Food and Weight 4/5/2012

Riveting, I know....

Food:
Oatmeal + raisins, pumpkin seeds, apple, banana, agave
Recovery Drink
Orange
Banana
Carrots
Shakeo + spinach, blueberry
Green salad with soy/hemp/agave dressing
2.5 plates of soba + veg in peanut sauce
1/2 chocolate bar with 1.5 tbsp peanut butter

Weight:
184.0

Training:
Insanity: Cardio Recovery

Time to Evaluate

Dear Interwebs.

I am a colossal slacker about this blog.  I let this blog completely fall by the wayside.  I'm sorry.  Because of juggling many responsibilities I had to choose the things that I was going to dedicate time to.  This was one of the things that got cut.

That doesn't mean that I'll never come back.  As a matter of fact, I'm coming back right now.  BUT BEWARE.  This is about to get extremely self indulgent.  I am asking you to save yourself the frustration and NOT READ IT.  But I need to vent this through the only forum dedicated to fitness and nutrition that I have.  

You have been warned.  I not a jerk.  (Maybe?  Hopefully?)

The truth is that my goals for weight loss and personal improvement stagnated.  I got to where I wanted to be with my weight.  I'm now able to workout better.  I've gotten stronger.  Now I've gotten complacent.  I've kept off this weight for almost 4 years.  I'm coming up on 4 years at a healthy weight and the lowest waist size I've ever had.  I'm proud of where I've gotten.  I went from being obese with a BMI of almost 37 to having a BMI of 24.9 (a hairsbreadth in healthy BMI).  I can do 10 clean pullups on a good day.  I can run for hours.  I've cycled 105 miles in one day.  I'm proud of being a busy father balancing multiple responsibilities and still doing what I need to do to stay healthy after years of health problems.

Here's the problem.  I eat the right foods.  I eat whole foods (Whole grains, fruits, vegetables).  I eat a variety of foods to get various vitamins and minerals in their natural forms.

Then I eat garbage.

Last night I had a large dinner of brown rice, quinoa, a very healthy chili and kale.  Very nice.  Had to step out of the house for about two hours.  Came home.  Then I ate a cream cheese twist (and a half).  Helped get the kids to bed.  Ironed some shirts and pants...  Then...

Then I ate 1/2 a chocolate bar

Then I ate a bag of popcorn

Then I ate 10 oreos and 2 glasses of almond milk

...I may have had some more chocolate--it's a blur.

I'm not have a binge.  I'm not eating to excess where I can't move.  I'm just keeping myself from progressing past where I am.  Nothing changes.  I'm not doing more pullups.  I'm not getting faster.  My strength gains are minimal.  

So here's the deal.  I have the Delaware Half Marathon in May.  I have the Philadelphia Marathon in November.  I may do Medio Fondo in September.  I weigh 184.1 as of this morning.  My goal is 177 for running.  I'm going to post about what I ate each day, what I weigh, and what I did to train.  

The reason I'm posting this is for accountability.  I would like to have this public.  But I'm not asking ANYONE to read this.  If you read the boring ramblings coming out of my head about food and exercise, you may think that I'm dumb for even caring about these things.  And that's OK.  I'm not offended.  Diet and exercise are an important facet in my life, but they are not top priority.  Not even close.  There are a few things that come way, way in front that aren't the main point of this blog. And that's my point....

THE POINT: If you are reading this blog, it's about fitness.  Exercise, food, healthy living.  That's it.  It's not my whole life.  It's just a part of my life.  But this is the only avenue I have to keep myself on track and keep myself honest about what I'm eating and doing to train.  If I don't make progress I have no one to blame but myself.

So Here Goes:

4/3/2012

Training:

5K - 24:40

Insanity - Cardio Power

Food:

Oatmeal + Apples, Pumpkin Seeds, Raisins, Agave, Pecans

Chocolate Shakeology + spinach, berries

Recovery Drink

Large Green Salad & Dijon Dressing

2 Bowls of Chili/quinoa/rice/kale

1/2 a chocolate bar

bag of popcorn

10 oreos 

2 glasses of almond milk

1 1/2 cream cheese twist

4/4/2012 Weight: 184.1

Low Fat Baking: Whole Grain Fruit Muffins

Obviously, avoiding this is the goal (Credit)

As I'm baking Low Fat Fruit Muffins this morning, I realized that I really need to be putting recipes up here.  I have a passion for cooking and baking healthy alternatives and have learned a few tricks along the way.  I'm going to try to share one recipe weekly.  If you have any of your healthy recipes that you'd like to share, I'd love to post them here and shoot credit your way.

This traditional muffin has a shiny, flaky crust indicative
of a recipe with plenty of fat (oil/butter).  Is it delicious?  OF COURSE IT IS.
We aren't looking to replace this, because you'll just be disappointed.
We are looking for a healthy alternative that we enjoy.  (Credit)

This week is the Low Fat Whole Grain Muffins.  This is accomplished by making a few swaps to a standard muffin batter.  Take this recipe:

Dry: 

2 Cups Flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp Baking Powder

Wet:

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

Whole wheat has a lot more fiber
and hasn't had the really beneficial
parts of the grain removed like white flour.
It also causes a much smaller glycemic
 impact on your blood sugar.

So how can we lighten this up?  First of all you want to make some of the flour whole wheat.  Since this is a fruit muffin recipe we aren't exactly looking for the most delicate texture--it's a batter after all.  I'm not saying get rid of all the flour, but I good idea would be to do 30% white flour, 55% whole wheat, and 15% wheat bran.  It keeps a softness with the white and then adds filling fiber with the whole wheat/wheat bran.  Those percentages don't have to be perfect, just get them to add up to 2 cups (roughly 9 oz).

Trust me, this is your friend
in low fat baking

Now, this recipe already uses one low fat secret--buttermilk.  It's a really deceptive name because it doesn't have butter in it and it is low fat.  Because of the process used to make it, the acid content is higher.  It's chemical properties make it a great substitute for fat (usually about 1/2-3/4 of the fat in a recipe with a 2:1 fat to buttermilk ratio).  But we're already using buttermilk, so what do we do?

Fruit can replace fat really well as many people know from using apple sauce in their recipes.  But many other fruits work just as well.  Have some really ripe bananas?  These are PERFECT for muffins and cakes. Got some prunes?  Blend them in the food processor with a little water for rich, dense recipes.  

At the end of the day, what we end up using is bananas to replace fat (and sugar).  An additional benefit is that fructose won't spike your blood sugar as high as refined sugar.  But by adding bananas (and I upped the buttermilk a little) we are increasing the acid in this recipe.  Which means we need to swap out the baking powder for baking soda  at a ratio of a about 3:1 or 2:1 (you can play with this, but what I used is below)

End product.  You know you want one...

Our recipe ends up being the following:

Dry: 

3 oz white flour + 5 oz whole wheat flour + 1 oz wheat bran (roughly two cups total)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Baking Soda

Wet:

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 overripe banana, mashed

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 pint fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.)

I had a pretty good rise out of the batter and it held
the contents pretty well (as opposed to it all sliding
to the bottom and looking stupid with a lot of muffin on top)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 370 (slightly lower than traditional for lack of fat)

2. Mix mashed banana and buttermilk until smooth

3. Mix in vanilla, maple syrup, and eggs

4. Mix in combined dry ingredients and fruit.  Manually beat slowly (don't over beat)

5. Fill paper lined muffin tray 3/4 full with batter.  

6. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean from muffin, roughly 20 minutes for small muffins, 25 for large muffins.

Keep in mind that these muffins aren't going to be super sweet or exactly what you are used to.  If you don't like the taste or texture, give it a chance before you chuck the whole batch or try to feed it to birds.  You may not be used to whole wheat or more savory muffins.  If you still don't like it after you try it (I like them with a little jelly) then chuck it.  See my last post about eating WHAT YOU WANT not what you think you should eat....

But I love them.  I'm actually drooling a little, but I've promised myself no more night eating...  Mmmmmm.... Muffin........

PLEASE Stop Torturing Yourself. Just eat it.

This is not the enemy (Credit)

Yes, I will take every opportunity to start this blog off with a brownie.  They are exquisite when done properly. They deserve respect.  You may be looking at this shot thinking, "Wow, that looks amazing.  But NOPE!  I can't have it."  Wrong!  You should have the brownie.  You should eat whatever you want.  I promise you I haven't fallen off the wagon or been recently declared insane.  Let me explain why.

I recently ran across a book that I had skimmed through before and was familiar with the author.  It's I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna.  Tremendous read, but I will not completely endorse it as Mr. McKenna is an avid hypnotist, which I am strongly against.  He and I agree on a high number of points, but leaving my mind completely open to whoever's suggestions is not one of our "agree" points. 

That being said, it's definitely worth picking up for a quick read while in Barnes and Noble.  You can get through the crux of it in about 1-2 hours.  Grab whatever you want from Starbucks and have a seat.  No really, grab what looks totally inspiring and delicious.

Atkins Lovers, ATTACK!
(Credit)

Where Mr. McKenna and I intersect is the following: when you fill your belly with diet garbage, hate everything you eat, and are constantly hungry/angry, you aren't going to make it.  Ever known someone on a ketosis (i.e. Atkins) diet who lost a ton of weight?  We all do.  They all go nuts with "PROTEIN!  I HAVE TO HAVE PROTEIN!!!  AAAAHHHH!!!!!  IF I EAT NOTHING BUT PROTEIN IT'S METABOLICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO STORE FAT!  YEAAAAAH!!"

Was that as hard for you to read as it was for me to write?  Sorry...  Anyway, what happens two, three, or six months down the road?  All the weight is back and then some.  Have you ever known a person who comes off this diet to have kept it off for over a year?  I have never met one in real life.  Think back to every diet that you have ever done.  Has it ever really worked for more than a year?  If so, great!  I'm really happy for you!  You are the vast minority.  Like this study that shows that 75% of obese patients on a very low calorie diet regained at least 100% of their loss back by month 12 compared with 42% on the placebo!  That's wild!  

Mr. McKenna's take on this is that people are forced into filling themselves with tasteless diet garbage (usually unnatural--think diet popsicles and rice cakes).  They don't listen to their bodies, they just stuff, stuff, stuff.  Then our stomachs are so stretched out that we have to fill it with more and more each time!  On top of it, there is some kind of torture mentality that unless we are hungry, we're not going to successfully lose weight.  Finally, when it hits 10 PM and the chocolate cake is softly calling our name we binge like rabid animals.  In the coup de grace we hate ourselves for doing this and start to degrade ourselves with names like "stupid", "moron", "fat pig", "idiot", and a whole plethora of other horrible terms.  It's amazing how cruel we can be to ourselves, no?  As if, we're going to bully and ridicule ourselves into stopping!

"What do you mean I have an
outrageously cruel self image?"
(Credit)

Why do we put up with this kind of abuse?  If someone called you a "fat pig" on the street you'd probably be furious!  But every day we follow this ritual of looking in the mirror and insulting ourselves.  This is destroying you--you are destroying you.  There are several self actuation techniques that Mr. McKenna talks about that are very good and help people find control in their lives.  These can be extremely helpful exercises when you are in this rut.

There are some very interesting statistics in Mr. McKenna's book about blindfolded people eating 25% less than those not blindfolded, people eating from soup bowls surreptitiously filled from under the table, and tales of eastern weight loss spas where someone sits across from you to slow down your eating.  It's all intriguing, but beyond the scope of a small blog post.  What Mr. McKenna's technique comes down to as seen on TV, in his book, etc is:

1. When You Are Hungry, Eat

2. Eat What You Want, Not What You Think You Should

3. Eat Consciously And Enjoy Every Mouthful

4. When You Think You Are Full, Stop Eating

This way you are doing what is natural for your body.  You fill find your self eating less because you enjoy EVERY bite--in other words, take a bite and put your fork down to chew.  And stop eating when you are not hungry.  Don't let it get to "stuffed".  So you have to be conscious.  Think about what you are doing.  But don't try this based on this post.  You'll end up diving into brownies all day long and stuffing yourself silly.  Then you'll be mad at me when the scale shows a 5 lbs gain in a week.  Please don't do that.  I wholeheartedly believe in this method because I feel that deprivation is the enemy.  I fought deprivation for a long time and stayed fat.  I now am in single digit body fat and eat brownies, cake, and pizza all the time.  It's all about how you do it and how you enjoy it.

And In closing I'd like to say KA-BLAM!
(Credit)

Now if you'll excuse me,  I'm going to go have a brownie.  For real.  I'm not kidding.  Mmmmmm.......

Please people, deprivation and attacking yourself hasn't gotten you anywhere so far.  Being angry with yourself doesn't work.  Suffering doesn't work.  Know what does work?  Listening to your body, not torturing yourself, and getting exercise.  It's a simple formula for the vast majority of us whether we want to fess up to it or not....  Just remember, you can get FIT and don't have to FAIL.  Sometimes the only thing you need is to ask for help...

How's that working for you?

Let the creepiness of this Dr. Phil T-Shirt stare
into your  eyes and see your darkest diet secrets......
Who would wear this? (credit)

I know it sounds cliche.  I know it sounds trite.  But guess what...  That phrase is a lot deeper than you give it credit for.  "How's that working for you?" unfortunately became the catch phrase of Dr. Phil McGraw.  This post is not about him, what he does, who he does it to--I PLAIN OLD DON'T CARE.  The point is that after people would rant and rave about how they did or didn't do something, how what they were doing was their only choice, or would try to justify their decisions until the cows come home--the good old Oprah Minion would look at them and say, "So, how's that working for ya?"  Sounds corny, right?  "Stupid!" you might say.  It's not, it ties right into fitness, and I'm going to explain how.

See if these sound familiar:

Every lymph node in the shaded area was
taken out of my abdomen.  This was
emotionally and physically very, very hard on me.

• When I was obese I remember having to tell people about whatever program I was doing and how it was changing my body.  It was going to solve all problems in the whole world!  After a while, I'd get lazy, tired, demoralized, stuck...whatever...and quit.
• When I was overweight after having lost 30 lbs I would faithfully get my work clothes ready, get up and jump into workout clothes, grab a "healthy" lunch, and knock out an hour at the gym on my way to work.  It felt great!  I was finally on the path to getting this weight problem under control!  I had my routine of getting there about 4 times a week and I was taking charge!  I did that for more than two years and stayed virtually the same weight and had very little change in my strength.  I went up and down, but essentially stagnated, got demoralized, tired, lazy, stuck...whatever...and quit.
• I got cancer.  Sounds scary right?  That's cause it was.  It was a harrowing, but refining period in my life.  There are all kinds of crazy emotions that come along with a cancer diagnosis and I really did not have a bad time with it considering I was stage Ib.  A very early stage and after two surgeries, I'm in remission for two years.  But you know what?  Those surgeries tore up my abdomen something horrible.  The first one cuts through the inguinal wall and canal so no heavy lifting for weeks on end.  The second took out 29 abdominal lymph nodes around my aorta, kidney, and back.  My body was trashed and swelled up an additional 8 inches around with fluid for about a week.  I was weak for a very long time and felt like giving up after I had lost all my musculature, stamina, and ability.  My abdomen was in such excruciating pain from the scaring, incisions, and clips that I could barely lift weights, let alone do a pull-up.  I wanted to just give up.  "Why can I just eat whatever I want and be fat again?  I've lost everything I worked for...."

Do these resonate with you in some way?  I hope so because I had to overcome every single one.  And I see people going through the same thing all the time.  It's an interesting formula:

If you are doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results, that's insane...literally.

1. Find some crappy, fad-like, or average workout routine.

2. Think that this mediocre, average thing is going to get you somewhere without other (i.e. DIET) changes.

3. Stay stagnant and justify your stagnation to anyone whose fitness goals or being or have been attained.

I've done it when I would justify me stagnation.  I have people do it to me.  But after three months of getting no where with their choices sometimes it helps to have someone look them in the eyes and ask, "How's that working for you?"  It's not to be a jerk.  It's not to be difficult.  I've been there where you do the same thing over and over again and get no where.  But if you feel like you are working the hardest you have ever done, are doing your best, and you have not changed at all then there is one of two things wrong: 1. you have a medical issue that is preventing you from having success or 2. you need to change what you are doing.

"I'm number one!  It has to be that I have a medical condition!"

OK, perhaps that's the truth.  Then you need to get that addressed as soon as possible.  If you are truly ill you need to see a physician.  And saying you don't have the money to see a doctor for a health issue is nearsightedness because an problem that is not addressed will only cost you ten times as much later.  So if you think you have something like hypothyroidism (under functioning of the thyroid can cause serious weight gain and depression), fibromyalgia, diabetes, etc. go to your doctor and get your blood work done so that you can address the root issue that is hurting you.  A very small percentage are going to fall into this category and chances are that you are not one of them.

What is really causing our setbacks, gains, stagnation?
We have to own our decisions, however toxic and
sabotaging they may be.

This comes down again to making excuses and locus of control (the measure of control we believe we have over our life and circumstances).  If you say that you have a health problem that is holding you back, but won't do anything about it--you are making an excuse and have an external locus of control ("it's not my fault") because you refuse to take any control of the situation (i.e. go see your doctor to deal with this).  You can make the excuse, but demonstrate an internal locus of control ("I'm having trouble, but will take charge") and go deal with your problem.  Locus of control is fundamental to changing your fitness--feeling that you control what you are doing and not external forces.  Take this University of Louisiana study that says that health locus of control (how much you think you control your personal fitness level) directly corresponds to effort put in.  I know that sounds like a "duh" statement, but if it really were as "duh" as it seems then we would have a LOT more fit people because they simply would take charge and put serious effort into it.

At the end of the day, the majority of us do not have hypothyroidism (or at the very least you have it or another weight induced disease like Type 2 Diabetes that can be resolved by losing weight in the majority of cases).  We have to own our decisions and take control of our own situations.  If you are presently in that situation, this is not a condemnatory statement--I understand that you are in an extremely difficult situation (and we all know that condemning yourself only leads to self pity, to binge behavior, to shame, to helplessness, etc...).  Are there things we can't control?  Absolutely.  I got a cancer that has no origin or reason.  I certainly didn't deserve it.  I had no risk factors beyond being a white male between 18 and 35.  But what I did after diagnosis was directly in my control.  What treatment, what choices, what to do after, where to go, etc.  I controlled it.  And now you--it's time to take control.  NOW.

"Hey--Eating upside down burns calories!"
Sorry, bud.  Your name is synonymous with
laziness.  Fail.  (credit)

So are you stuck in what your doing right now?  Have you been doing the same thing (or same series of things) and not seeing any change?  Ask yourself, "How's this working for me?  Am I really content to just stay this way and make excuses?"  Because at some level, it's working for you.  You know how?  When I was overweight after having lost enough weight to keep my wife from bugging me, I was content to make my token appearances at the gym and cycle through some futile exercises.  Then I'd destroy a big mac and large fries, with diet coke of course.  LET'S NOT BE CRAZY!  My stagnation was acceptable to me.  So I told people I wanted to get fit.  I told myself I wanted to get fit. But until I was ready to commit to a program it was all just lies--let's call it what it was.  I didn't realize it at the time, but it hit me like a ton of bricks once I had grown from it.

Obviously, I'm biased towards the Sadkhin Complex and Beachbody products because that is what worked for me.  But at the end of the day, there are many paths to success.  They all share this in common: they require you to decide to do something and commit to its success.  If you have a setback, you go right back to it.  If you get cancer and lose everything you work for, don't listen to the voice that says "Just get fat again and drown in brownies!"  If you are going to the gym and not pushing yourself (this is subjective) you will not make progress.  If you don't vary your workouts you will not make progress.  And most importantly, if you don't change your diet, you will FAIL.  I'm not saying you won't make progress--you will FAIL.  Diet is fundamental to change because diet is what got us into the mess that we are in.  Change something.  Do different workouts, do a fit club with me, do weight watchers, start running in the mornings, do shakeology like I do every day, change, change, change, change.

If you need help, ask me for help.  I can help you get fit so that you don't fail.  

Unsolicited Advice from the Uninformed and Ignorant

Fitness advice must be accepted with caution and a little suspicion...

The only credential you are getting this week is from Andrew, PHD in having lost a lot of weight.  No links.  No facts.  It's not characteristic of what I write on this site, but tonight is just my ramblings about a blight in the fitness community that causes a lot of setbacks and frustration: Unsolicited Advice from the Uninformed and Ignorant.

Nowadays, the word "ignorant" has taken on a really strong meaning that usually ends in a fight.  Please don't take this word that strongly.  The following definition is from Merriam-Webster:

1a : destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified <parents ignorant of modern mathematics>
1b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence <ignorant errors>
2: unaware, uninformed

Ignorant of proper attire.  And Sanity.  (credit)

What that means is that when I say someone is "ignorant" that they are lacking the precursory knowledge necessary to be giving advice, counsel, or insight.   This is not an insult, just a fact.  We are all ignorant about many things.  I enjoy playing sports, but I am completely ignorant of sports teams, who is playing who, etc.  It is a willful ignorance because of complete lack of interest.  I choose not to educate myself in the subject.  Because I have not educated myself I wouldn't venture an opinion on it.  This happens in fitness to the extreme.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are purely regarding health, fitness, and weight loss.  I am making no statements that are qualitative regarding people or their life choices beyond how it has effected their path to health, fitness and weight loss.  So don't get offended.  OK, there.

On this site I try to be objective and supply the scientific backup for what I claim.  I also give references to well respected sources when it comes to other fitness claims made.  But obviously there is room for opinion and I do offer them.

"The best way to get skinny is..." (credit)

Now, the issue here is when people offer opinions when they clearly have no business offering advise about fitness.  Are there overweight people who can give advise about fitness?  Yes, his name is Bela Karolyi and he has led numerous young women to Olympic championship (Mary Lou Retton, Kerri Strug, etc.).  When you are a genius who has studied the human body and how to get it in peak condition, please send me information that will help me.  Absolutely.  Otherwise, on what grounds do unhealthy people challenge what a person is doing for their fitness?



Two examples can put this in perspective:

1. When I was losing weight on the Sadkhin Complex the first time I had people telling me that I was losing too much weight while I was still clinically overweight at 200 lbs.  I wasn't even in the healthy weight range.  I had people telling me that "now you should stop losing weight and just tone up."  The people who were telling me this were between 30 - 40 BMI which is in the obese and super obese category.  Now, I'm not trying to be overly critical here.  I was obese before and I know the mentality.  That's why I'm advising my readers about this kind of destructive advice.  I was no where near where I needed to be to start toning.  I had 30 lbs of fat to lose before I was at a point to start toning with the way I was doing it (you don't workout during Sadkhin--its the only drawback).  No amount of toning was going to make my love handles go away--they simply had to lost through the metabolism of fat.

Japanese says: "Miracle Fruit Tablet".
Convincing.... (credit)

2. When talking about my dietary choices at work I had an obese coworker tell me about supplementation that gave you some astronomical amount of antioxidants or whatever.  That's great.  Explain to me what antioxidants are important?  "They eliminate free radicals" you say?  What are free radicals, how are they produced, and why are they dangerous?  I mean really, vitamin C is an antioxidant.  Let's keep things in perspective.  No amount of antioxidant, probiotic yogurt,  or any other supplement is going to transform you from unhealthy to healthy.  Not when you are taking those supplements with greasy hamburgers and fries.  You can workout until the cows come home, but any good nutritionist or trainer is going to tell you that 80% of weight loss is diet and 20% is exercise.

The Destroyer.  But oh, what sweet destruction. (credit)

Don't get me wrong.  I love the occasional Five Guys burger and fries.  But I also know that I get 41 weight watchers points in a day and that Five Guys meal is going to set me back about 50 points.  Scary.  But I enjoy it that once in a while and never look back.  I don't feel guilty or unhappy.  I destroy that sucker.  Then I get right back on the wagon (and have shakeology for dinner so that I don't plotz).  But I digress...

You tend to see more of this the more fit you get.  It's almost as if these people see you having lost weight and they have to justify that what they are doing is somehow superior.  But at the end of the day, if that's what works for them, fantastic!  I'm glad that they are taking positive steps for their health.  I just wish they would also stop deceiving themselves and take actual positive steps for their health.  All of the people who have been in poor health who have tried to discourage me from my path are still vastly overweight and unhealthy.  Remember, this is not a qualitative statement about anything except our approaches to weight loss.

Has an single person ever offered their opinion on how you can find a mate?  Have they ever given their opinion about how to handle something in your relationship?  How did it work out for you?  Maybe it worked out well--sometimes you can hit the mark with a blindfold on.  But is it wise to ask a person for their opinion if they have no successful track record?  How much more so when they are basing it solely on their opinion and not on a trustworthy source!  Would you get in a taxi with a blind driver?  Would you trust an investor who was dirt poor?  Of course not!  So why do we listen to people who are unfit when they offer us advice?  Has what they are doing worked for them?  Not in the slightest.  And until what they are doing works for them I will continue to ignore it.

Missing requisites... (credit)

Obviously I am biased.  Am I saying that what I did will work for you?  Clearly not as I have mentioned that my wife and I took completely different approaches to weight loss and both achieved success (for her two times after giving birth to each of our children).  But at the end of the day there has to be a small workout component and a LARGE diet component.  You can pay thousands of dollars for supplements and yogurt to help you poop.  But at the end of the day you have to commit to changing your diet and lifestyle or stay stagnant.

My purpose is not to offend anyone and I hope that this post has not offended.  The point is that we have to consider the source of the advice we receive.  When someone says something that attempts to derail your fitness goals (and accepted health guidelines) then throw it away and don't listen.  When I got down to my healthy base weight I had people telling me that I looked too thin and sick.  Know how helpful that was?  Like handing me a poisonous snake--the only purpose was to hurt me.  Useless = throw it away.  Fail.

Know your BMI.  Know your BMR.  Educate yourself about nutrition and exercise.  Ask someone who is healthy for help.  The commit to a plan and follow through.  It's a long term goal and there will be setbacks.  That's normal.  But the end goal is the same. Get fit.  Don't fail.