart tells you.
Believe it, and you will be it.

To all the courageous …..take one step forward,

Annette