[as seen in the Oxford Review January 20th, 2011]
There are a few things that you don’t want to do when trying to lose some weight. They are crucial and you will not get the results you want if you tumble into these pitfalls.

Lack Discipline
A lack of discipline is most likely the most harmful pitfall if you are trying to lose weight. You have to have what I call persistent consistency. You have to tough it out even when you don’t feel like it. Then tough it out again. And again.

Cutting down on your waistline takes a reasonable amount of effort which must be sustained over the course of a year (or more). This didn’t happen to you overnight so it is unreasonable to expect results in less time than is actually possible.

There is one word that describes the staying power of winners. One word that describes the type of commitment that is needed. One word that you need to learn to use and become. That word is: Grit.

Eliminate Fat
Eliminating fat or eating a very low fat diet is a common error that people are encouraged to make by food marketing. Eliminating fat intake to get rid of fat from the body may seem like a good idea at first glance, but when you understand that most food producers add sugar when they take out the fat you will begin to understand why ‘low-fat’ doesn’t mean healthy. (Note: all trans-fat should be removed from your diet because they will hurt you).

You need a decent amount of good fat in the diet because all the cells in the body are made up of two layers of lipids or fats, which will be composed of good fats or bad fats depending on the type you eat. If the cell lipid layers are made up of healthy fats, it will make them more sensitive to insulin and allow the receptors to bind more easily, which is necessary for good metabolism and energy production. Remember to balance your fat intake by taking fish oil for the high levels of available Omega-3. I recommend at least 1g of EPA per day.

Keep Getting Stressed
To lose fat, it’s essential that you minimize stress to lower your cortisol levels. It is well established that chronically high cortisol results in fat gain, particularly around the middle. This means that no matter how much you exercise or eat healthy, you won’t lose weight if your cortisol is elevated because of how cortisol makes the body insensitive to insulin.

One recent study looked at the relationship between cortisol levels, insulin sensitivity, and visceral belly fat in men. Men with more belly fat produced far more cortisol throughout the day and had decreased insulin sensitivity than those with less belly fat. Interestingly, subcutaneous fat—the jiggly kind that’s right below the skin—was not related to insulin or cortisol levels. Researchers suggest both external stress and internal physiological stress (in the form of chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract) are the cause of the elevated cortisol.

Forget Your Gut
Fix your gut health and support digestion by taking a probiotic to lose fat, have more energy, and feel better. Probiotics are the tiny bacteria that naturally occur in the gastrointestinal tract and are commonly found in dairy products such as yogurt and kefir.

Gut health is essential in that it will improve digestion and help you feel better. You will actually feel more energetic because your neurotransmitters will be firing at optimal levels, and your metabolism will be supported so that nutrients and energy sources are getting broken down, absorbed, and used by the body in the most effective manner. Additionally, research shows probiotic supplementation helps lower anxiety and stress levels, which leads to less secretion of cortisol.

Miss Adding Protein to Breakfast
Skipping breakfast and missing meals will set you up to fail when trying to lose weight. Eating breakfast is one of the simplest, healthiest things you can do to feel better and have more energy, but there’s one catch. You have to eat protein at breakfast. Eating cereal for breakfast is a common pitfall that is often not addressed by the media or mainstream health professionals.

Cereal is bad for breakfast because it’s typically packed with sugar and additives. In the rare case that you can find a cereal that doesn’t have added sugar, cereal tends to be low in protein. You can always add some high quality whey protein to your breakfast. It what I do and it works wonders.

Stay Focused, have Grit, and Smile.

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[as seen in the Oxford Review January 27th, 2012] According to the most recent data available it is the unfortunate reality that the rates of cancer continue to rise. I have personally had a few family members die as a result of cancer and I have a personal mission to find out what I can do to help stop this disease.

While researching the causes of cancer I discovered that there are a minority of cancers that are caused by factors that cannot readily be controlled. When I say not ‘readily’ controlled I mean behaviours and situations that are not immediately available to be changed now; things like environmental pollution, viral infection, and genetic factors. The generally accepted number place about 30% of all cancers under this umbrella.

Conversely, many factors directly related to choices of lifestyle, such as smoking, lack of physical exercise, obesity, dietary habits and the immoderate use of alcohol directly cause the onset of approximately 70% all cancers. Even a very casual inspection of the data (that is the number of people afflicted worldwide) show great variation in the rate of cancer depending on where you look on the globe. This is good news since we can discover some epidemiological truths about cancer by analyzing this variance.

Peter Wentzel, in his book Hungry Planet, showcases the almost unbelievable differences in diet around the world. It is beyond doubt (or argument) that we, in North America, eat a diet heavily laden in processed foods. We eat according to the energy content of food and the fuel it provides. In stark contrast to this those in the East (statistically significant cancer rates are much lower) eat food for the health benefits and for the disease prevention it provides.

Our diet here in the West is generally characterized by a relative lack of fruits and vegetables and it appears that the very same plant foods we lack do play a critical role in the prevention of most (if not all) cancers. It is my opinion that we need a national agenda to get more truly fresh fruits and vegetables into our bodies. There is no substitute for the daily addition of these plants foods to our meals.

The bleak reality is that in spite of decades of dedicated and determined research, financed to the tune of billions of dollars, a large number of cancers remain impossible to treat. It is my belief that the miracle drug (or procedure) to cure cancer will never come. The responsibility firmly rests upon our shoulders to take matters into our own hands and make some good choices for change.

We must make the lifelong decision to eat more vegetables, be more active, and get high quality rest. As a nation, if we ever want to address the cancer problems we have in this country, we must look at ourselves in the mirror, stop making excuses, and start living a lifestyle reflective of what we already know is true.

You might have been expecting me to list off a bunch of foods that will nourish your body and block cancer from developing in the first place. While I am going to give you my time 5 foods – the truth is you already know. You have heard it hundreds of times before – fresh vegetables and fruits have been written about extensively. They are all good for you. No more excuses. Take control now. Commit half of every single plate of food you eat to fresh veggies and fruit. Once-in-a-while just won’t cut it. The reality is you need to eat them on a very regular basis, over a lifetime, to get the benefits. It is the daily, day-in-day-out, choices you make which have the greatest impact on you.

I will finish up by giving you my top 5 cancer fighting foods – but we have to make a deal first. The deal is that you must commit to adding these foods to your diet now. Please. I would actually get down on my knees, if I could, that is how strongly I feel about this.

The top five cancer fighters are: cruciferous veggies (broccoli), garlic and onions, turmeric, green/white tea, and omega-3’s. If you need more information on how to get these foods in your diet please email me at info@vitalityplus.com.

We can change the broken health system one meal at a time.

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[as seen in the Oxford Review January 6th, 2011]
The bacteria in your gut are, during the best of times, highly underrated. They provide many different functions that help us live our lives. In fact we have more bacteria in our gut than we do cells in our body. Amazing isn’t it.

To keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy it is very important that we do a few things well. We must maintain our intake of fibre to be a minimum of 30g per day. We must eat a plethora of high quality low-starch veggies like broccoli and kale. We must limit (or eliminate) our sugar intake since sugar causes a shift in the healthy keep-us-lean bacteria. We must take a probiotic as a supplement or as food.

There are many options for getting probiotics into our gut. One of my favorites is called Kefir and it is my secret ingredient to staying in tip-top shape. I am free from colds and the flu year round (my next article will highlight more of my secrets on staying cold-free). A very large part of our immunity lies in the health of our gut and in the bacteria that reside there. You would do well to take that very seriously.

When you eat a diet high in fibre, veggies and probiotics you are on your way to getting a very robust immune system. I find that many people discover Kefir does them very well and helps them regain their health. In fact – many studies point to a well-colonized intestinal tract as being a first-line-defense for our immunological system.

Kefir, an ancient drink from the Caucasus Mountains that resembles liquid yogurt, is made by adding a live culture – called kefir “grains” – from a previous batch of kefir to room-temperature milk (usually from a cow, goat or sheep, though soymilk can be used). The cultures are a combination of bacteria and yeasts, usually lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces kefir.

The term probiotic means it is “friendly” bacteria. Having lots of friendly bacteria in our gut also keeps us happy. As early as 1906, in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that the health of the gut and depression were correlated. As a probiotic Kefir also provides you with calcium and protein, and may have some additional benefits for the immune system. You can certainly use it every day.

The one caution I would give you is that commercial kefir can be overly sweet and can contain additives. Read labels carefully. I would buy plain varieties and add your own freshly cut fruit. Making your own kefir isn’t difficult, with starter kits widely available. You’ll have to experiment a bit to produce kefir that bests suits your taste. In general, the longer the fermentation time, the more sour the finished product.

My personally recommendation is Pinehedge Farms Kefir. This Kefir is made right here in Ontario and right on the farm. This product is not only Organic but also has the Demeter Bio-Dynamic Certification. The Demeter certification has the absolute strictest requirements for organic food, and it also demands the farm be bio-dynamic.

I don’t use any other Kefir products (I get mine at Inside U in Woodstock) because none can even come close to Pinehedge Farms for quality. As usual I called the farm and spoke directly to the farmer when I was doing my research and information gathering. Mr. Heinzle was very helpful and full of great information. He definitely takes pride in his work and believes in the sustainability of bio-dynamic farming.

As always – Eat Well. Exercise Hard. And Keep Smiling!

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[as seen in the Oxford Review December 31st, 2011] The word January comes to us from Roman mythology and means a doorway to the new year. The Roman god Janus had two faces: one which looked backward and one which looked forward. The 1st day of January gives us just that – an opportunity to look back at the year just finished and an fresh look a future yet unspent. New Years Day is a time for new beginnings. A bold and fresh look into the future of possibilities. It is time to make something happen this year. It is time to fulfill your desires and dreams. It is time to think about Mark Twain. It was Twain who said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Now read that quote again. Then read it again. And again. Choose only one thing this year that you will commit to getting started on. Choose one thing this year that you will see through for the entire year. When you are trying to loose weight or go to the gym, getting started means doing it day-in and day-out all year long. Losing weight and getting fit are the culmination of many hours of sweat equity. There is no shortcut. Don’t listen to any of the infomercials. They lie. The important thing about getting started is gaining momentum towards your goals. There is not much that compares to feeling the energy and sizzle of new beginnings. If you’ve wanted to lose weight and get into amazing shape, why not use the energy of this moment to your advantage? Momentum is one of the most underrated factors in achieving a better body.  It can give you what you need to start an exercise program, stick with it and reap major rewards. The hardest part is always getting started. But once you begin, once you start losing the pounds, once you get going at the gym, you will be noticeably harder to derail. You will be taking the first steps to actually making a permanent lifestyle change. You will look and feel so much better than you ever thought possible. Trust me I know! I want you to get excited! As you know, it’s very easy to do something when you feel excited about it. Learn to use this excitement to your advantage and allow it motivate you to even greater heights. When you consider the world of possibilities there are just so many things to get excited about.  Running groups, fitness classes, Zumba, yoga, and Highland Bootcamps (my very own bootcamp) to name a few. It can be scary getting started, but it is oh-so worth it when you stick it out. The pride and power that goes with accomplishment, and a job well done, makes an impact not only on your own sense-of-self, but also on those around you. You must keep in mind that the initial excitement does wear off eventually. The big secret  of everything in life is just sticking to your program whatever it is. That honestly IS the big secret, the magic bullet, the pill, the easy way, the shortcut to getting ahead – get started and stick with it!! Blessings. Remember – Eat Well. Exercise Hard. And Smile. Read More