This is the time of year when everyone who has put on extra weight is trying to take it off. I wanted to give you a short list on some things that you might not be aware of.

1. Your stomach takes around six weeks to shrink back to a normal size. You better believe that if you are overweight your stomach is larger than it is suppose to be. This is why when you start trimming the calories you start feeling HUNGRY! It is so important to eat smaller meals more frequently so your blood sugar does not get out of whack. Low blood sugar is created when your pancreas is triggered to secrete insulin into your bloodstream, this is when you start feeling a little nauseous and uneasy. I believe that if you hone in on your blood sugar bad moods and many arguments can be avoided with your significant other which will help you deal with the stress of being on a diet.
2. Be kind to yourself: If you give into your indulgences, enjoy it and get right back on track. If you make this a positive situation then you will not beat yourself up about it. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Think about it, if you tell yourself you are a loser and out of control then you are giving yourself permission to eat whatever you want. This creates stress and then you start emotionally eating.
3. You must eat breakfast and have a cold drink of water. Research shows that you will not be as hungry at the end of the day if you eat breakfast. (Again, stabilizes your Blood Sugar) Also a cold glass of water can rev up your metabolism by 25%. Add lemon to it and you have a liver detoxifier.
4. Stretch Daily: Stretching not only reduces pain and increases flexibility it also grows muscle. That is why YOGA is so good for you. It also opens up the 12 meridians or channels in your body. These meridians correlate with specific organs and help make your healing mechanisms work at full steam. It is one of the best things you can do for yourself and if you have a computer just go to youtube and watch beginner videos on stretching. One of my favorites is www.elasticsteel.com
5. If you sit down most of the day you turn your fat burning mechanism off. This mechanism is triggered when you are standing and is located in the quads (front of the legs). If you have to sit for a long time get up every 45 minutes for ten minutes, take a break and stretch or walk. This will keep you burning fat and will help you focus while you work. If you are on the couch for the whole day I think you know why you are overweight. Get up and move!
6. Drinking Alcohol. If you are starting to weight train and then you go home and have a couple of cocktails then you are doing yourself a huge disservice! For starters it stops your body from burning fat. Strength training burns fat for up to 48 hours after the workout! In fact it destroys the hard work you just have done by stocking your fat cells with the calories that you just burned. It also lowers your blood sugar and triggers insulin into the system which actually seals the toxins that are in your fat cells. One adult beverage inhibits your sleep and can cause sleep apnea. If you wake up tired you are more likely to overeat and make bad food choices. You get the picture 🙂 Please read this part over and understand this. At the very least drink wine with your meals on the weekend and totally abstain during the week when you are working out. This is so important to follow and is the #1 reason why people can’t lose the weight.
7. Drink water, tea or coffee instead of any fruit juice, soda or alcohol during the work week. This is the make it break it part of your diet. If you can keep it to beverages that rev up your metabolism instead of hindering it the pounds will melt off.

So there you have some good advice to help you with your New Years resolution. Look back at my past articles for weight training and aerobic training to really conquer your weight! Best, Dan

After doing all of my research over the years it is interesting to sit back and think of this question. The answer may surprise some people because it is free and you are in total control of it at all times. Drum roll please…. It is YOUR ATTITUDE! It is not the amount of Superfoods you eat, or the amount of miles you run a week, it is your attitude. The reason being is that we have an internal elixir that is more powerful than anything we can put in our bodies. I know this to be true because it has been thoroughly researched by the Daoists. In fact they did the research with impeccable notes and files for 1000 years to come up with the answer to the question “What is more effective to heal oneself, an External elixir (herbs, tonics etc.) or the Internal Elixir?” The resounding answer is the Internal Elixir! We have it all inside ourselves. As Deepak Chopera said, “We all have a Pharmacy w/in the body.”
One of the best things you can do for your Health is to Meditate. If you have trouble just sitting there in silence I have recently found out that if you do healing sounds it is much easier to focus and keep your attention on your own voice. Sit down and get comfortable. Take a large breath into your belly. As you exhale do a low vibrational hum that begins in the throat. Hum for as long as your breath goes and when it ends take another deep breath into your abdomen and repeat for a few minutes. You will be surprised at the lightness you feel in your body at the end of this discipline. Do this every day for a few minutes, the longer, the better. When you have less stress in your body then the internal elixir can do its job. Moving meditations such as Qigong and Tai Chi are also wonderful for the person who can’t just sit and meditate.

Your attitude is so important because it enables you to see things clearer and your energy is flowing so you can get up and move. Then when you go out of your home you are with other people which is critical to your health. It is a domino effect that happens when your attitude is positive that gets you to do healthy actions and is paramount to your own individual wellness. The “Law of Attraction” is really the “Law of Connection” so when you are in a good mood you will connect with positivity and the same goes with being in a bad mood. You are responsible for your attitude and it is one of life’s many gifts that should never be taken for granted!