Why is this, when the USA has the most personal trainers and the highest number of health clubs per capita of anywhere on the planet? Well, the answer is simple. We have been brainwashed that fat is fattening and have been misdirected from the real culprit: SUGAR.

Sugar spikes your insulin. High insulin levels put you in a fat storing mode. Insulin spikes also cause you to be hungry for more sugar. I’m sure you can see the viscous weight gain cycle here.

By “sugar” I mean sucrose, dextrose, refined flour, refined bread, and starches. Sugar also includes fructose, which is in my opinion, the worst of the sugars. It’s no coincidence that our obesity rate increase parallels our fructose consumption increase since the 1970′s. Fructose is found in High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), which is most responsible for our obesity rates. HFCS is in most of the processed foods you will find on the shelf in your local store – especially in “low fat” foods. It is also found in table sugar and even other “seemingly benign” products such as agave nectar.

It is true that fructose is “low glycemic” and even moderate amounts will not spike your insulin like other sugars will, but fructose is fattening for another reason. This particular calorie bypasses your digestive system, goes straight to your liver and at least half of it is immediately turned into fat. The same goes for alcohol calories, but that’s another post.

If you must have fructose, get it from fruit. God created fruit with fiber that slows the absorption, so eating (organic) fruit in moderation (i.e 1-2 pieces a day) is actually OK. Even raw sugar cane is OK to eat, as long as you eat the stick part too.

I could go on and on about the evils of sugar in all it’s forms, but if you want to understand the science behind the facts, check out the videos below. Take the time to watch them and it will change your life.

Dr. Lustig’s “Sugar the Bitter Truth:”  http://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM

Gary Taube’s take on sugar (short version): http://youtu.be/rwcgzOcGW3A,  and why we get fat (long version): http://youtu.be/bTUspjZG-wc

This is me in 2007 at age 40, off sugar.

Who looks older?

When I get my new license this May, I’ll be 45. I think I look even younger than I did at 40. I sure FEEL younger! I’m leaner, stronger and faster too, with less aches and pains. Now that I have been off sugar for 9 years, I feel like I have literally turned back the clock. I have my own time machine!

Why does sugar age us so rapidly? Well, besides being a poison, here are some technical reasons, as explained by Dr. Mercola:

• Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a complex group of compounds formed when sugar reacts with amino acids. Glycation is one of the major molecular mechanisms whereby damage accrues in your body, which leads to disease and aging.
• Restricting dietary AGEs can increase lifespan in animal models, and limiting sugar in your diet is a well-known key to longevity.
• Fructose in particular is extremely pro-inflammatory, promoting AGEs and speeding up the aging process. It also promotes the kind of dangerous growth of fat cells around your vital organs that are the hallmark of diabetes and heart disease. In one study, 16 volunteers on a high-fructose diet produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs in just 10 weeks.
• As a standard recommendation to limit glycation, Dr. Mercola strongly advises keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day.

I personally advise total sugar consumption below 10 grams per day. I eat zero grams. I’m talking about sucrose (table sugar) of course, but that also includes high fructose corn syrup. That stuff is like rat poison!

You have your own time machine too. Is it worth it to you, or would you rather keep eating sugar, stay fat, miserable and die early?

It’s your life.

It’s your choice.

First, most chocolates have sugar, which temporarily medicates your brain with chemicals that make you feel happy. The downside however, is this “high” only lasts about a hour and then things start to return to normal – and then worse – within about two hours. At that point, the sugar has worn off, your blood insulin levels are spiked, your metabolism is in a fat storing mode, your mood is worse than before eating the chocolate and so is your energy. This makes conventional chocolate a bad idea overall. But take heart, there are some yummy solutions! Just read on.

Chocolate is indeed known to mimic the feelings of being “in love.” This is due to a chemical found in chocolate called phenylethylamine, which is part of a group of chemicals known as endorphins. Phenylethylamine levels in the brain are elevated when people are “falling in love.” Seratonin is another chemical found in chocolate. This chemical is known for its happy and calming properties. Here’s the catch though: To get high enough concentrations of these chemicals to feel their effects, you must eat real, unprocessed chocolate – namely – cacao. Not cocoa. That’s processed. Make sure it’s CACAO. There is a big difference.

Real chocolate without the sugar offers some real health benefits too. Things like decreased blood pressure and blood clotting, increased blood vessel health and improved LDL levels to name a few. These benefits come from cacao’s high flavanol content. Real cacao is bitter to the taste though, so that is why chocolate manufacturers process the heck out of it and add all that sugar.

There are only 3 sources I have found that will give you all the mood and health benefits of real chocolate (cacao) while still tasting great. I’m listing them here in order of health and coincidentally, taste, from worst to best:

1.) Good – Cavalier brand no-sugar added dark chocolate bars. These are sweetened with Maltitiol, so if your body produces gas from this ingredient, beware. It might make you feel like you are in love initially, but farts following soon after can ruin the mood.

2.) Great – Mercola.com chocolate bars. All the benefits of cacao without the bitter taste, nothing artificial, no insulin spike, no fat storing phase, plus some protein to boot! They are super expensive though, but hey, it’s true – we really do get what we pay for.  http://www.mercolacatalog.com/whey-protein-2/whey-protein-now-in-a-chocolate-bar/

3.) Amazing – X Gym’s new chocolate pudding recipe! All the health and mood benefits of real chocolate with the amazing taste too. Best of all, you can make it at home! Check it out on www.hardbodcafe.com in the “Deserts” section.

Real cacao also has an ultra high fiber content and we all know how awesome that is. There are so many nutritional benefits to real cacao, it is actually classified as a superfood. In fact, cacao is arguably the most potent superfood on the planet. Many experts claim it’s anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are unsurpassed, even by other known superfood powerhouses such as turmeric, cinnamon, gogi berries and blueberries!

How do I know all this? Mainly from studying the research, but also from personal experience. You can study it for yourself by just Googling it. You will find that the darker the chocolate the better, so look for higher cacao content and lower sugar content. The higher the cacao and the lower the sugar however, the more bitter it becomes, unless you follow the suggestions above.

As for personal experience, my girlfriend is the best case study I have ever seen. Her mood is so drastically affected by cacao, it is truly remarkable. If she is bummed about something or feeling anything other than happy, shiny and elated, all I have to do is fill her mouth full of the pudding recipe mentioned above and within minutes she’s smothering me with hugs and is happy as a mouse in a cheese factory.

Be careful however, with this knowledge because the effects of cacao are so remarkable, it could be used for manipulation of other people’s moods. If you are feeding someone cacao for their health and brain benefits, then good for you. If you are using it to manipulate their mood for your own benefit however, then you’re just a jerk.

If I have already offended you with these statements, then you have an agenda to protect and can stop reading now, so you don’t get any more upset. If you want to learn more about how science really works however, and some new facts about our physiology, then read on.

Even the newest rookie scientist will tell you that all you can do with data from observational studies is use them to form hypotheses that can then be tested in well designed, randomized, controlled trials.  Then and only then, if the study results show it, can you even begin to consider talking about causation. If you need clarification on this subject, check out this video. It’s awesome and hilarious: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RXvBveht0.

Observational studies aren’t facts. They are observations, which are open to interpretation and therefore, human error based on bias, mistakes, etc. When you have some cold hard facts however, you can draw more accurate conclusions.

I’m not claiming perfect science here. I’m just offering better “bad science” than Dr. Campbell gives you. The facts I cite below are also observational, so I’m using the same “science” that Dr. Campbell has used in order to compare apples to apples.

Since there have been no well designed studies on meat eaters and vegetable eaters to date, we have to make inferences from observation, as flawed as that is. This however, opens things up for error and mistranslation of data like Dr. Keyes did in the 1960′s, starting the whole low fat revolution that, in my opinion, was one of the biggest disservices to society in modern history. Not only is the low fat philosophy flawed and downright wrong, it has made our nation fatter instead of thinner, but this topic is for another post…

Here are 7 quick facts. Feel free to draw your own conclusions:

1.) Our ancestors were hunter gatherers. This means that they were mostly meat eaters, since the agricultural revolution hadn’t happened yet.

2.) Fossil evidence shows that our ancestors dealt with cancer about as often as they flew airplanes.

3.) Cancer and other diseases like diabetes have only reared their ugly heads since the industrial revolution began, less than a couple hundred years ago. These diseases (as well as obesity) have grown at the same rates as our food processing technology has advanced (thanks to the industrial revolution).

4.) Our genes haven’t changed since those of our ancestors found in fossil records.

5.) Modern hunter gatherer societies are also virtually cancer free. They don’t even know what diabetes is. Obese hunter gatherers do not exist. Even traditional Eskimos who eat blubber all day, average about 11% body fat.

6.) Modern hunter gatherer societies get more than 80% of their calories from animal products. Traditional tribes like the Inuit get over 95% or their calories from animal products.

7.) Modern vegan societies (i.e. Hindus) are not cancer free. Vegans also get diabetes and have plenty of obese members of their society. The only exception is the extremely small segment of strict, hard-core, 100% “raw” vegans who eat organic produce only. They are typically very lean and free from diabetes, obesity and cancer. Some people, like my good friend Tim Van Orden, can thrive on this diet (as long as certain vitamin supplements are consumed), but most people find it too difficult to sustain and/or just don’t feel well on it.

Now some people take issue when I use our ancestors as an example of good health. They typically say, “Hey wait a minute – our ancestors had a average life span of about 40 years.” Yep, that’s true and with a little context, you will easily understand why. The main problem with the age calculations of our ancestors is that their infant mortality rates were factored into their lifespan averages and since they didn’t have access to fancy hospitals that are pretty darn good at saving weak babies and salvaging tough births, about a third of their babies didn’t make it. Mom’s often died during childbirth as well (and they were making babies at a pretty young age back then).

Another problem is that our ancestors didn’t have access to fancy first aid kits and trained paramedics on the other side of a telephone call, so when they fell down a hill chasing their dinner and banged their head hard enough, or even got a pesky little compound fracture, they died.  Oh, and also keep in mind that they weren’t just the chaser of food. They were also being chased by bigger food, and they didn’t have a .357 magnum to defend themselves.

Now take all that (plus more that I won’t go into due to the interest of keeping this short due onnaccounta our limited attention spans thanks to modern television) and average it together and you’ve got a life expectancy of about 40 years old. There were indeed lots of very old people back then and those fogeys were extremely healthy and sturdy as evidenced from the fossil records.

My diet is about half vegetable and half animal by calories. I love veggies, so I eat lots of them. I also prefer them raw because of the taste and health benefits. I make sure they are organic and when possible, locally grown. The meat I eat is always wild, or grass fed, or free range organic. I also eat fun foods using organic ingredients like this pudding recipe: http://youtu.be/AIWs9zG-Rks (to make it vegan by the way, just use a vegan protein powder). I even eat bread! Check this recipe out: http://youtu.be/Msw6XlSv4hA

If I ate modern processed foods and conventional animal products however, I’d probably get cancer and diabetes pretty quickly. I’d get fat really fast too. As it is now however, I’m sure that I will stay cancer free, diabetes free, will continue to have normal blood pressure, healthy cholesterol levels and will maintain my current body fat in the single digits until a ripe, sturdy old age.

Personally, I do not believe God created us to be vegans. Our tooth structure and intestinal design suggests otherwise. He even gave us specific instructions on how to prepare and cook meat in the Old Testament. He also promised His chosen people a land “Flowing with milk and honey.” In the New Testament, He personally served fish and bread to thousands and even created wine out of water. I don’t believe He would encourage such foods if they were unhealthy in any way or would cause disease, but back then of course, everything was organic, locally grown, unprocessed and there was no damage to the ecosystem associated with growing and raising food. Since then we have really screwed things up.

Lastly, I want to make it abundantly clear that I fully support anyone who is vegan for religious, environmental, moral or ethical reasons. They have some really good points too. Those who do it purely for health reasons however, should to re-examine the evidence.

I know of someone who put his sleeping habits aside to get through finals and gained 5 pounds in about 9 days. He didn’t change any other lifestyle factors or habits either. He stuck with his schedule for exercise, his same eating routine, same foods and amounts. A drastic reduction in sleep was the only variable that was changed. Because of this, he was at the mercy of his hormones.

When we don’t get our sleep, our hormones get all out of whack and our metabolism changes drastically. This goes for your quality of sleep as well as getting enough of it. Here are some tips on how to get yours.

1.) Go to bed early. No matter when you have to get up in the morning, see if you can get to bed before 10 pm (or earlier if you get up before 6 am). Most people stay up late when they think they can count on sleeping in, but that doesn’t always happen and even if it does, morning hours are harder to get quality sleep anyway because your likelihood of being woken up increases and when the sun comes up, your body wants to wake up. If you follow a schedule and get to bed roughly the same time each night, your circadian rhythms will work with your hormones to optimize fat loss.

2.) Avoid caffeine after lunch. Obviously, it is harder to get to sleep when you have a stimulant in your system.

3.) Time your workout. Everyone has different bio rhythms, so some people sleep better with an evening workout and others with a morning workout. For me, it’s the afternoon that is the best time to train for a good night’s sleep. Try different times of day and see what works for you and what doesn’t. Then stick with that schedule.

4.) Stay away from food within 2 hours of pillow time. A full stomach keeps your digestion cranking while you are trying to sleep and if your tummy can’t go to sleep, it wants the other parts of you to stay awake and keep it company. Even if your head is able to fall asleep, your other systems will degrade the quality of your sleep while they are working on the food and partying with your stomach. You will also be more likely to store food as fat when you are sleeping and digesting at the same time.

5.) Turn off the TV. Glowing screens from electronics such as TV, computers, tablets and e-readers signal your mind to stay in the alert brain wave range. Power down at least an hour before hitting the hay.

6.) Keep your work out of the bed. This gets your mind amped up and makes it hard to turn it off. Bed time is your time. It’s for decompressing. Your brain goes through a process each night much like defragmenting a hard drive, so let it do its thing and you’ll be more refreshed, sharper and better able to get stuff done the next day.

7.) Light reading can help you doze off. If your parents read bedtime stories to you as a kid, you are already programmed to get sleepy with a book in bed. Make it something light and fun and you will find yourself ending your day in a good mood. The mood you are in when you go to sleep sets the tone for your subconscious to work on stuff in that mode while you are out. I think this is one of the reasons the Apostle Paul (arguably the most talented cognitive psychologist of all time) told us in Ephesians 4:26 not to let the sun go down on our anger.

I have written on sleep in previous posts, even suggesting ways to burn more fat while you sleep and it is a vital part of our fitness physiology. You spend 1/3 of your life in this state, so doesn’t it make sense to make every minute of it work for you and your fitness goals?

To help drive the point home, here is a super cool infographic from http://frugaldad.com/sleep/

Rule 1: Drink enough filtered water. How much is enough? Take your bodyweight in pounds, divide by two and that’s how many ounces you should be drinking (for those who weigh between 70 and 250 lbs.). This will detox you and keep you hydrated which will free up your liver to do all of its more than 400 metabolic functions.

Rule 2: Try to overeat organic vegetables all day. In fact, get obsessive over them. If you are filling up all the time on these foods (raw is best), then you will quite literally be turning back the aging clock for your body and health. Sure, it’s expensive, but you will be saving money in the long run in health care costs. Pay now and be happy with an awesome long life or pay later, hate your life and die early. It’s your choice.

Rule 3: Don’t buy any food that is advertised on television. These are all high-profit foods, which are also highly processed and they will kill you and your kids. Seriously. I’m not exaggerating here. It’s just like poison.

Rule 4: Speaking of poison, if a food has even one ingredient listed on the label that you can’t pronounce or don’t recognize, then it’s probably toxic. That ingredient is most likely made in a lab somewhere and it isn’t even a food. It’s a “food like substance” (FLS). FLS’s are toxic chemicals that taste really awesome. Rat poison tastes really awesome to rats and processed foods like Twinkies taste really awesome to humans. They don’t seem like they will kill you as fast as rat poison kills rats, but when you make the conversion between rat years and Twinkie years, it’s even faster than rat poison. Rats live about 2-3 years and die within hours of eating rat poison. Twinkies stay fresh for about 350 million years (because flies and bacteria won’t get near them) and you can do the rest of the math yourself. I’m picking on Twinkies to make a point, but other processed foods are often just as bad.

Most artificial sweeteners can’t be pronounced either so they should be avoided at all costs too, but don’t be fooled by the ones you can pronounce like Sucralose (or “Splenda” by brand name) and High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is the most prevalent of any ingredient in processed foods. Avoid it and all artificial sweeteners like the plague. They will mess you up, age you prematurely, make you fat and give you diseases like you never imagined.

Rule 5: Limit your sugar intake to less than 30 grams per day. This includes fruit and starches too. If you must eat sugar, eat raw cane. I’m talking about the whole cane, including the stick part. Get your carbs from vegetables first (see rule 2).

Rule 6: Eat more protein than carbs. In fact, if you eat twice as much protein than carbs, you won’t even have to worry about how much fat you consume because you will be burning it off due to your awesome metabolism. Fat by the way, is OK, as long as you are following the rules above. In fact, it is good for you. Dr. Keyes’ flawed research demonized fat in the 60′s and senator George McGovern started the whole low fat craze in the 70′s based on Keys’ bad science. Since the low fat movement started, we have gotten fatter. Eighteen pounds fatter to be exact.

Rule 7: If you eat meat, make sure it is grass-fed or wild for read meat, wild alaskan for fish and free range organic for white meat.

Follow these rules and it will seem like you have found the fountain of youth. Break them and you will pay dearly.

Scientists looked at whether doing good deeds affects willpower and physical endurance. Volunteers were given a dollar and told to keep it or donate it to charity. The decision made, they were asked to hold a weight for as long as they could. To the surprise of the Harvard University researchers, those who had done a good deed were able to bear the load for almost ten seconds longer than the others.

In a 2006 study, Jorge Moll and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health found that when people give to charities, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust. The altruistic behavior releases endorphins in the brain, producing the positive feeling known as the “helper’s high.” This is why I tell competitive stairclimb racers that if they are being passed in the stairwell, they should pat the person on the back who is passing them and say things like, “Great job!”  or “Strong work!” It helps the person passing them, but it helps the person doing the encouraging even more.

The same can be said for when the faster climber is doing the passing. I always encourage those I pass and give them a pat on the back too. It may seem like an energy waste to talk to the slower/faster climber and pat them on the back, but any energy that might have been lost in the breath spent on them and the energy in the pat is more than made up for with the chemical changes in the brain that will help performance. Plus, it’s just good sportsmanship and improves the experience for everyone.

Since the brain doesn’t know the difference between fantasy and reality, even imagining doing something nice for someone will help make you stronger and boost your endurance. The act itself is of course the best way to get the “helpers high” but if you are alone and in need of a quick boost during your workout or just want to change your mood quickly, imagine doing something nice for someone or simply think about a time in the past when you did something nice and re-live that experience.

Try it today! You will find that you are able to put more into your workout and therefore get more out of it with this quick and easy technique.

Based on the research I have studied as well as current events and trends, it is my opinion that eating genetically modified foods (GMO) will lop at least 20 years off your life. What does 20 years mean? To answer that, think of how long you expect to live. Most of us have some concept of that, but now subtract 20 years and think of everything you would miss out on.

Personally, I’m planning on living 119 years, 11 months and 29 days (I have a very specific and vivid imagination, so bear with me). By then I’ll have 4 grand kids, 8 great grand kids and 18  great-great grand kids, three of which are identical triplets who are just starting to walk. Just think of all that I would miss out on if I only made it to 99! We’re talking about family trips, outings, experiences, hikes, you name it. How about you?

Unless we come together now, avoiding GMO foods might be a losing battle as you will see here. As Dr. Mercola reports, the USDA recently approved the planting of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa, the fourth-largest crop in the USA, without restriction! Farmers plant millions of acres of alfalfa to produce forage seed and hay to feed their cows and other livestock. Monsanto, the mega-giant gazillion dollar conglomerate responsible for most GMO food production, is the largest benefactor of this approval.

Alfalfa is one of the biggest pollinators, which means that the likelihood of it cross-pollinating and contaminating non-GMO crops is a sure thing. Since it is a natural forage for pastured (organically-raised grass-fed) animals, contamination would be disastrous for organic dairy and cattle farmers as federal organic standards forbid them from using GM crops. Organic food manufacturers also reject a food ingredient if it is found to be contaminated with GM material — not to mention Monsanto’s history of suing both conventional and organic farmers for patent infringement when those non-Monsanto crops become cross-contaminated.

This is Monsato’s plan though: To get rid of organic food by contaminating it and/or suing it out of existence. That way they own the patents to all the food grown and then completely control the world’s food supply, starting with our nation. Can this really happen? It has already begun and it is building momentum now like a hurricane.

The White House directly intervened recently with the USDA and “suggested” to them in no uncertain terms, not to restrict Monsanto’s alfalfa. Other politicians have helped push this through as well, despite rulings by federal courts and warnings by scientists over the last four years that these genetically engineered alfalfa plants should not be planted.

Many European countries have banned all GMO foods because they have seen the same research studies I have, but our country is censoring that research and going full steam ahead in the opposite direction in order to cater to the real boss – Monsanto – and their greed for money and control.

You might be wondering how all this is possible. The biggest reason is that Monsanto has infiltrated the US Federal Regulatory agencies like the FDA and USDA with their previous employees who are still very loyal to Monsanto.

I might be sounding like a conspiracy theorist at this point, so please allow me to add some credibility to my claims with some real-life examples.

One of the members of the Supreme Court — the infamous Clarence Thomas, did not withdraw himself from a Supreme Court decision on genetically engineered alfalfa last year. He used to be the general counsel for Monsanto. What better example of  ”conflict of interest” could there be than this?

Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa who is currently the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, was a long time supporter and confidante of Monsanto. He rode around on Monsanto’s corporate jet during some of his electoral campaigns in Iowa. Tom Vilsack was named “The Biotech Governor of the Year” in 2001 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Others in the Obama administration include Michael Taylor, who was formerly the vice president of Monsanto. He is now the Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods. Michael Taylor was in charge of FDA labeling practices in 1993 when the FDA first approved the new labeling guidelines, despite overwhelming opposition from the public against those guidelines. Michael Taylor was also instrumental in preventing bovine growth hormone and other genetically engineered foods from having to be labeled. He has gone in and out working for Monsanto and the FDA ever since.

Another member of the Obama Administration is Roger Beachy, the former director of the Monsanto funded Danforth Plant Science Center in Saint Louis. He is now the director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Other appointees: Islam Siddiqui was vice president of Monsanto and Dupont’s funded pesticide-promotion group CropLife. He is now the agricultural negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative. In other words, he is the enforcer for U.S. foreign policy that countries have to accept our genetically engineered exports.

Another appointee, Rajiv Shah, is the former Agricultural Development Director for the pro-biotech Gates Foundation, who are frequently partnering with Monsanto. He served as Obama’s USDA undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics.

I could go on and on with more examples, but you hopefully get the point. Is it any wonder then that we get these kinds of decisions, despite public outcry and opposition? It’s not just the Obama Administration that has served as a revolving door for Monsanto either. We saw the same situation under Bush Jr., Clinton and Bush Sr.

Monsanto is simply out of control. It is not the least bit concerned for your health, but only for it’s own profit and power. This corrupt corporation doesn’t just place its people in high positions. It also donates large sums of money to members of congress (at least from what we can see that’s above the table) and magically gets its way every time there is a policy decision made in Washington.

Why go to all this trouble? Because it we don’t, there won’t be any non GMO food left and we will all be forced to eat it. Am I over reacting? If you knew how fast the non-GMO crops are spreading and how rapidly Monsanto is growing, you wouldn’t think so. Dying 20 years early is not an exaggeration in my opinion either. This stuff is toxic beyond anything our planet has ever seen.

If you aren’t motivated enough to pitch in to help make these changes for yourself, then do it for your kids. If you don’t have kids, then do it for the planet!

To see more information and the full excerpts I used to create this post, visit Dr. Mercola’s site to read it in it’s entirety.

Physicians are the worst though. The overwhelming majority of the Md’s today have not had one single nutrition course in medical school. They have been given extra classes on drugs instead, so they are programmed to be (unknowing) sales reps for the drug companies who fund their schools (both directly and indirectly). Drug companies don’t want people to know how to eat right, because since God created our body to heal itself through proper care and if we all ate right and exercised properly, then every drug company would be out of business, instead of making bazillions of bucks every year!

OK, I’ll step of that soapbox now and leave it for another day, but for now, here my top picks for the 7 most stubborn diet myths of 2011.

Myth #1: Using the “Calorie-in, Calorie-out” theory is the best way to lose weight. Dietitians, nutritionists, doctors and health professionals often reference the law of thermodynamics which states that if you burn more energy than you take in, you must lose weight. Well, the law or thermodynamics applies great to machines, but not so much to humans. We are dynamic beings with metabolisms that adjust to many different factors. Our metabolism will adjust down to match a lowered calorie intake, so restriction doesn’t work after a while. Millions of dieters prove the “Calorie-in, Calorie-out” theory wrong every year.

Exercising to burn more calories is helpful, but you have to exercise a whole heck of a lot to burn off even one Twinkie. High Intensity exercise however, like we do at the X Gym is best, because our 21 minute workout will boost your fat burning metabolism for 4 hours or more. Traditional exercise will work for a short while, but since God also created us to adapt, that will become less effective with time.

Myth #2: All calories are created equal. When I talke to a dietician who believes this (and most of them do), I just ask them one question: “If I were to eat 3,000 calories of cheese and crakers every day, what do you think would happen? They always reply, “You would gain weight.” I say, “Agreed. Now what would happen if I ate 4,000 calores of spinach every day?” At this point they typically look down at the ground, shuffle their feet a bit, and (usually) respond, “You would lose weight.” Then I say, “Wait a minute. I’m eating 1,000 calories more than the cheese and cracker diet that made me gain weight, so how am I losing weight now on more calories, if all calories are created equal?” You see, cheese and crackers have about the same carb to protein ratio as spinach, but one will make you gain weight like crazy and the other will make you lose weight like crazy. This example busts this myth as well as the bogus “law of thermodynamics” don’t you think?

Calories in the same category can be opposite as well. Not even all carbs are created equal! Fiber carbs are very different from sugar carbs. One will help you lose fat, the other will make you gain fat, but they are both carbs! Fiber-rich foods require more chewing. They also help you feel fuller. Fiber takes more work by your digestive system to break it down, process it and excrete it, so your body is burning more calories while it’s in you.

Protein is a metabolic powerhouse, above an beyond fat calories or carb calories. Your body burns drastically more calories digesting and metabolizing protein than any other nutrients. Protein also slows the time it takes for food to move from your stomach to your intestines, helping you feel full longer. Protein also ensures that you build and maintain muscle mass, which incinerates calories. Protein is a great appetite suppressant by stabilizing blood glucose levels. Protein won’t turn to fat like some carbs will either. It’s more work for the body to convert it to fat than it is to just burn it off or use it, so it can be thought of as a “negative fat” food as long as it is clean enough (meaning organic, clean and wild sources).

Certain types of fat can even help you burn body fat. CLA is one of those types. So is Omega 3 fat, to a lesser degree. Trans fats and many non-organic fats on the other hand, can make you gain fat. Again, as you can see, calories are definitely NOT created equal – even among the same TYPE of calorie!

Myth #3: Eat low fat to lose fat. Ancel Keys started this myth on a large scale, back in the 70′s, and it’s still hanging around today. If there was such thing as a Nobel booby-prize, for the people who do the biggest dis-service to others, Keys should have received it with high honors. Most diet foods are low fat. Most diets foods fail dieters as well. It’s eating certain kinds of CARBS that make you fat, not eating fat itself. My diet is considered high fat even by the most liberal dietitians. My calories are also considered high, but I maintain a body fat percentage of 5-8% all year long. I don’t eat “low carb” either. I am just careful about the kinds of carbs I eat. I get plenty of carbs through green veggies nuts, and more. Heck, I even eat pancakes, pasta, and lemon bars! Check out the recipes here: www.hardbodcafe.com

Myth #4: Diet soda is part of a good weight loss plan. Diet soda has been show to raise your hunger level for bad foods. That’s why fast food places love to sell the stuff. They know they will sell more food to those who order diet soda, and that soda costs just as much as the full sugar stuff! Diet soda also contains toxins that make your fat cells resistant to being burned off. If you must have soda, drink Zevia brand. It’s flavored with natural ingredients and tastes great.

Myth #5: Eating fruit will help you lose fat. Yes, fruit is good for you because of the vitamins and minerals (as long as it’s organic), but it also has fructose, so it should be consumed in moderation. Fructose and alcohol are both processed by the liver and half of the calories consumed are turned into fat. As for the other half, well, that depends on if you are in a state to burn it off or not. If not, some or most of that will turn to fat too. Personally, I stick with veggies to get my nutrients. Compare a handful of greens to a handful of any fruit, and the greens win easily on the nutrition scale.

Myth #6: Whole wheat, oatmeal, and other whole grains are part of a good weight loss plan. Yes, it is true that fiber can help you get rid of fat off your body, but most whole wheat products still have to many fast carbs and will cause you to gain weight. Oatmeal has some great quality fiber, but the same problem exists with it as with bread. If you must eat bread, get it from julianbakery.com. If you must eat oatmeal, then you should also be prepared to accept a slower weight loss rate, live with a plateau, or even weight gain.

Wilford Brimley made a lot of money endorsing oatmeal for years. Did you ever see him thin? Now he is endorsing diabetes supplies. Things that make you go, “Hmmmm….”

Myth #7: Eating late at night makes you fat. Not the food I eat and I never go to bed hungry. If I’m hungry I eat, no matter what the time of day. I often eat right before I go to bed, and as long as it’s clean meat and/or green veggies, I’m good to go. In fact, dark green veggies are a “negative fat” food, so if I’m looking to get leaner (like right before a stair race), I’ll purposely gorge on broccoli before bed time, so my metabolism has something to work on and burn fat off me while I sleep!