Michael Gough

Making the right choices about what you eat.

To start living a healthy lifestyle, you will need to make your own decisions.

Obesity has dramatically increased over the past 30 years and is the cause of many illnesses and diseases.

When obesity first came on the radar as a global health issue, the food industry started to take notice. Some of the global food giants decided to make money from obesity, by buying into the diet industry.

The average so-called health food is anything but, just try reading the labels, you need a science degree to understand half the ingredients.

The vast majority of calories consumed by the average person now come from highly processed foods. These are mainly full of salt, sugar, strange additives, and refined grains. Most of which are empty of any naturally occurring nutrients and antioxidants.

As a consequence, some substances in our food supply may very well function as preservatives or manufacturing aids, but they have very questionable effects on our health.

Our governments, regardless of their promises of oversight, do very little to keep under control the vast number of questionable ingredients going into our food supply.

Above all, you need to understand the health food industry is not your friend. The food industry has one objective – and that is to sell food for profit.

Learning the Basics

You will need a good grounding in the basics and hopefully, I can hopefully share some new information with you over the coming weeks. No one person can ever give you all the answers. You should also try and do some of your own research and make up your own mind.

Despite the appeal of junk food, and its convenience in our very active everyday lives the ability to eat healthily is readily available to all of us if we are just willing to choose it.

It is great news that people’s awareness is increasing regarding the risks posed, and many are now willing to do something about it.

I have a few general rules of thumb when it comes to food, if I can grow it outside I will eat it, if it can be killed and cooked I will eat it. If it’s in a packet and there are ingredients that don’t sound like the food above I don’t touch it.

To succeed, of course, you have to put in some real boots-on-the-ground effort. It will take your personal commitment. However, I can tell you from my experience; that it can be done. You can live a life that’s rich and fulfilling and accomplish things you never imagined were possible.

Cutting down on carbohydrates and foods with a high sugar content, eating in moderation and consuming high-quality whole food may not seem particularly exciting. However, it is far healthier for you in the long run and certainly more preferable to rushing to the bathroom all day or taking dangerous diet drugs and injections.

Mindset

First things first, everyone has their own excuses. When trying to improve their lifestyle and diet, most people will do just fine until something else comes along. Possible pressure from work, family issues, or something else. Whatever your personal circumstance, the pattern needs to change if you are to have any chance of success.

If you have been attempting to make a change to your diet or lifestyle but are unable to make a breakthrough, I encourage you to dig a little deeper into what is holding you back. Perhaps it’s not just a matter of willpower or weakness in the present moment that is inhibiting you.

Do you actually believe you can succeed? Are you afraid that people may treat you differently if you do succeed? Have you previously failed and lost confidence?

Whatever those negative feelings are you need to put them behind you. You can do this; it’s not as difficult as you might think.

Determine whether you’re dealing with emotional or psychological complications, which are influencing your eating habits.  Try to address some of these if possible.  You may consider accessing social support or professional help if things are overwhelming.

A wide range of emotional and situational factors often give rise to overindulgence.  Examples include boredom, worry, depression, circumstances, stress, frustration with dieting and other failures, etc.

Improve your mindset and approach to eating.  Research some information on a long-term diet to maximise your chances of losing some weight then maintain your weight in a healthy way.

Our heads influence the greater part of our eating habits, so if your mind is on the right path, your body will follow.

Having a long-term approach

Why would you choose to go through all the effort of getting yourself in shape just to go and start eating junk food the very next day? That is unfortunately what the majority of people do. I would like this book to assist you all with being able to sustain a healthy lifestyle that goes far beyond a diet program.

The very same thing is common when people go on traditional weight loss diet plans. They lose some weight and then after a while, they gain it all back plus some more. The result is an endless cycle of so-called Yo-Yo diets that eventually lead to even more weight gain over the long term.

In other words, the majority of people do not make eating healthy a way of life. Severely restricting your caloric intake and going on a crash diet will probably set you up to fail in the long run. It is not a hundred-meter sprint it is a marathon.

A long-term approach is what is needed, something you can keep up with and follow through with on a daily basis. There is so much great-tasting healthy food out there to eat; it does take some effort and a little imagination.

The first mistake most people make is restricting calories too much. This approach of putting your body into starvation mode has the opposite effect and will make you gain unhealthy weight.

After we consume and digest a meal, glucose and amino acids are transported from the intestine to the bloodstream. The dietary lipids are packaged into chylomicrons and transported to the blood by the lymphatic system this leads to the secretion of insulin. Insulin accelerates glycolysis in the liver, which in turn increases the synthesis of fatty acids.

The liver helps to limit the amount of glucose in the blood during times of plenty by storing it as glycogen so it may release glucose in times of scarcity. The metabolic changes caused by fasting lower the blood sugar level which leads to decreased secretion of insulin and increased secretion of glucagon. 5

In simple terms when the body is starved it does not know when the next meal is coming, it only knows that it is receiving fewer calories than it needs. The net outcome of this is the body stores the calories that it receives as fat. The secret is to keep your blood sugar levels normal and stop you from producing elevated levels of Insulin.

Exercise

Physical activity is a crucial component to any weight management program. Although energy restriction by dieting is primarily responsible for initial weight loss, regular exercise helps to maintain weight loss and prevent weight regain. Regular exercise and aerobic fitness also help improve insulin sensitivity and glycemic control. May decrease the risk of developing diabetes, and may reduce overall mortality in patients who have type 2 diabetes. 6

If you realy want to get rid of some fat though, you can’t beat strength training, this will melt the fat off you. Begin slowly and build up your activity gradually for a few months to avoid soreness and possible injury.

Select activities that you enjoy and find satisfying, and that give you a feeling of overall accomplishment. Even a small amount of success leads to increased motivation and will encourage physical activity.

That’s it for this letter.

I hope it was helpful.

Michael

If you are to start living a real healthy lifestyle, you will need to make your own decisions.

Obesity has dramatically increased over the past 30 years and is the cause of many illness and diseases.

When obesity first came on the radar as a global health issue, the food industry started to take notice. Some of the global food giants decided to make money from obesity, by buying into the diet industry.

Above all, you need to understand the health food industry is not your friend. The food industry has one objective – and that is to sell food for profit.

You will need a good grounding in the basics and hopefully I can share some new information with you. No one person can ever give you all the answers.

To succeed, of course, you have to put in some real boots on the ground effort. It will take your personal commitment. However, I can tell you from my experience; it can be done. You can live a life that’s rich and fulfilling and accomplish things you never imagined were possible.