Quote of the Week

A quote that is totally counter to this site, but funny nonetheless:

"Any time starting a diet is a bad time to start." - Bubba

Wash your vegetables

I met with a friend over the weekend that had some inside information into the farming business. He claims that all produce, including milk, needs to be pastreurized or washed. And here is where he bases these bold statements:

1. He has a dairy and is an extremely clean person...almost to the point of OCD. Anyways, he says that in his milkbarn, he is the one that changes the soap in the bathroom. He claims that he rarely has to refill the soap dispenser because after the milkers take care of business in the bathroom, they resume "speezing tits" (pulling milk from cow's udders) without washing their hands. This is why milk is pasteurized (well one reason).

I grew up on raw milk. i would carry the milk can from the house to the barn and back.. Luckily I didn't fall in the milk tank....and I feel that my stomach is as strong as an ox and I never got sick. So my friend, we'll call him Richard, claims that was because it was a family run dairy and we were clean people.

2. This same friend, who we called Richard, has a good friend that owns tons and tons of acres of tomatoes. He states that his friend, we'll call him Donald, told him that they provide bathrooms at each end on the field for the workers. But the the workers who pick the tomatoes never use them. Instead, they prefer to just "take care of business" in the field. Hence bacteria growth and mass sickness and kidney failures.

Always wash your fresh vegetables.

Eat Less at Night

I love food. And have gotten into the habit of cooking good food in the evenings....since that is the only time I can cook. After reading this email below, I'm going back to light meals and salads at night before bed.

Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'
4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.
6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
14. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
17. Forgive everyone for everything.
18. What other people think of you is none of your business.
19. GOD heals everything. 20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!
22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.
24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

How to cool down in the heat

I was coaching at my friend Dan's PCSA Soccer Camp this week and the players were really hot from our coastal heat at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo (75 degrees). I know, Tulareans and and Las Vegas Lounge Lizards would call us wimps, but anything above 72 degrees here is a heat wave.

I was telling the lads and lasses, and none of this is scientific, but just stuff i've learned while being a footballer and playing in and exerting myself in hot weather:

1. Your brain is your thermostat. If your head is hot, your brain will tell you that your body is hot. So put really cold water on your face and hair and it will cool you down quite quickly....within minutes.

2. The part of your neck where you can feel your pulse, if you put ice there or soemthing cool, then that acts as a radiator for ourt blood system. It cools the blood down that goes to your head and cools you down quickly.

Also I explained to the players that the water they drink now cannot be used until three days from now. Crazy. I didn't know this until last week. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is damaging to the body.

On a lighter note, the U.S. women's voleyball partners kicks booty. In your face, Belgium.

Why are homeless and poor people fat?

I've always asked myself this when I am panhandled by homeless people? "If you're so hungry, why are you fat?"

The truth is this, the foods that are cheaper are usually filled with sugar as a filler and salt as a preservative. And this makes them fat.

$1 Big Macs on Monday can sound really good to most people, but the pay-off is higher hospital bills, days off of work for sickness, etc.

But it's also nutrition education. 4 Roma tomatoes may be $1 at Trader joes, same price as a Big Mac, but higher value.

Homeless people don't know this and I didn't know this until my day of reckoning.

On a positive note, Cramer.....not the cool cat from Seinfeld, but the entertaining investment maverick from CNBC says that McDonalds is a good "buy and hold" stock. I agree. Nutrition aside...as long as kids love it, and a person can fill up on a Monday night for 3 bucks, they will be in business and profiting handsomely.

On a side note....here's useless information: if you're a McDonalds franchiser/owner, and someone takes too many ketchup packets, they lose money. Their margins are very thin.

Healthiest American

I met with my insurance guy last week, Jamie Clark (former Tularean) with State Farm in Arroyo Grande.

We were talking about the medical exam I did last May when I first got a life insurance policy. This was during the peak of my new diet when I was really alkaline and following well, with less temptations. I knew I had done well on it because his assistant, Nicole, had looked at my results last year and told me that i was the healthiest client in their office and the best record she had ever seen.

So I got the lowest rate and receive the "Super Preferred" policy. Jamie told me today that only 5% of the people with life insurance qualify at this premium level for a preferred rate.

Cramps

At a soccer camp last night, one of the player's came off with a bad quad cramp.

I talked to the athletic trainer this morning and asked how the best way to handle that is:

He said that prevention is the best medicine. For these players, it is difficult to rehydrate when they are training twice per day, but when you have a competition coming up, depending on the weather, location and altitude, you must begin hydrating three days before.

The water that you drink now, your body cannot utilize it immediately.

He also stated using a little bit of salt in your food will help with the absoption of water.

Sugar restricts your body's consumption of water. Caffeine is a diaretic and flushes water out of your system.

When a player has a cramp during a match or training, you can help relieve the cramp by stretching it, or massaging it. But it will continue during that event with intense activity.

Athletic players should always be hydrating and carrying water with them.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Closed

The Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant (it's funny how fast food places call themselves "restaurants.") in Grover Beach is closed.

It's rare that I see a fast food chain close down. Maybe it was in a bad location, or maybe they weren't selling enough of the Colonel's recipe, I am not sure.

I've always liked the colonel's recipe, but I can't remember the last time I was at a KFC.

Frying Chicken

I must share a trick with you that I learned I learned on FoodTV.

When seasoning the chicken, put your seasonings in a double bagged paper grocery bag (all of the flour, pepper, salt, garlic powder, etc.), put the chicken in, roll or fold the top so that it is enclosed. Then pick it up and shake it all around.

The fried chicken comes out more flakey and with better crust.

I use this same style of breading now when breading cod and shrimp for fish tacos or fish and chips.

It's the secret unveiled.

Free Range Chicken

In an attemp to recreate and outdo my mother's chicken, I made fried chicken on one of my zag days (always one day too many). I used Free Range Chicken this time from New Frontiers in San Luis Obispo.

The chicken itself was absolutely delicious, juicy and tasty. Tasted like chicken.

Even though my Godparents worked at Foster Farms their entire American career before they retired, I would have to say that I may never go back to Foster Farms, Chicken coop style of chicken.

With free range, they are flopping their wings around, breathing fresh air, able to have enough space for exercise and a few chicken fights. To me, it seems like a happier chicken.

But was the fried chicken better than mom's? It was delicious, but Mom had a certain touch on the seasoning that made hers slightly better (and she may have cooked it in lard too, not sure. We always seemed to have a big tub of that in the fridge, bless her heart).

When will I see results?

Any calorie deficit you create will eventually lead to results. As a rule of thumb, 3,500 calories is equal to one pound. For example, if you eat 250 calories per day fewer than your maintenance rate requires and exercise enough to burn an additional 250 calories each day, you will lose approximately one pound per week.

Resource:
http://weightloss.about.com/cs/nutrition101/l/blcalories.htm

How many calories should I consume?

To determine your approximate caloric needs, you can easily compute your basal metabolic rate. This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain its basic functions and your current weight. You can determine your BMR by multiplying your current weight by 10. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, then eating 1,800 calories a day would be your BMR.

However, this computation doesn't take into account exercise or your activity level. For example, since someone who exercises regularly can bring in more calories and still be at their maintenance weight, their BMR would be higher. Other issues like genetics, age and the amount of body fat/muscle you have can also affect your caloric needs.

Resource:
http://weightloss.about.com/cs/nutrition101/l/blcalories.htm

McDonald's and Calories

OK, McDonalds in the news on CNBC last week. Did you know that Big Mac has 540 calories?!!! Wow!

I remember just two years ago I would treat myself on Monday's to two Big Mac's ($1 each) and and Apple Pie. For dinner ofcourse. The funny part was that at the time i was having a difficult time falling asleep. But Big Mac dinners would get me to sleep right away.

But how many calories is this compared to your backyard barbecued hamburger?
1/3 pound hamburger patty - 280, wow
bun - 120
Kraft sliced cheese - 60
Hellman's Mayonnaise 1 tbsp. 100
Mustard 1 oz. - 26
Ketchup - 1tbsp. - 15 calories
Total = 601 - Whoa

I was going to make a case against McDonald's, but i guess that , in general, hamburgers have a lot of calories.

This great site has an easy way to show calories and compared various different brands of the same item: http://www.thedailyplate.com/

Best Avocados

The best Avocados that I have found in the San Luis Obispo area is Costco and Trader Joe's. For a long time I was buying avocados from Food 4 Less, 15 at a time and rotating them to ripen and eating. But I would say out of ten, you get three good ones, five average ones and two bad ones. Food 4 Less is really good about returning stuff, as I called one of their produce workers one time when I got a batch of 10 that was bad, but it's a pain to open them to see if they are bad, then to store it and bring it back to the store...what a hassle.

And a lot of the times they had a wierd rotten flavor....

I would get them at Food 4 Less mainly because they were cheaper... but when it comes to quality and value, Costco and Trader Joes wins hands down. They come I packs of 4 or 5, and seem to be good 10 out of 10 times. I've had a few times where I let them over ripen or didn't refrigerate them in time, but, my bad.

I wonder how well Avocado ranchers do? At a buck per Avo, they must be making cash hand over fist.

Day 26 - 174 pounds

So i didn't quite get to my outcome of 170 pounds, but my food and drink intake have increased immensely and confidence, esteem, and discipline is up.

Next step is to focus on the belly section and get down to 34.5 inches. But to do that, i will need some help.

Stay tuned, I have a lot more information to share.

Have a great weekend!

What's my outcome?

Monday night at 6pm I went to a meeting at a San Luis Obispo restaurant. I went there hungry and with no strategy.

First thing on the table was amber ale beer, so I had a few pints.

Then an hour later came fresh made potato chips, and garlic bread. Had plenty of that.

I'm not about beating myself up anymore, but this morning I thought, "I went there with no outcome." I was just consuming what came my way. Like a ship with no rudder, or driving to New York with no map.

So now I will live each day with an outcome, in other words a goal.

What am I trying to accomplish today. or chunk it down, "What am I accomplishing between":
6-11am
11-2pm
2-6pm
6-9pm
or
Dinner at Raul's
Lunch with Keenan's

Remove toxins and disease from you body

One thing you need to know is that rebounding gives you power! I’m trying to explain why below, but am getting bogged down with the technicalities, so I just want to give it to you as I know it, and back it up with some science below.

Lymph nodes are cells that go through your body and clean out all of the garbage that you body creates.

For some reason, these little guys need help taking their junk to the junk yard empty out so they can consume more waste to clean the body. Kind of like your vacuum bag… or even the canister in the famous Dyson.

The best way to do this is by massaging the little guys with a rebounder (see below), you gently bounce up and down, and this squeezes all of the bad stuff out of them. Then it is up to you to drink plenty of water to cleanse these out of your system.

My gym has one. They will save your life. These little guys eat cancer cells. Help them.

*********************************************

One way to increase your energy and increase your health is by Lymphasizing. That is to cleanse your cells.

It’s really simple to do and you do it by rebounding.

What is a rebounder? It is a small trampoline that you bounce up and down on.

The purpose of the rebounder is to massage your lymph nodes.

But first, what is Lymph?

Lymph is a clear liquid, known as plasma that travels through your body’s arteries, circulates through your tissues, delivering vital nutrients, and then drains through the lymphatic system.
Lymph nodes are like the virus protection on your computer.

They are the filters along the lymphatic system. Their job is to filter out and trap bacteria, toxins, wastes, trapped protein, dead blood cells, viruses, cancer cells, and other unwanted substances, and to make sure they are safely eliminated from the body. You can also think of them as the garbage truck of the body

The key here is to know that if lymph can get overwhelmed and cannot dispose of the garbage. This may happen for a couple of reasons.
Because trash is coming in faster than it can quarantine and dispose of it.
Because the lymph nodes do not have enough energy do their work. This can also be called a deficiency of force.

One person in my health group was rebounding 30 minutes per day while watching television and related this one act to a surge in his energy.

This happens because when you rebound, you flood the cells with oxygen. This enables them to convert glucose into ATP and also into glycogen. Thus, rebounding can actually increase your ability to convert glucose into glycogen.

Laughing Baby Ethan

Dr. Norman Cousins is famous in the personal development community to have cured or delayed his illness by using laughter.

This AIG commercial comes on every morning on MSNBC and it’s the only commercial besides the Geico gecko that gets me laughing.

Just thought I’d share the original video from that clip from YouTube:

Laughing Baby Ethan

Cousin’s information from Wikipedia:

Late in life Cousins was diagnosed with a form of arthritis then called Marie-Strumpell's disease (ankylosing spondylitis), although this diagnosis is currently in doubt and it has been suggested that Cousins may actually have had reactive arthritis. His struggle with this illness is detailed in the book and movie Anatomy of an Illness.

Told that he had little chance of surviving, Cousins developed a recovery program incorporating megadoses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx Brothers films. "I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep," he reported. "When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval."

Exciting Feedback

It's exciting for me to hear that people are implementing these ideas and getting results.

I had to break out of my comfort zone to send this out to people, but I am glad I did.

I've got more strategies to share, so stay tuned.

Pizza Salad

I made a fantastic salad last week that I absolutely loved. I stole the concept from California Pizza Kitchen.

It's called Pizza Salad.

Roll out thin Trader Joe's Pizza Dough, preferably whole wheat. Top with your favorite pizza sauce, (relatively thin)(Again, I used Trader Joe's). Sprinkle some Shredded Mozzaralla and Paremesan cheeses on top. Put in the oven following the pizza dough directions.

Make any salad.

When pizza comes out, cut wide slices (I cut squares), put a slice on a plate, pile lettuce on top. Voila!

It does get a little messy, so you will need a fork.

Day 23

Day 23, 178 pounds.

I must say that i have a little bit of egg on the face and am letting down my readers. I've basically maintained my weight, when I challenged that i would lose 10 pounds. i can only attest it to one thing... well a couple of things... but the main thing is exercise. I'm barely getting in 1 day of fitness per week by playing soccer.

When I lost the 35 pounds before, I was running to the gym and getting a full workout in three to four days per week. But my lifestyle was different then. Now I have 4+ soccer teams and basically working three full time jobs. But anybody can complain. It's no different than having a job and a family and a day packed.... how do you fit fitness in?

I believe either you are part of the problem or part of the solution.

One thing Tony Robbins preaches is "NET" time, meaning "No extra time." What can I do while i am exercising that will contribute to my "to do" list?

That's the question I pose to myself and pose to you today.

For example, during exercise, can you : learn a new language, books on tape, motivational cd's, affirmations, plan the day, call your mother during your walk, or call one friend per day that you usually don't have time for, the list goes on.....

OK, find the solution, have a great day!

Smoking and Soccer

Interesting article about smoking and athletics. though the article , from my point of view, seems to state that if footballers are still able to compete, then let them smoke.

We all know smoking has serious long term consequences.

As a football player, especially in the men's league, you always see guys at halftime smoking a cigarette... and having a beer... but that's men's league.

i remember when i was in the Azores, all of the fottballers who played in the local club were smoking like a pack a day. We joked there, that it was part of their diet.

I remember in the 70's, dirt bike racers would smoke and drink in the dugout, but it was Bob "Hurricane" Hannah that put the correlation to being physically fit equals becoming a superior rider.

From the guardian UK...

Pictured lolling in a swimming pool during his honeymoon in June, Wayne Rooney looked like many young Englishmen abroad: high-street Bermudas, lobster tan, can of fizz, cigarette. This Englishman is, however, the country's most talented footballer, and the cigarette caused a rumpus. Pundits grumbled their disappointment and anticipated the hairdryer treatment from his manager. Other commentators - the smokers, at a guess - came to Rooney's defence. There was little agreement on how the occasional stick might affect his football.

And so many of the finest sportsmen - Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Eddie Merckx, Keke Rosberg, James Hunt, Ian Botham, Shane Warne - have been committed puffers. Bobby Charlton smoked at half-time in the World Cup final; Serge Blanco put away 40 per day while winning two rugby grand slams with France. In the past 18 months, footballer Dimitar Berbatov, tennis player David Ferrer and champion jockey Seb Sanders have all come out (or been outed) as smokers.

'To some extent you can overcome smoking's adverse effects by heavy training,' says Professor Martin Jarvis, a clinical psychologist at UCL who is an expert on smoking. 'The nasty things from tobacco smoke are not going to impact immediately on your capacity to run, jump and so on. They will accumulate over time, though, and creep up one day.' It happened to Cruyff - he smoked constantly as a player and a manager, until a double heart bypass in 1991.

It is in the short term that the effects of cigarettes on athletic performance are harder to assess. 'A sportsperson highly reliant on their fitness would clearly be stupid to smoke,' says Dr Keith Prowse, chairman of the British Lung Foundation. 'But in the short term, smoking won't do much beyond irritate the nose and throat.' According to Jarvis, there might even be - gulp - a benefit. 'Nicotine is a psychomotive stimulant, in the same group of drugs as amphetamines,' he says. 'So a cigarette could potentially enhance performance in "explosive" events like sprinting.'
Hestrie Cloete, the South African athlete who switched from 800m to high jump in order to accommodate her pack-a-day habit, might agree. 'I jump with my legs not my lungs,' she said after winning Olympic silver in 2004, adding that she would smoke between rounds if it were allowed.

In golf, smoking is very much allowed between rounds (and between shots). Players in this year's US Open were even given special exemption from a San Diego bylaw that forbids ciggies at Torrey Pines, part of a smoke-free state park.

Says Jarvis: 'If you're a dependent smoker, you can't manage very well without it. Nicotine withdrawal just isn't very pleasant.' (Ask Shane Warne: even with the inducement of £75,000 to endorse a nicotine chewing gum, he failed to quit in 1999.) So Zinedine Zidane, caught smoking on the eve of the World Cup final in 2006, did so not, says Jarvis, 'because it would set him up for the match, but simply because he wouldn't feel good if he didn't'. Prowse agrees. 'If people are extremely tense, they often say that smoking helps them not to be. Well, people produce their best performances when they're not extremely tense.'

Grounds, perhaps, to cut Rooney some slack. London-based GP and medical journalist Michael Fitzpatrick offers a final appeal. 'Athletic performance relies upon a certain spirit of independence, an individual autonomy to pursue a goal of high physical fitness,' he says. 'Telling people how to live their lives - smoking and diet and everything else - tends to compromise initiative, which is really the essence of sporting achievement.'

In other words: don't fence the man in. If England's most talented footballer is to fulfil his potential, to reach a position where he, too, can smoke on the eve of a World Cup final - he needs the freedom to puff.
Match, Wayne?

article

Tomatoes.....WOW!

Yesterday morning I ditched the banana and had a roma tomato instead.

It was a juicy sucker, so I had to eat it in the kitchen (not while driving). To make it simple, I washed it, then ate it like a boiled egg. Starting at the top, keeping the juices in, and sprinkling a little salt before eat bite. Celtic Sea Salt that is.

I played pick up soccer after that, and I never had that much energy! Wow. After eating the tomato, I was already charged, feeling the energy, and really proud of myself for being so disciplined.

I'm not sure if I can totally relate all of the energy to one little roma tomato...but I'm going to continue eating this every morning and see if I can get the same results.

I don't totally understand the alkalinity scale, but per ounce of tomato, it's alkalinity rating is 13.3. compared to asparagus at 1.1.

Excerpts from The ph Miracle

I was reading through my highlights in the book last night and came across some good tidbits.....

pg. 59 - Raw Foods

Aim to have at least 40 percent of your food uncooked - working up to 75-80 percent as you get used to this program. Think salads. Great big salads. Infinite variety.

Raw foods also contain energy or life force, which they can transfer to you, while cooked foods are dead.

pg. 61

We eat fish maybe twice a month. Other than that, we eat tofu a couple times a week. We often eat legumes, and get plenty of raw nuts, sprouted seeds and grains and avocados, all of which have high-quality protein that is better assimilated than animal proteins are. All of the rest of the proteins we get from greens.

No more bananas

I'm cutting bananas out of my diet.

I only started eating them in the last 8 months because they were convenient, healthy and pre-packaged. But i didn't eat them when I lost 35 pounds.

Here's what I was turning a blind eye to....

Large banana - 121 calories, 16.6 grams of sugar
Not far from:
Butterfinger candy bar (60g) - 271 calories, 29 grams of sugar

Instead, I am switching to a Roma Tomato - 11 calories, 1.6 grams of sugar

Day 18

Coming in at 175.5 lbs, not much weight loss. I'm going to have to make a late surge to get down to a slender and sexy 170 pounds.

Following the raw food diet is very easy Monday through Wednesday. Thursday gets a little more difficult. But then Friday through Sunday becomes very difficult. I think because I do so well during the week that i want to zag on the weekends. And I love to cook and love good food.

Crystal Body Deodorant

Click below:

Crystal Body Deodorant

So I tracked down where to find this all natural body deodorant.

The website states:

Contains No Aluminum Chlorohydrate. Hypoallergenic. Fragrance & Paraben Free.

Buying a juicer

A few things you need to know before buying a juicer.

A good beginner’s model can be found at stores like Target or Wal-Mart. These models start at around $40, have one speed, a smaller motor and smaller hole to insert the vegetables in. The veggie snobs say that you need a separate speed to extract the softer veggies like celery and cucumber because the high speed will heat up the veggie juice and make it acidic. But at least you’re juicing and it is a good start. I used one of these for three years.

Because the motor is small, the hole is small and it limits the amount of veggies that you can put into the juicer at one time. Therefore you have to slice and chop the veggie, which takes more time.

The next level of juicer is the Jack Lalanne’s type juicer that you can find at Costco for around $100. This has a larger motor, a high and a low speed and a larger hole to insert the veggies. With this model, you can put a whole cucumber or carrot in at any speed.

Be sure to clean the juice and pulp really good so that you avoid fruit flies, those pesky suckers. Best to keep veggies in the fridge too. Cold juice tastes a lot better.

Drink your juice quickly after you juice it and it will keep it’s composition better.

Happy juicing!

Alkalinity and Muscles

For the last 6 years, I have played soccer 1-4 times per week, every week. I used to get pulled muscles all of the time in my legs, mostly calf and thigh muscles, which would put me on the sideline for 3-4 weeks at a time.

I always tried to figure it out, well maybe I'm not stretching enough before.

But again, when I changed my diet, I can say that I have not pulled a muscle since. Plus I actually stretch less before a games, which I am not proud of.

So I have to relate this to my body being less acidic.

Also, I've only been sick once in the last year and a half. And that was mostly cleansing....when I have more time I will talk about that.

Buying Books

A few people have made comments about buying The pH Miracle book. If you're going to look online, one place I always go for the best price is www.Campusi.com . This site pulls from all of the sites that are selling books into one page. One stop shopping.

Another book that I just ordered and wish I would have read earlier is called "The Answer to Cancer" by Runowicz, Cherry and Lange.

Tony Robbins had a friend who had cancer and so he researched how to cure it. All of the books he was reading were contradicting each other and two of the authors were even sueing each other. He found this book to be informative.

He had a brain tumor and beat it. There was also a 16 year old kid that had testicular cancer at the Unleash the Power Within seminar that I went to in March, and he beat it with his dad's help by changing his attitude, diet and some other stuff which I don't really remember.

I've lost too many good people in my life to cancer, so I am going to read this book and see where it takes me.

I also remember Tony saying that cancer can only live in acidic environments.

I know I haven't done a good job of explaining alkalinity, I'll work on that.

Fresh Tomatoes

I was talking with my sister who has fresh tomatoes, zuchini and corn in her back yard and it reminded me of when I was in the Azores in 1999.

We were at this restaurant that had the best shrimp on the island. So we're sitting on the patio after we ordered, and an old Portuguese lady walked by with a plate full of tomatoes that she had just picked from her garden (Their home was across the restaurant's driveway). I thought nothing of it.

10 minutes later, those same tomatoes were were sliced and on a plate in front of me as an appetizer.

God bless freshness.

Help avoid Alzheimer's

I’m going to share a very real and worrisome story. If you don’t want to read the entire thing, the solution is highlighted at the bottom.

In 2006/07, the area of my body hurt where my arm and shoulder connect. There was a slight pain when I rotated my arms around. This lingering pain was scary because I thought, well what if it’s cancer? My mom had pains in her legs, didn’t go to the doctor, and it ended up being cancer (I know, stupid of me not to go to the doctor).

So sometime in the Summer of 2006 I was talking with my friend Chris who was telling me a story about associations. The point of telling me this was that he enjoys talking to different people and learning different things.

The story was that he had a friend who was young and successful. He started to get pains throughout his body, and it because so debilitating that he could not get out of bed. So he couldn’t work, and had all kinds of troubles that came from that. He went to all of the doctors and none could find a cure. Not sure how long this went on for.

Then he runs into another friend and I don’t remember how the conversation went. But the guy had the same pains, found out that he had metals in his blood, got a blood transfusion, and now he is fine.

So then Chris tells the other friend about this guy, and then this guy tells him, “When I was a kid, my father used to bring home mercury and we would play with it.” Of course, before the world knew better. After the rich and famous were bathing in it.

So this guy gets a blood transfusion, then recovers. So what does this mean to me? Nothing. Until…..

I go to this Tony Robbins Seminar in November. As I’ve said, last day is health day. We get on the topic of skin and cosmetics. Then Tony says, “antiperspirants have aluminum in them, and the aluminum gets in your pours and plugs them.”

Then a light went on. The reason I was getting the pains was that I had metals in my body.

That day I stopped using my Right Guard anti-perspirant deodorant. Within two days, my pain went down 50%, two weeks later the pain was all gone.

Commercial deodorants and antiperspirants main ingredient is aluminum. Aluminum is suspected of playing a role in Alzheimer’s disease, a form of degenerative senile dementia thought to afflict 5-10 percent of persons over 65. Victims of Alzheimer’s have been found to have four times the normal concentration of aluminum in their brain cells. Aluminum is known to be a neurotoxin that can cause brain damage if you’re exposed to it in sufficiently large amounts.

Million dollar concern. “I don’t want to sweat and smell.” I feel like I have to take a Sue Orman stance here…. I can’t do nothing about sweating, but I can say that when your body is less acidic, you have less odor.

I don’t even use deodorant. I don’t think I smell, if I do, please tell me. But I know when I stink. Even if I am a stinky old man, at least I’ll remember my phone number… God willing.

Beck's Premium Light - 64 calories

I heard on XM radio today that the new rage is Beck's Premium Light beer and stands at aslim 64 calories per bottle. I wonder how it tastes.

Rules for Healthy Eating

1. Drink water before and after your meals, not during. Drinking 30 minutes in advance will fill you up. Do not drink while you eat. It's said if you need to drink during your meal, the food you eat do not have enough water content. Also, the water will dilute the active agents that break down your food and it inhibits digestion.

2. Properly combine your foods.

Principles of food combining - Eat a diet that is 70% alkaline, water rich and eat with only one concentrated food (i.e. doesn't have much water content such as meat, baked potato or fish).

Another unscientific explainaition - The agents that break down your food are different for different type of food. When you eat a protein, you body sends agent A (we'll call it). For carbs, it send out agent B. Well agent A and B neutralize eat other when sent out at the same time.

So it's recommended, thet if you have greens with either a carbohydrate or a protein, and not both.

3. Eat a comfortable amount of food -

4. Eat small amounts every three hours.

Are you really hungry?

Ok, here's the unscientific explaination of this. The same thing in your throat that tells you are hungry is the same muscle/sensor/whatever that reacts when you are thirsty.

So when you are hungry, you are really thirsty. Drink water instead and see if the hunger goes away.

Day 10 - 178

No change in weight or waist size. Like my friend Schroeder says in Vegas while gambling, "A tie is a win," True at the blackjack table, but not so fun in soccer or weight loss.

I have not been exercising because of lack of time. So I will add that to my arsenal. Starting tonight with my weekly co-ed soccer match.

16 days to go. I still have time to make some significant losses in my weight and belly. Well mostly my gut, but those go hand in hand.

So my cousin emailed me a few days ago and told me that she has been eating like this for years. She'll have the cookie if it's good enough and just make up for it later. She's stayed thin since we were kids, even after two children.

The pH miracle

The pH Miracle
Balance your diet, reclaim your wealth
writtien by Robert O. Young, and Shelly Redford Young

This book is what my way of eating is based on. I talked before about having an alkaline body. Alkaline is the same as an alkaline battery. The more that my body is alkaline, and the less acidic it is, the more energy I will have. It's about everything in my body being at full charge. That live raw vegetables have energy in them and by eating them, I transfer that energy inter my body.

It's 198 pages and a quick read. The remaining pages are raw food recipes.

I'll write more about this book later, since it is the basis of my health.

Raid the Fridge

One advantage I had when I lost 35 pounds was that I went to a Tony Robbins, Unleash the Power Within event, and they deprived us of food. They highly recommend bringing snacks and water. The first day, lunch was at 2pm, second day 4pm, third day 6pm, last day (health day) no food break.

The point was multifaceted. 1. to show you how long you can go without food. 2. Attendees need max energy at these events, so we don't get to go out and eat fried chicken and come back to the room and sleep. 3. Your body cleanses. and there are other reasons.

This said to me... the less I eat, the more energy I have. Eat less portions, eat more often. Don't ever deprive your body of the fuel it needs.

When I eat, I ask myself, "what energy value does this have?"

So let's get to raiding the fridge.....

As soon I get in the house, I go to the fridge. It's like Pavlov's dogs, open the front door, then think about what I can eat in the fridge. Like a man possessed.

Which is really strange, because when I was at a Wealth Mastery event and I only ate the basic vegetables, and never had that raid the fridge frenzy.

Have healthy foods that you can raid the fridge with. Chips and guacamole or homemade salsa, pita chips and hummus. The food must have great substance like really crunchy. Chow down and enjoy.

Lose 10 pounds in a year... says Oprah

So I spoke with another friend this weekend and guess what came up?



We were talking about coffee. I believe it was the Almighty herself, Oprah, that said, "Lose 10 pounds in a year by drinking coffee...find out after the commercial." This was years ago, and I don't do commercials...but what she said is "reduce or eliminate the sugar in your coffee."




Sugar (Serving size) Calories
Table Sugar, 1 level teaspoon (4g) 15
Table Sugar, 1 heaped teaspoon (6g) 25
Table Sugar, 1 cup 770
Table Sugar, average (1 cube) 25
Icing Sugar, 1 average tablespoon (12g) 48



And if you can reduce your coffee intake would be better...because coffee is wayyyyyyy acidic. Try herbal tea three days of the week.

The Power of Fat

To burn fat, you need to consume fat. What? This took me a long time to understand. But as I said in a previous post, either you can have permanent fat cells to surround the acid, or temporary cells. To completely eliminate fat from your diet is the worst thing you can do.

The truth is that fats are very important to our diets and and overall healt; the secret is to know which fats are healthy and which will kill.

The following fats are essential fatty acids: Omega 3 and Omega 6. Your body must consume these fats to survive.

Good fats that lubricate the body:
Udo's oil (health food stores, refrigerator section), flaxseed oil (Trader Joe's), olive oil, Avocado (I eat one of these per day!), Fish oils, Nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds - all raw.

Most people think that Avocados make you fat. On the contrare, they have the good fats that help lose weight.

Water vs. Gatorade

I seen my cousin Jimmy today and the topic of health came up. (be careful when you're around me, because I love talking about this stuff. I may not stop talking). He works for a City in the O.C. and told me that they provide drinks for them in the summer (So O.C.) Anyway, he was drinking Powerades and the calories and inches were adding up for him. So he switched to waters and noticed a significant difference in his weight.

Elecrolytes are awesome, but there are no calorie options now like Smart Water.... and also Trader Joe's got on the bandwagon and created a generic version of this.

Even if you're an athlete, the calories will still add up. So drink water...and save the calories for your favorite cookie.... or just cut the calories and see some results.

Before and after photos

One thing I didn't do the last time was to take photos before and after... like they do on the TV infomercial. I did take one afterward though with my old huge pants... which i may post here... but am a little afraid of all of the body hair and gorilla jokes I may recieve from friends.

I did take a photo last weekend... that I will post at the end once I have accomplished my goal.

How much water to drink

It is said to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. So when I am 170 pounds again, I should be drinking 80 oz. of water per day.

Sip water throughout the day.
A person actually gets dehydrated and toxic while sleeping, so drink water first thing in the morning.
Always drink it before eating to support the digestive system (I forgot about this).

Do not drink too much water at once. It can kill you! It's called Water Intoxication.

Authorities Investigate Case of Woman Dying After Water-Drinking Contest.

Water is just plain good for you.

Calories per different types of beers

For Bob, and those of us that know that a beer is not just a beer. Also 100 ml according to internet sources equates to 3.4 oz.

TABLE I--ALCOHOL AND CALORIE CONTENT OF BEER
Brand/Brewer (Country), % Alcohol ,Calories
per 100 ml
-------------------------------------------------------
Anchor Porter
Anchor (USA) 5.66 59
Anchor Steam Beer
Anchor (USA) 4.63 43
Asahi Draft Beer
Asahi (Japan) 5.21 41
Ballantine Prlvate Stock Malt Liquor
Narragansett (USA) 6.01 47
Ballantine Indla Pale Ale 6.17 53
Falstaff (USA) 6.61 55
Ballantine Premium Lager Beer
Falstaff (USA) 4.82 43
Ballantine XXX Ale 5.68 49
Falstaff (USA) 5.08 46
Bass & Co's Bale Ale 4.02 37
Bass (England) 5.51 45
4.95 41
Beamish Irish Cream Stout
Beamish - Crawford (Ireland) 3.73 37
Beck's Beer 5.13 43
Brauerei Beck (Germany) 5.13 42
Big Barrel Australian Lager 3.98 31
Cooper & Sons (Australia) 4.66 39
Black Horse Premium Draft Beer
Black Horse (USA) 4.74 45
Blatz Beer
G. Heileman (USA) 4.86 43
Blatz Milwaukee 1851 Beer
Blatz (USA) 4.48 38
Boulder Porter
Boulder (USA) 6.07 53
Budwelser King of Beers 4.82 40
Anheuser Busch (USA) 4.47 39
Busch Beer 4.98 42
Anheuser Busch (USA) 5.19 43
Carling Black Label Canadian 4.71 45
Style Beer G. Heileman (USA) 4.38 39
Cerveza Carta Blanca
Cerveceria Cauhtemoc (Mexlco) 4.02 36
Cerveza Tecate Beer 4.10 37
Cervecerla Cauhtemoc (Mexico) 4.49 41
Chester Golden A]e
Greenall Whitley (England) 5.43 44
Colt 45 Malt Liquor 5.53 45
G. Heileman (USA) 6.11 49
Coors Banquet Beer 4.81 39
Adolph Coors (USA) 5.03 41
Corona Extra Beer
Cereveria Modela SA (Mexico) 4.84 45
Dos Equis XX Imported Beer
Cauhtemoc (Mexico) 4.79 42
Dos Equis XX Special Lager
Cerveceria Montezuma (Mexico) 4.96 44
Dragon Stout
Desnoes - Goeddes (Jamaica) 6.79 62
Foster's Lager 5.25 42
Garlton & United (Australia) 5.06 44
Furstenberg German Beer
Fustlich Ferstenbergische 4.43 39
(Germany)
Genesee 12 Horse Ale 4.76 46
Genesee (USA) 4.98 44
Genesee Beer
Genesee (USA) 5.03 43
Genesee Cream Ale 4.9B 44
Genesee (USA) 4.70 42
George Killian's Irish Red Ale
Adolph Coors (USA) 5.79 50
George Killian's Irish Red Brand Beer
Adolph Coors (USA) 5.54 49
Great Wall Imported Chinese Beer
Green Bamboo (China) 4.63 45
Greenall's Cheshire English Pub Beer
Grecnall Whitley PLC (England) 5.00 40
Grizzly Canadian Lager 5.4B 43
Hamilton (Canada) 4.45 36
Grolsch Lager Beer 5.11 44
Grolsch Bierbrouweri (Holland) 5.17 44
5.16 43
5.37 44
Guinness Extra Stout
Gulnness (Ireland) 4.27 43
Harfenrefrer Private Stock Malt Llquor
Narragansett (USA) 6.87 50
Hamm's Beer
Pabst (USA) 4.53 40
Harp (mported Lager Beer 4.55 40
Harp (Ireland) 4.71 42
4.96 43
Heineken Lager Beer 5.41 47
Heineken (Holland) 5.41 45
Heineken Special Dark Beer
Heineken (Holland) 5.17 48
Hofenperle Special Feldschlosschen Bier
Feldsohlosschen Rheinfelden
(Switzerland) 5.28 45
Kaiserdom Rauchbier-Smoked Bavarlan Dark Beer
Bamberg Worner OHG (Germany) 5.88 49
Kirin Beer 6.85 53
Kirin (Japan) 5.27 43
Knickerbocker Natural Beer
Ruppert (USA) 4.16 38
Kronenbourg Beer 5.11 43
Kronenbourg (France) 4.83 42
Kronenbourg Imported Dark Beer 5.08 46
Kronenbourg (France)
Kuppers Kolsch
Kuppers (Germany) 5.38 45
LA Anheuser Busch Premlum Pilsner Beer
2.29(a) 26
Anheuser Busch (USA) 2.00(a) 29
Labatt's 50 Canadian Ale 5.34 43
Labatt (Canada)
Liberty Ale
Anchor (USA) 6.12 53
Lord Chesterrfeld Ale 5.40 30
D.G. Yuengling & Son (USA) 5.57 44
Lowenbrau Dark Special Beer
Miller (USA) 5.00 45
Lowenbrau Special Beer 5.12 45
Miller (USA) 5.03 44
McEwans Scotch Ale
Scottish & Newcastle (Scotland) 9.50 83
Michelob Beer 4.90 44
Anheuser Busch (USA) 4.99 45
Michelob Classic Dark Beer
Anheuser Busch (USA) 4.76 45
Michelob Classic Dark Beer
Anheuser Busch (USA) 4.93 45
Mickeys Fine Malt Liquor
G. Heileman (USA) 5.70 45
Miller High Life Beer 4.78 44
Miller (USA) 4.80 43
Miller High Life Genuine 4.68 42
Draft Beer, Miller (USA) 5.02 43
Molson Canadian Beer
Molson (Canada) 5.19 43
Molson Golden Beer 6.04 48
Molson (Canada) 5.22 43
Moosehead Canadian Lager Beer 5.08 43
Moosehead (Canada) 4.84 40
4.92 40
O'Keefe Canadian Beer 4.96 40
O'Reefe (Canada) 5.03 41
Olde English Brand 800 Malt Liquor 6.13 48
pabst (USA) 5.78 45
Old Milwaukee Beer 4.95 44
Stroh (USA) 4.51 41
Olympia Premium Lager Beer
Pabst (USA) 4.78 41
Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer 4.50 39
Pabst (USA) 5.01 43
5.00 43
Piels Premium Draft Style Beer 4.84 43
Stroh (USA) 4.23 39
Pilsener Urquell Beer
Pilsener Urquell Pilzen 4.25 45
(Czechoslovakia)
Red Strlpe Lager Beer 5.04 43
Desnoes & Geddes (Jamaica) 4.82 42
Red White & Blue Special Lager Beer
G. Heileman (USA) 5.15 43
Rheingold Premium Beer
Rheingold (USA) 4.78 42
Rolllng Rock Extra Pale Premium Beer
Latrobe (USA) 4.64 40
Rolling Rock Premlum Beer 4.51 34
Latrobe (USA) 4.27 38
Samuel Adams Boston Lager 4.67 50
Boston Beer (USA) 4.88 48
4.74 44
Schaefer Beer 4.66 40
Stroh (USA) 4.60 40
4.48 40
Schlitz Beer 4.70 41
Stroh (USA) 4.41 40
4.60 42
Schlitz Malt Liquor
Stroh (USA) 6.29 52
Sheaf Stout
Carlton & United (Australia) 5.28 49
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada (USA 4.82 45
Sierra Nevada Porter
Sierra Nevada (USA) 5.34 48
Sierra Nevada Stout
Sierra Nevada (USA) 5.10 56
Signature Stroh Beer
Stroh (USA) 4.84 43
Sol Cerveza Especial 3.94 36
Cerveceria Montezuma (Mexico) 4.13 37
Spaten Munich Special Dark Beer
Spaten-Brau (Germany) 6.63 52
St. Pauli Girl Beer 5.00 39
St. Pauli (Germany) 4.79 41
St. Pauli Girl Dark Beer 5.02 45
St. Pauli (Germany) 4.93 44
Stroh's Beer 4.64 41
Stroh (USA) 4.68 42
Suntory Draft Beer
Suntory (Japan) 4.64 39
Superior Imported Beer
Cerveceria Moctezuma (Mexico) 4.34 43
Thos Cooper & Sons Adelaide Lager
Cooper & Sons (Australia) 4.27 36
Thos Cooper & Sons Naturally Brewed Real Ale
Cooper & Sons (Australia) 6.77 45
Thos Cooper & Sons Naturally Brewed Stout
Cooper & Sons (Australla) 7.10 58
Tolly Origlnal Premium Ale
Tollei-ache & Cobbold 4.85 41
(England)
Tsingtao Beer
Tsingtao (China) 4.79 43
Tuborg Deluxe Dark Export Quality Beer
G. Heileman (USA) 5.11 46
Tuborg Export Quality Beer 5.02 45
G. Heileman (USA) 5.02 44
Tusker Malt Lager
Bia Ni Bora (Kenya) 5.24 42
Utica Club Pilsener Lager Beer
West End (USA) 4.82 27
Watney's Red Barrel Beer
Stag (England) 3.92 40
Wurzburger Hofbrau Pilsner Beer
Wurtzburger Hofbrauag 5.42 45
(Germany)
Yuengling Porter
D.G. Yuengllng & Son (USA) 4.13 40
Yuengllng Premium Beer
D.G. Yuengling & Son (USA) 4.65 39
4.11 39
------------------------------------------------
(a) claims half the alcohol of regular beer


TABLE 2--ALCOHOL AND CALORIE CONTENT OF LIGHT BEER
Brand Brewer (Country), % Alcohol, Calories
. per 100 ml
--------------------------------------------------------
Amstel Light Bier 3.74 29
Amstel Brouwerij B.V. 3.96 28
(Holland)
Anheuser Busch Natural Light Beer 4.40 33
Anheuser Busch (USA) 4.12 31
Bud Light Beer 3.56 30
Anheuser Busch (USA) 3.88 33
Coors Llght Beer
Adolph Coors (USA) 4.36 30
Dribeck's Light Low Calorie Beer
Brauerei Beck (Germany) 3.39 28
Genesee Light Beer
Genesee (USA) 3.55 27
Michelob Light Beer 4.53 41
Anheuser Busch (USA) 4.52 39
Miller Lite Pilsner Beer 4.61 31
Mlller (USA) 4.40 29
Molson Light Beer
Molson (Canada) 2.41 23
Nordik Wolf Light Imported Beer 4.81 32
A.B. Pripps Bryggerier 4.70 31
(Sweden)
Old Milwaukee Premium Light Beer
Stroh (USA) 3.82 32
Pabst Extra Light Low Alaohol Beer
Pabst (USA) 2.50(a) 19
Piels Naturally Light Beer
Stroh (USA) 4.49 40
Rheingold Extra Light Beer
Rheingold (USA) 4.32 27
Schaeler Light Lager Beer
Stroh (USA) 4.07 34
Schlitz Light Pilsner Beer
Stroh (USA) 4.28 31
Stroh Light Beer 4.91 42
Stroh (USA) 4.45 35
Watney's London Light Beer
Whatney Combe Reid (England) 3.56 29
Wurtzburger Hofbrau Pure Bavarian Light Beer
Wurtzburger Hofbrau Ag 5.44 43
(Germany)
---------------------------------------------------
(a) claims 50% less alcohol than regular beer

Chew your food

This reminds me of a friend of mine. At his birthday dinner, we had to perform the heimlich maneuver on him because he had a one inch cube of steak lodged in his throat.

It's important to chew your food, and I'll tell you why.

Number 1 - so you don't choke
Number 2 - Because you do the majority of the work for your stomach, hence, have more energy. When you break it down with your chompers, then your can focus on taking the nutrients and send it through your body.

It does take a lot longer to eat. But it doesn't take as much energy.

Day 5

My name is John and I haven't had beer or wine for 4 days.

Yesterday was Cookies for Coaches at the soccer camp. On the last day of the camp the players bring cookies for coaches as a thanks for our hard work and dedication, and then we share with the campers. And I got my favorite cookies yesterday: Mexican Wedding Cookies and White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut.

Personally, I think important that I zig and zag for a couple of reasons: 1. Enjoy life and what it has to offer. 2. To avoid binging. 3. As a reward for staying on track.

Last year, when my boys under 14 team would bring treats for birthdays and such, most would bring flourless and sugarless cupcakes from New Frontiers in San Luis Obispo. And they were delicious.

I'm like Emeril Lagasse, "Pork Fat Rules." But at the same time, there are a lot of healthy options that taste just the same.

Just yesterday, an agent in my office said that she switched to Michelob Ultra, it has less calories than a regular beer.

Here are some stats that i found on the web:
Beer - One regular 12-ounce beer has 13 grams of carbohydrate and 150 calories; a 12-ounce light beer has 5 carb grams and 100 calories.
Guinness 210 calories for 16 oz. (157 cal. for 12 oz.) is this right? I thought the commercial said it only had 125 calories... Brilliant!

Wine - One 6-ounce glass of white wine has 1.4 carb grams and 120 calories; 6 ounces of red has 3 carb grams and 128 calories; 6 ounces of rose has 2.5 carb grams and 128 calories. A 6-ounce glass of sweet dessert wine, such as Riesling, with 21 carb grams, has 270 calories.

Champagne - One 6.5-ounce flute has 6.5 carb grams and 163 calories.

Straight up and mixed - A 1.5-ounce shot of any 80-proof liquor - vodka, rum, tequila, gin, etc. - has 100 calories; if your straight shot is 100 proof, it's 124 calories.

Vodka Collins (1.5 ounces vodka, 3 ounces sweet-and-sour mix, 3.5 ounces club soda): 17 carb grams and 175 calories.
Bloody Mary (1.5 ounces vodka, 4.5 ounces Mr & Mrs T Bloody Mary Mix): 5 carb grams, 123 calories.
Vodka and cranberry (1.5 ounces vodka,'4 ounces cranberry juice): 18 carb grams, 172 calories.
Rum is a fermented sugar-cane product.
Daiquiri (1.5 ounces rum, 5 ounces Mr & Mrs T daiquiri mix): 49 carb grams, 314 calories.
Rum and Coke (2 ounces rum, 4 ounces cola): 13 carb grams, 182 calories.
Rum and diet Coke (2 ounces rum, 4 ounces diet cola): 0 carb grams, 133 calories.
Gin and tonic (2 ounces gin, 4 ounces tonic water): 21 carb grams, 178 calories. Martini (2.5 ounces gin, splash of dry vermouth): 0 carb grams, 175 calories.
Whiskey sour (1.5 ounces whiskey, 3 ounces sour mix, splash of cherry juice and bitters, if desired): 17 carb grams, 175 calories:
Manhattan (2.5 ounces whiskey, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, dash of bitters): 4 carb grams, 210 calories.

Margaritaville - Frozen margarita (2 ounces tequila, 4.5 ounces Jose Cuervo margarita mix, salt): 27 carb grams, 246 calories.
Margarita on the rocks (1.5 ounces tequila, 1 ounce Triple Sec, 1 ounce fresh lime juice): 8 carb grams, 182 calories.
Long Island iced tea (3/4 ounce each tequila, rum, gin and vodka; 1/2 ounce Triple Sec; splash of lemon juice; 2 teaspoons sugar; splash of cola): 4 carb grams, 275 calories.

I say, "If you're committed to losing weight and committed to having drinks, just balance your calorie intake for the day or week."

Day 4 - 176 pounds

176 pounds. But I am still not convinced. Actually fat cannot be lost that fast.

Here's a good article that I found about how weight can fluctuate daily.

Why the Scale Lies

To sum up the article:
The less water you drink, the more water you retain. Basically your body doesn't know whether you are going for a hike in the Sahara desert or lunch with friends. So the body says, "Hey, I'm going to hold on to some of this water, in case we end up running out of water."

How do you know when you are not drinking enough water?
A dry mouth is the last outward sign of dehydration.
If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated
A severely dehydrated body produces orange or dark urine. Somewhat dehydrated - yellow urine. Carefully hydrated body produces colorless urine.

Excess salt can cause water retention.
Women may retain water prior to menstruation
Stored glycogen.

Give your body the fuel and resources it needs. You take care of the body and the body takes care of you.

Also, thanks to all of the people who have been supportive and found this interesting read. If you get at least one thing out of this, that would be awesome.

Have all of the bad things you want...

Have all of the bad things you want....

on your Zag days.

This is called living in moderation.

Remember when I said 70% of what I eat is good? Well I'd say 5% of the other 30% is bad.

You've gotta live.

If I was to say, "I will never have a glass of red wine for the rest of my life."

Imagine what would happen:

I would think about it daily, and it would be on my mind, and I would be struggling when I walk down the wine section of the store or passing a winery or at a dinner party. Then maybe one day I break down and have an entire bottle of wine. Then I feel guilty as I drink it and can't enjoy it, then afterwards I have the hangover for a full day and I'm saying all of the negative things to myself, "you jerk, you have no discipline, you'll never lose weight... blah blah blah..." then I'm on a downward spiral.

However, on the flipside, having the wine as a treat for being really good the rest of the week would build confidence, celebration, momentum and all of the other good things.

Bottom line, enjoy what you love...as a treat.

Oh and zig and zag is like ying and yang. Staying in balance.

Post your desired weight on your scale

I just remembered this as I was driving this morning. (This is why I need three weeks+ to document everything.

When I lost the weight before, I put a little notecard on my scale with my desired weight outcome posted on it.

Which leads me to my upcoming topic which is... to integrate some visualization and The Secret methods this time around. Heck with doing this all on my own, I need some help from the universe. This will include spending time visualizing my ideal weight and boy as well as posting photos of a fit body. I'll write more about it later.

Day 3 - 178 pounds

I'm not going to get too excited about losing two pounds in two days, because it could be a variable of water loss or foods consumed and exhumed. But I have been eating 90% raw vegatables and staying off the hooch.

I told my friend yesterday that I am losing 10 pounds by the end of the month and she said, "You're already skinny." And that is true to a point. But I am feeling a little long around the waist band. The 32 inch waist pants that used to be loose are now tight and if I don't watch out I will be walking around the office with tight pants like the singer Tom Jones.

Plus... I have some belly hanging over the belt. And that is unacceptible... and I just had to buy new pants when I didn't fit into the 36 inch waist... so I am not going to buy 33 inch waist pants.

So the only way I know how to get rid of belly fat is to just lose the weight in general.

Being disciplined

Next strategy - Discipline

Personally, I find that the pleasure of food is fleeting and the pleasure of discipline is lasting. Both of these increase intensity as time goes on.

Like last night, I had no wine or beer. This morning I'm fine, the world didn't end, I didn't go into a deep depression. Now i am builing on my confidence which will make me a stronger dieter. this is called building references... which in turn means building brain muscle.

So tonight, when I crave a pint of Smithwicks, I can look back to last night and see that I am a stronger person for not having it.

Everybody has a weakness, beer and wine is mine. Some have a penchant for sweets, some soda's, the list goes on.

When a craving comes on, forecast into the future and see if it is really worth it.

"If I don't have this beer, will I be ok?"

Less wine and beer, more weight loss

Last night as I was coaching a soccer camp from 3:30-8:30PM I was thinking about how great it would be to go home and have a glass of wine, or a nice ale. This has become habitual for me over the last 8 months to put my crazy day behind me and be comforted by a wonderfully crafted beer or wine.

But one strategy that... actually becomes three strategies is:
Limit the amount of days per week that I allow myself to drink beer or wine
Be disciplined
Live in moderation

So when I lost those 35 pounds, I only allowed myself to drink alchohol four days per week.

And... instead of drinking mostly beer, I drank more red wine. Two reasons, I drank less and wine has less calories.

Lose twice as much weight

Here is a Reuters article that states that studies prove that those who keep a journal lose twice as much weight as those who don't.

Lose twice as much weight.

It is a fact that the world's most successful people keep a journal. Not a only a journal where you complain about your life... but one where you document your successes and your results (positive and negative).

Similar to what I am doing here.

McMoney

So there is a show on CNBC right now about McDonalds. One of those Dateline shows like the one that catches predator pedophiles. And the show is posing the question and building a story around "How they can serve crap that kills people." Like the movie, Supersize Me, there is proven evidence that your body cannot handle this type of food on a day to day basis.

As much as I think McDonalds food is tasty, but I won't eat it because of the way it makes me feel afterward..... you can't blame a company for providing a product that targets a demographic of people and fills a need.

The fact is that if McDonalds closed their doors tomorrow and said, "Hey, this isn't right, we're done, we're investing our money in Natural Food restaurants," people will still seek out McDonalds type food and buy it from another source and America would not get any more healthy.

Could their be argument for them inventing this type of unhealthy food? Maybe. But that is for another post.

Another strategy I use is do is not to eat fast food. In the last year and a half, I have eaten fast food like In n Out, McDonalds.... maybe 6 times.

Simple ways to increase energy and reduce Acid

Put lemon in the water you drink throughout the day. Yes, Lemons are acidic, but they leave an alkaline ash. Which means that once the cells in your body consumes the lemon, the waste that it emits (yes cells are living creatures and must poop too!) is actually alkaline and gives energy.

Substitute sprouted wheat breads and pizza crusts for white or wheat.

Satisfy your needs for texture: baked tortila chips with fresh guacamole, sprouted wheat pita bread or tortillas with avocado, sun dried tomatoes add a lot of flavor

Keep a fresh salad in the refridgerator so you always have one ready to eat.

use spices: Braggs Amino Acids, Spiece Hunter Spices, fresh herbs, Celtic Sea Salt.

Drink one to four ounces of wheatgrass every day. (Did you know that wheat grass loses something like 75% of it's nutrients within the first 15 minutes that it is pressed?)

Day 1 - 180 pounds - Ouch

So I allowed myself to indulge this 4th of July weekend and woke up 180 pounds! Yikes.

I find it important to weigh myself at the same time other day with the least amount of clothing on (i won't expand on that:).

I weigh myself in the morning as soon as I get up. This way I get a consistent result. Because a glass of water or tea, banana, ham sandwich, anything I consume will add weight and change what I weigh.

A person doesn't realize it, but shoes, pants, wallet, watch, etc. can add 3-6 pounds to your weight! That's a confidence killer. As Charles Barkley once said, "You know my wallets heavy."Again, to keep things consistent, go bare.

Use the same scale everytime. The worst things I ever do for myself is hop on someone elses scale. The weight always comes out higher and doesn't do well for the self esteem.

Will this put me to sleep or give me energy?

The question I ask myself while choosing a meal is "Will this give me energy and serve me, or takeaway energy?"

That one questions has caused me a reduction in countless pounds and massively increased my energy.

Another strategy I use is eat less, more often.

As you seen from my menu, I am definitely not going hungry. But I eat smaller amounts and it gives my body a chance to digest what I have eaten. Meat takes a few days to break down. Vegetables can be broken down and used quickly. So by the time I am on my next meal my body says, "Bring it on John, we just digested your previous meal and we're ready for more." Instead of eating a huge stack of pancakes and eggs for breakfast, then trying to put down a footlong sandwich and Coke down for lunch, my body would be saying, "Hey man, we haven't even digested breakfast yet, and you're shoving this down? Ok, I'm putting you to sleep, so that I can use all of your energy to degest this."

Models use this strategy of eating less, more often as well.

I also have my meals precut so that when I want them, they are ready for me. That way I don't leave the house without my snacks if i don't have time to cut and prepare them and also so I don't come home starving and just eat whatever I can put down the fastest or so i don't say, "I don't have time to cut and clean a salad, I'll just grab a $1 Big Mac instead."

Go Green - 70% Live Raw Vegetables

My complete style of health and living came from Day 4 of Anthony Robbins Unleash the Power Within seminar. All of these ideas and strategies that I will share with you come from that seminar and the workbook that was given.

The foundation of my health and weight loss is 70% of all of the foods I intake are live, raw vegetables.

This one strategy is the main factor in my weight loss and increase of energy and nearly impeccable health.

Tony says that if you are overweight, you don't have a "fat" problem, you have an acid problem. Foods that creat acidity in the body like meats, coffee, or cigarettes cause the body to put fat cells around the acid. Imagine battery acid. If you get it on your skins or clothes, it will eat right through. Same thing with the acid in your body. Too much acidity and your body has to employ fat cells permanantly/full time. Good fats, like flaxseed oil, fish oil, Udo's oil, etc. are like "temps." They cover the fats and when they are not needed anymore, they go away.

Other things acidity does: Acid decreases the oxygen in your blood. Premature aging, eyesight and memory problems, wrinkles, age spots, etc. weakens the interior walls of the arteries. Increased potential of urinary problems and infection. Body has decreased access to energy reserves.

Personally, when I eat a meal high in meat, carbs and sugar, I get really sleepy and tired. There is another reason for this, that I will share later. Like this morning around 11am, I ate half of a delicious bbq'd burger that I made last night July 4th. That almost put me down for a nap. But I have not once gotten tired from eating too many vegetables.

Here's what I eat on a typical day:
Breakfast
Banana
Homemade Power bar

Mid-Morning
Cucumbers, Celery and Carrots and fresh hummus dip.

Lunch
Juice - Carrots, cucumber, zucchini and celery

Mid afternoon
Raw almonds and dried cranberries

Late afternoon
Chips and guacamole

Dinner
Ceasar salad and soup.

Depending on my athletic schedule, when I play soccer, I will add Pasta with Pesto or something similar for increased fuel storage. Or if my roomate makes something good, I will eat that too.

Get Fit and Healthy Declaration

For those of you that have known me for a while know that I used to be a little/lot heavier than I am now. In November of 2006, I was at my highest weight of 202.5 pounds. I thought it normal that I was gaining weight and that I was about right for my height and age.

I had been gaining pounds all of my life, so I thought it natural as I got older, like everybody, that I would gain each year. My senior year of high I weighted in at 155 lbs.

At 202.5 lb. I was wearing size large shirts and pants at a 36 or 37 inch waist. And I just didn’t feel great. I always felt a little bloated.

After following Anthony Robbins for 8 years, I finally went to his Unleash the Power Within Seminar. It was a four-day event where we were deprived of long meal breaks. Well the last day, Monday, was a health day. And the strategies I learned there, I still use to this day.

I didn’t document how long it took me, but from November 2006-March of 2007 I went to 192 pounds. Then I revisited the event in March of 2007 and quickly went down to my goal of 167 pounds! And my pants size went down to around 31/32.

So people ask me all of the time, “How did you lose so much weight?” (at right about the same time they are wondering if I have a sickness or disease). My initial response is, “Crystal meth.” But after I get a good laugh, then I sum it up and say, “I mostly eat raw live vegetables and stopped drinking beer” There is always a blank look on their face (I presume them thinking, “I can’t do that”). Then they ask, “Are you a vegetarian?” and I say “No way, I love meat!”

So the conversation is always short and I tell them my strategy, and nobody has gotten it yet. So I have decided to document my strategies here as a gift to my friends and family. If some of these ideas work for you, then great, If not, no worries.

Over the last few months I have been indulging in foods and good beer, and working massive amounts of hours in soccer coaching and my real estate business that I have not been exercising as I had before.

On Monday, I weighed in at 178 pounds. This morning I was 176, though I may have lost some water weight from playing soccer last night. And my waist is a little longer than I like. So I will measure that too and make a declaration later.

Today is July 3, 2008. I declare that I am going to get back to these strategies and be at 170 pounds by July 31st.