DIETS VS.

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

WeightStyle

JOSHUA S GABRIELSON

PREFACE



.
(He who does not know how
to look back at where he came
from will never get to his desti-
nation.)
~ Dr. Jose P. Rizal

Diet. Such a nasty word in our Ameri-

can society, isnt it? The word in ques-
tion is only four little letters in our al-
phabet but yet to so many Americans
its a word associated with being over-
weight, obese or I dare say the word,
fat. Dieting translates into what you
think is countless hours of workout vid-
eos; gyms, sit-ups, pills, diet shakes,
food programs and jogging while jam-
ming out to your headphones and yet
dieting isnt anything like that, its sim-
ply a myth.
Most people simply want to take a pill,
drink some magical shake, purchase
some mystical piece of expensive gym
equipment or watch a video thinking
that it will make them lose weight.
Theyre wrong. Theres no secret pill,
no doing 500 pushups a day, no sweat-
ing to those oldies (if you will) and cer-

tainly no diet shakes that melt the

pounds away. Certainly some of those
things will help to a degree. I should
know; I was overweight a few years
ago, weighing in at a staggering 261
pounds. Today, 4 years later, Im
roughly 160 pounds. I lost most of my
weight within the Virst eight months of
changing my lifestyle and today Im in
the best shape of my life.
Ive written this eBook for a couple of
reasons. First, a lot of people are
amazed that I could lose weight, barely
exercise and still eat what I wanted dur-
ing the process. In this book Im going
to share with you everything that I did
in order to lose the weight and keep it
off.
By clearly mapping out what I did to
lose weight, it should give you a better
understanding of what its going to
ii

take if youre wanting to lose weight or

perhaps you are simply interested in
how I was able to achieve it. Much like
a car needing proper maintenance, you
will learn that your body needs to be
tended to much like anything else in
life. There are simple everyday prac-
tices that you can do that will enable
you to better yourself and its not a diet,
its a lifestyle change.
Now that being said, Im not buff, I
dont have six pack abs, but I am aver-
age now, Im healthy and I have a com-
pletely different outlook on life. My
goal is for you to understand that exer-
cise is needed to maintain a healthy
body, but you do not have starve your-
self on water and crackers, diet pills or
expensive programs either.

iii

C HAPTER 1

Phase I - The Beginning

It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out nor more
doubtful of success nor more dangerous
to handle than to initiate a new order of
things.
~Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian philosopher

In 2007, I went to Seven Mile beach

in Grand Cayman Isle with my friends on
a cruise in the Caribbean. We arrived to
the island and I remember the day well, I
was waste deep in the ocean on the majestic beach, 80 degrees, there was sunshine, light winds, white sandy beaches,
water so clear you can see fish, plants,
crabs and the like, palm trees, people sunbathing, snorkeling, and exploring Grand
Cayman as if they were just stranded
there. My friends, who were newlyweds
were about 8 years younger than I - had
gotten into the crystal clear waters and
wanted me to photograph the happy couple. I took a couple of really great snapshots and then they took photos of my
(now ex) wife and I standing in the water
also. We couldnt ask for a better time.

Thats when it all started for me. About a

week later we all returned to the states to
settle back into our daily lives of work
and life in general. At the time I was an
IT Project Manager, working on learning
computer code, traveling the country
managing new facilities, doing routine
maintenance and the like. I mainly sat at
a desk and was very sedimentary for the
most part, very little to no physical exercise.
I came home one evening and our
friends called to inform us that our photos have arrived. I went to our friends
house and we looked over all the photos.
Everything looked great in them, picture
perfect if you will, until I saw myself. It
was horrible. Me, standing knee deep in a
picture perfect world, but I wasnt picture
perfect. I was fat. Yes, I said it, fat. Stand5

ing there was a six-foot, 261 pound beast,

a 46 inch waist, complete with love handles. I was looking at myself in a different point of view for the first time in my
life. Over the years I had gained weight,
not some ten odd years earlier I was extremely skinny, weighing about 152 when
I was 18. In that moment, I suddenly realized thats how the world perceived me;
a fat, unhealthy, unhappy person.
Yes, I knew that I had gained weight
for sure, but I had NO earthly idea what I
really looked like outside the scope of seeing myself in a mirror and thinking to myself sure I could lose a couple pounds
but Im still good looking.

We arrived back home that night and I

went to take a shower. I remember look-

ing at myself in the mirror and thinking

to myself, Is that REALLY me? Indeed
it was. I started thinking about how I
had become so lazy and gained all this
weight but I simply couldnt figure it out.
Stress from work? Bad marriage? Money
Issues? Not caring about myself? Too
much fast greasy foods? The simple answer was yes, all of the above.
After that day and for the next 6
months or so I was very cautious about
my weight. I started to always look at myself in the mirror. I hated what I saw. I
started to try and exercise, however being
so sedimentary for all those years I found
it hard to do even the simplest of things.
Walking up a flight of stairs got me out of
breath, walking to the mailbox and back
was a hassle, riding on the exercise bike
proved to be little more than 5 minutes of
6

sweat and pain, even playing with my

daughter on the floor was hard to do at
times. Working in front of a computer
during the day and traveling around the
United States for my job was not good either. I found myself eating on the company dime, high dollar foods but very
poor choices I might add. I realized that
eating was a way to cope with the issues
in my life, I wasnt happy unless I was eating food, comfort food, you all have
heard the term before.
I started to write down every item I
would eat in a given day and I started to
run the numbers, staggering I must say.
On a typical day I would consume upwards of 3,500+ calories a day. Im not
joking. I would eat a breakfast combo
from a fast food establishment (which

usually included a biscuit, some form of

hash browns, large soda, oh and an extra
biscuit, usually something on sale, sausage or country ham biscuit.) And of
course I couldnt forget my friends at
work, stopping at a local donut shop for a
dozen or so of our favorite donuts. Lunch
normally consisted of eating out again at
a local Mexican restaurant or an all you
can eat buffet, typical of the American
diet. For a snack, a couple of full size
candy bars or a couple bags of chips from
the vending machine with a 20 oz. soda.
When I would get home, I would cook up
a storm, usually making an entire Italian
dinner for 6 when there was just three in
the household (although only two could
eat normal food as my daughter was two
at the time), I would always get seconds
or thirds as to not waste what I made. I
7

would also often include some form of desert mind you. Ice cream, pie, cake, muffins and whatnot.

Much to my surprise, my body would

gladly take it all in, and I would be hungry even still. I was constantly eating, consuming as much as I could. My waist a

size 46, was huge beyond explanation.

My body only 28 years old at the time
was already worn out from health related
issues because of the weight. I would often blame my knees giving out, my shortness of breath or it must be genetic I
would tell myself. Thats until my health
took a turn for the worse.
First, I had a hiatal hernia about the
size of a baseball that had a constant
burn to it. This hernia was caused by eating lots of spicy food and poor dietary
choices. With the added weight that my
body was supporting, it truly made it impossible at times to be able to eat. I
would chew food and swallow only to
find that it would not go down my throat.
Drinking water didnt help at all; would
simply pile up on the food that was stuck.
My hernia was near the size of a softball,
8

my stomach with a hole at the top, so

much so that the hole would get stuck
into my esophagus preventing me to eat
foods sometimes. I was eating at a local
BBQ restaurant when this first happened. I first thought I was chocking on
something, the shear pain of it all hurt severely as I would breathe in and out and
the only way of escape was for the hole to
work its way out and allow the food to
slowly pass the hole and its constant
burning sensation. Completely freaked
out after it first happened, I didnt finish
my lunch. After several weeks of being in
pain, it got to the point where I couldnt
even drink water without it getting stuck.
This was a major issue that needed to be
addressed immediately.
I finally made an appointment to see
the family doctor only to be referred to a

specialist in Roanoke, about a 25-minute

drive from home.
The physicians made me do a barium
swallow. For those that dont know its a
sort of metallic liquid of sorts, as its used
to enhance x-rays to better show issues
within your digestion tract. I had to
drink several glasses of this white chalky
substance, swallow large barium pills and
even down a candy version of it. The physicians at the hospital found the hernia.
They said it was one of the largest they
ever found. I was horrified but I didnt
know what to do about it. After I had to
have an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy
(an examine of the lining of your throat
and stomach) I started trying to figure
out things, learning about what I could
do to try and lose weight. In the meantime, my second health issue took shape,
9

a kidney stone. It was the middle of the

night and I had to go to the restroom. As
I urinated everything just stopped although I wasnt finished.
Confused by this, I was thinking to
myself that it was because I was barely
awake and simply exhausted. I tried
again. Nothing. I then proceeded to walk
around the house. Walking seemed to
make my pain go away and when I
stopped walking a sharp, vigorous pain
unlike any I had ever experienced occurred. I finally had to call an ambulance
in the middle of the night. They say that
kidney stones are like giving childbirth
and I could easily attest to that as it was
far more painful than a broken bone or
anything else Ive ever experienced in my
life. I was rushed to the emergency room
via ambulance. I had cold chills, hot

chills, I was throwing up and peeing

blood. A complete and utter horrible experience really, luckily Ive never had to
endure that again. While at the ER, they
did a scan and found that I had a very
large kidney stone. I felt embarrassed. After being there for several hours, I was
sent home with a large amount of medicine, (Hydrocodone and Morphine) to
help with the pain, to make me drowsy
and to also make me urinate every 10
minutes it seems.
The next day, I felt something else
strange, a burning pain in my bladder
area, like an added pain on top of the kidney stone pain. Again I went back to the
ER where found I had a bladder infection. After three days of very intense pain
and suffering, I was finally able to pass
the stone. Once I did I remember it was a
10

huge relief and my body actually went

into shock from it, I remember throwing
up and then passing out shortly after at
the toilet.
Now, that may seen a bit graphic, but
truth be told it was a bad experience. My
weight had contributed to health issues
that were getting worse and worse each
month. By this point I was the ripe old
age of 29 I decided that I needed to start
doing something about my weight and
get back down to a normal size.
And so my journey begins with an attempt to lose weight my way; no drugs,
no pills or shakes or any sort of programs. It took me approximately 4
months to figure out what I needed to do.

11

C HAPTER 2

The Burndown

Research. Yup, theres plenty of it

out there, trust me I should know. Everywhere you look, theres diet pills, weight
lose shakes, infomercials with inventions
that can literally slice, dice, do your
taxes, make you a cup of coffee, wash
your car, walk the dog and also help you
lose godly amounts of weight, for only 92
easy payments of $49.99. Ha-yeah right!
But seriously the variety of products and
websites for weight loss is astronomical.
A quick online search will reveal as of
2013 there are over 285,000,000 webpages devoted to weight loss, some are legitimately informational, and some are
there to sell you something.
Here are some things that I found in
my research that may intrigue you.

1. 50 million Americans start a diet

every year and many of them will succeed, but only for the short-term.
2. Only 5-10% of those who are successful at losing weight with fad or crash diets will keep it off for the long-term. Although they may have the motivation to
lose weight initially, they do not have the
mindset to maintain long-term weight
loss.
3. Americans spend over $30 million a
year on diet programs and fads that are
short-term solutions to a long-term challenge.
4. Crash diets will likely trigger a cycle
of weight loss and regaining weight that
can be bad for your health.
5. Losing and keeping weight off for the
long-term requires a change in mindset
13

that focuses on lifestyle changes. Those

changes include healthy eating and increased activity for life not just for a
short period of time.
6. The safest rate to lose weight for most
people is about 1-2 pounds per week (unless otherwise advised by your doctor).
7. Losing a pound of fat requires a reduction of 3,500 calories or an increase in activity to offset caloric intake. Bottom line
is that you must burn more calories than
you consume.
8. Any weight loss program that promotes an easy, magical, secret, or
guaranteed weight loss is absolutely
false. These are short term solutions that
cannot be sustained over a period of time
and that can be harmful to your health.

9. Balanced, healthy eating and regular

exercise are the keys to maintaining a
healthy body and mind.
10. Women with a waist size of 35 inches
or more and men with a waist size of 40
inches or more are at significantly increased risk of disease, including diabetes, heart disease, and others. They are
also at higher risk for premature death related to illness associated with obesity.
11. Diets do not work and are not effective solutions for the long-term.
12. The best way to lose and maintain
weight loss is through lifestyle changes.
These finding are pretty easy, straightforward and actuate. If there is one thing
I want you to carry away from this book
its this, diets are temporary and work for
the short term, but a lifestyle change is
14

permanent. Now, I lost most of my

weight by dieting, which is temporary,
meaning I did things to my body to help
me to lose weight. Once I completed my
weight loss, I made a permanent lifestyle
change in my eating habits and that has
successfully kept my weight off. Before I
get into details about how I was able to
lose my weight and still eat cheesecake,
cheeseburgers and the like, I want you to
know that its extremely important to
have the guidance of a medical professional such as nutritionist or a medical
doctor. Its great to have a starting point
and to have someone who knows a lot
about healthy living. I highly recommend
going to a professional and setup and a
routine checkup every month or so just to
make sure that youre on the right track.

Thats being said, losing weight is not

as hard as you think, however dont expect overnight results and dont expect to
be a model on the cover of a magazine
with six pack abs either. You didnt get
to current weight by eating unhealthy for
only 3 months, so if you think you are going to lose 100 pounds in 90 days and
look like a supermodel, you are dreaming.
Simply know this, garbage in garbage
out.
When the trash in your house gets
full, what happens? It overflows, it smells
and you take it out to another container.
What happens when that outside
container gets full? Right, it fills up, and
normally smells bad too. The same thing
happens to your body, it fills up, over15

flows and looks bad. And what happens

to that same container if it stays there? It
stinks and starts to decay. When you eat
and eat and eat, your body fills up, the extra amount of food you eat has no where
to go, so your body stores it fat as fat until it can burn it. If you dont burn it, the
fat just stays there and your body keeps
building and building until it cant take it
anymore.
The key to losing weight is control. I
was able to control myself by limiting the
amount of food I ate each day. I was able
to cut my calorie intake from 3,500+ calories a day to just 1,400 per day, no more.
Reading lots of articles and doing research about weight loss I found that the
average American calorie intake is
roughly 2,000 calories a day. Most nutrient labels have a statement like this

Percent Daily Values are based on a

2,000-calorie diet. Your daily values may
be higher or lower depending on your
calorie needs.
Meaning each persons calorie intake
is different. Its different in me than it is
you and so on. 1,400 calories works great
for me if i exercise, for you it might be
2,100 or 1,200.
Now, as Ive stated Im not a medical
professional by any means, but Im pretty
smart when it comes to math. If I eat less
than the average amount of calories a
day, my body will not have the ability to
store that food as fat and it will also use
my fat and convert it to needed energy.
Also, I should note that it took me a while
to figure out what my body can burn everyday, as everyones calorie burning abili16

ties are different. I had to experiment

every week with different amounts of
food.
Sounds pretty simple. Eat lots, store
lots. Eat less, store less. I didnt need
some pill to take or some super-specialsecret ingredient milkshake followed by a
healthy dinner, I certainly didnt need to
buy any sort of 90-day exercise program,
I just needed to remember, garbage in,
garbage out.
In the beginning of my lifestyle
change I figured eating fewer calories
would be my main short-term goal. At
this point I didnt care about aspartame,
sugar, carbs, fat, saturated fat or anything of that nature, like I said my diet
or short-term goal was to lose weight. Yes
people need to watch out for salt, sugar

and all that stuff but honestly at this

point in my life I was already exceeding
those limits anyway, so I decided to start
with the basics.
I also knew that I really needed to be
able to keep with my program so I
needed some incentive to keep on track
with my weight loss, after all it takes
about 21 days in order for your mind
(and body) to adjust to things and become accustom to them psychologically.
Most people will stop something within
that timeframe and I also knew that getting over that hurdle would be the difficult part. I enlisted the help of a simple
spreadsheet that I created, a scale, and a
website that counts calories. Also took
my clothes, my size 46 pants, shirts, belts
and everything else and threw most of
the out almost immediately. I kept
17

enough of my fat clothes to be able to

wear to work. Then I bought a couple of
shirts and pairs of pants one less size, a
44. I kept them in my closet knowing that
I could get into them if only I would keep
with my program.
Armed with this, and a share of
friends at work for support, I started in
April 2009 to really begin my weight
loss. Before I would eat anything, anything at all, I would consult my trusty
website. The website is a site where you
type in a place or an item and it will spit
out the calories. Go find one and give it a
try. Theres other sites like that one,
some paid, some free. I recommend finding one that works best for you. Before I
stepped into my car or before I went into
the kitchen, I looked at the website for
items I wanted to eat. Thats a lot harder

that you would think, trust me. 1,400

calories can be sucked up in just one sitting at a typical fast food restaurant. I
really needed some rules for my program
if this was going to work. I know that
fries are bad for you, all the grease and
carbs and also soda.
1. Limiting French fries, I would buy the
small fry and immediately toss half of
them in the trash. Thats a LOT harder
that one would think. Why would you
want to waste your well-earned money
on throwing out half of what you paid
for. (Smacks upside your head) Because
youre trying to lose weight stupid! Haha!
2. I decided to get rid of regular soda
and drink ONLY diet soda and unsweetened Ice Tea. Yes, I know aspartame is
18

bad for you. Ive seen the articles and videos and I agree, however the goal is to
lose weight in the short term here. So
diet soda and unsweetened tea equals 0
calories. Trust me, it comes in handy
when youve reached your limit for the
day and you need something to fill your
stomach. No juice, no milk, no regular
soda, just 0 calorie drinks.
3. Vitamins. Take them. Get the multivitamin you can find in your local drug or
department store. You only need the basics, you dont need anything expensive. I
bought myself the generic multi-vitamin
from the local supermarket, spent all of
$5.99 for 150 and it worked great.

can have a cheeseburger from time to

time. Yes you can have pie, donuts, and
biscuits, anything you want. 1,400, thats
the limit. If you reach it by lunch, its water, chewing gum, diet soda or coffee or
tea. Yes its going to suck really badly.
Yes your going to hate it, but thats the
way it is, after all you got yourself into
this mess your in so you have to get yourself out plain and simple. Heres an example of things I would eat on a given
typical day.
Breakfast
2- medium bananas
ries
1 pack of flavored yogurt
calories

Otherwise, its no holds bar. They key

is just to watch those calories. Yes, you

110 calo100

Snack19

Funsize candy bar-

160 calories

Diet Soda

0 calories

Total for average day

LunchFast FoodDouble Jr. Cheeseburger

390 calories
Fast Food Fries (small tossing half out)
220 calories
Fast Food diet soda
ries

0 calo-

Fast Food Small Sunday

calories

312

Dinner-

Fast Food Side Salad

ries

Fast Food light vinaigrette

ries

20 calo-

50 calo1,322 calories

Its really easy once you start out with

the spreadsheet each day and lay out
what you can eat before you get into the
restaurant or your own kitchen. Youll
also want to weigh yourself once a week
and keep a daily spreadsheet like I did.
Although it wasnt really necessary I did
it for research purposes during my
weight loss. I had a scale at work which I
kept in the corner and I also posted my
weight on my door at work for others to
see. I found that its better to keep everyone in the loop, as you start to slack off it
will be a reminder to you and others to
stay the course and it will enable you to
show your progress as you are doing it. If
20

you dont have an office, post it on a

place like Facebook or create a blog
about it to keep track.
I can tell you that in the first six
months I lost almost 80 pounds, the
other 20 took me nearly another 3
months to take it off. By January 2010, I
had completed my weight loss by losing
101 pounds to be exact. There were days
where I would eat a huge breakfast and
then nothing else for the rest of the day
because I had eaten my limit. Again the
key is simply limiting your calorie intake
until you reach your target weight. I definitely do not recommend that you starve
yourself by any means, because you do
need to give your body the substance and
nutrients that it needs. Remember this is
a diet, its temporary. Yes- of course there
are programs out there that allow you to

eat their foods, their shakes, etc. and they

do work to an extent as Ive stated previously. The difference with the way I lost
weight is that I didnt have to pay for
some program. Do you know how they
do it? Easy, its portion control just like
the way I did it.
The true difference between a program and what I did is that youre not eating what you want, you are eating what
they want you to eat. Thats fine, theres
nothing wrong with that if you choose to
do so. Everyones body is different. I
burn calories much different than my girlfriend. She burns calories different than
her co-workers, my family, friends and
others. Exercise during the process does
help speed things up, I can tell you by
month three I was walking at a park 3
days a week for about 30 minutes to an
21

hour. The natural weight loss almost

made me want to exercise, it made me
feel better, much like stretching when
you first wake up and get out of bed. We
will discuss more about the exercise later
on as its important for the buildup
within your lifestyle change.
There are also some keynotes you
should realize about foods you eat. If you
choose to eat healthy during your weight
loss, then by all means go for it. Dont
feel like eating a donut is going to prevent you from losing weight. Go ahead,
its OK, just dont get the largest, most
sugar filled donut and DONT eat 2 of
them either. Moderation, thats the key.
Ive often found throughout my research
and own endeavors that a good mixture
of health and normal food was good for

me; I could actually snack on more carrots with ranch than I could a candy bar.
The simple formula.
Your Body burns on average 2,000 calories per day.
You Intake that you burn is 1,400 calories per day.
Your bodies difference is 600 calories
per day.
If you are still burning 2,000 calories
a day then your body will take the
roughly 600 from body fat. Or, in other
words, you will start to lose weight. Its
pretty difficult, losing the weight, making
the lifestyle change, thats harder to accomplish.

22

Its basic common sense and basic math

at that. Yes, there will always be those
that say its wrong, it doesnt work or that
their magical pill or drink is better. Garbage in, garbage out.

23

C HAPTER 3

The Build Up
Welcome to the build-up. Here you are
NOT going to get six pack abs, youre
NOT going to be able to bench press a
truck over youre head and your NOT going to impress the ladies with your biceps. Thats for another chapter, another
book, something that is used for an after
build up.

Ok, so what are you going to accomplish? Good question. A Build-up is the
start to your lifestyle change. Its where
you choose good foods over crap. Its
where you get off your butt at the office,
get off the couch, turn OFF your television and your laptop go for a walk. Its
all about maintaining your body once you
have gotten to your goal. After months of
hard work, you have lost your weight,
awesome. Youre looking good, youre
feeling great. Health issues are by the
wayside and life in general is looking upwards for you.
In order to maintain what youre trying to do, you need constant maintenance. Just like maintenance on a car
with oil changes and tire rotations, you
need routine maintenance on your body
with healthy eating and some exercising.

Im not stating you need to hit the gym

every single day for the rest of your life
and eat only carrots and drink water here
either. What I mean is that when it
comes time for lunch you can choose a
cheeseburger or a a salad bar. Im saying
you can choose an apple with a fun size
candy bar instead of a king size by itself.
Your body needs to be able to maintain itself and if you start putting large
amounts garbage back into it, then you
can fully expect yourself to gain weight
again. Why do you think most people try
to lose weight by doing some sort of fad
diet, only to make up an excuse to stop?
They gain weight right back and often
times then often times gain additional
pounds.

25

This is the part of your lifestyle

change where you should take if you
havent already. I simply cancelled cable
television and used only streaming television. I was wasting near $70 a month for
channels I didnt watch. Sure, you NEED
to have the 4-5 channels to watch your favorite shows out there. Right. And I need
a million bucks so I can wear some awesome bling-bling. Get real. Its JUST TV.
Get off your butt and do something constructive for a change.
Some things that I do are really simple. Going shopping? Park at the back of
the parking lot. It makes you walk more.
So what your 12 spaces further away? It
might burn off 10 or 15 calories having to
walk there and back. Thats 10 calories
more that you dont have to worry about.
Sweet. Lunchtime. Eat something light

and go for a walk in the spring-fall time.

Just do it. Buy an mp3 player and get out
there. Often times I would simply eat
fruit or a small chicken sandwich and I
would walk during lunch. Maybe a mile
or two. You dont have to run, you dont
have to push yourself at first. Just break
a small sweat, get out there and enjoy the
sun. Go walking with a co-worker. They
key is to simply be active, cut grass, garden, hike, take your camera and go walking, find something to photograph or go
window shopping. Just do what you need
to do in order to burn calories.
Now youre wondering about what to
eat. My rule of thumb, eat what you
want, just keep in mind what your body
can burn during any given day. The more
physically active you are, the more you
can intake if you want too. I still hang out
26

with my friends and I go out and I eat

normal foods. Burritos, tacos and all
types of Mexican foods (I love Mexican
food by the way), Cheeseburgers, yes
French fries, milkshakes and ice cream,
Chinese food, fast food, steak, mashed potatoes and anything in between. I still eat
pretty much the gamut of everything.
To ensure that I can maintain my
body weight I typically do the following
during the week. You can use this as
some sort of guideline in order to help
you out.
Monday walk 3 miles eat 2,000 calories
Tuesday- no walking eating 1,5002,000 calories
Wednesday- hit the gym and does some
weights- 2,500 calories

Thursday- no walking or exercise

1,500-2,000 calories
Friday- walk 3-4 miles- eat 1,500-2,000
calories a day
Saturday- walk or run for an hour, dont
count calories
Sunday- walk for an hour, dont count
calories
Again, this is just a guideline of sorts
that I try to do every week when I can.
You can see that I basically exercise a few
times a week, its nothing super hard or
major. Im not trying to build large muscles here; Im trying to maintain my
weight with my current body structure.
Sure I could workout more and there are
times during the year where I run a few
miles everyday. Ive started to build some
muscle as I do hit the gym more so than I
27

did a year ago. Again, its all in moderation here.

I will often eat foods low in fat, high
in protein or I will often eat whats called
super foods. Super foods are basically
natural foods that are good for you. Some
examples of super foods may include:
1. Low fat or fat-free plain yogurt. Yogurt is higher in calcium than some other
dairy products and contains a great package of other nutrients, including protein
and potassium. It can also be enhanced
with other good-for-you substances.
Look for plain yogurt fortified with vitamin D, and add your own fruit to control
sweetness and calories. Versatile yogurt
can also be used in entree and bakery recipes like dips for veggies, dressings, etc.
Don't like yogurt? Skim milk is another

super dairy food that has only 83 calories

per cup and is easy to slip into coffee to
help you get one of the recommended
three servings of dairy each day.
2. Eggs make this list because they are
nutritious, versatile, economical, and a
great way to fill up on quality protein.
Eggs also contain 12 vitamins and minerals, including choline, which is good for
brain development and memory. Enjoy
them at any meal or hard-cooked as a
portable snack.
3. Nuts have gotten a bad rap because of
their high fat content. But their protein,
heart-healthy fats, high fiber, and antioxidant content earn them a place on the
top 10 list. The key to enjoying nuts, is
portion control. Personally, I like pistachio nuts because they also contain plant
28

sterols and it takes longer to crack the

shell and eat them, making it easier to
control the portion. Whether you prefer
pistachios, almonds, peanuts, walnuts, or
pecans, an ounce a day of nuts help fill
you up. Nuts add texture and flavor to salads, side dishes, baked goods, cereals,
and entrees. They taste great alone, too.
You can even make your own "100calorie packs" of nuts for easy and portable snacks.
4. Kiwis are among the most nutritionally dense fruits, full of antioxidants.
Kiwis sweet taste and colorful appearance of kiwis makes it easy to slice in
half, scoop out with a spoon and enjoy
alone, or slice it into desserts, salads, or
side dishes. Kiwifruit can also have a
mild laxative effect due to their high fiber
content.

5. Quinoa is now readily available in

many supermarkets and is one of the best
whole grains you can eat, according to
my studies. Quinoa (pronounced keenwa) also has plenty of zinc, vitamin E,
and selenium to help control your weight
and lower your risk for heart disease.
Quinoa, a grass like seed, is as easy to prepare as rice and can be eaten alone or
mixed with vegetables, nuts, or lean protein for a whole-grain medley. Try to
make at least half your daily grain servings whole grains. In addition to quinoa,
try barley, oats, buckwheat, whole wheat,
wild rice, and millet.
6. Beans, beans, good for your heart -really! Beans are loaded with insoluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol, as
well as soluble fiber, which fills you up
and helps rid your body of waste. They're
29

also a good, low-fat source of protein, carbohydrates and potassium. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend 3 cups
weekly.

fish.) I would recommend chatting with a

doctor about it but in my studies Ive
found that the benefits far outweigh the
risk.

7. Salmon is a super food because of its

omega-3 fatty acid content. Studies show
that omega-3 fatty acids help protect
heart health. That's why the American
Heart Association recommends eating
fatty fish like salmon twice weekly.
Salmon is low in calories (200 for 3
ounces) has lots of protein, is a good
source of iron, and is very low in saturated fat. You can simply grill or bake it,
top it with salsas or other low-fat sauces,
or serve it on top of salad greens. If you
don't like salmon, I would recommend
eating other kinds of fish, like canned
tuna. What about the mercury content?
(Mercury is known to accumulate in

8. Broccoli is one of America's favorite

vegetables because it tastes good and is
available all year long. It's a rich source
of vitamin A, vitamin C, and bonebuilding vitamin K, and has plenty of fiber to fill you up and help control your
weight. You can eat broccoli raw, lightly
steamed, stir-fried, roasted, or grilled.
Eat it as a side dish, or toss into grains,
egg dishes, soups, and salads.
9. Sweet potatoes are a delicious member of the dark orange vegetable family,
which lead the pack in vitamin A content.
Substitute a baked sweet potato (also
loaded with vitamin C, calcium, and po30

tassium) for a baked white potato. And

before you add butter or sugar, taste the
sweetness that develops when a sweet potato is cooked -- and think of all the calories you can save over that loaded baked
potato. Other dark orange vegetable
standouts include pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, and orange bell peppers.
10. Berries pack an incredible amount of
nutritional goodness into a small package. They're loaded with antioxidants,
phytonutrients, low in calories, and high
in water and fiber to help control blood
sugar and keep you full longer. And their
flavors satisfy sweets cravings for a fraction of the calories in baked goods. Blueberries lead the pack because they are
among the best source of antioxidants
and are widely available. Cranberries are
also widely available fresh, frozen, or

dried. All can add flavor and nutrition to

numerous dishes, from salads and cereals to baked goods and yogurt.

There are other super foods out there

like turkey, tomatoes, honey, even black
and green tea. A quick Internet search
will reveal a complete listing for you.

31

When it comes to exercise during

your build up, remember that youre
training your body to maintain its current level of weight control. If youre looking to build muscle mass, then like I
stated, this book is not for you. Simple exercise is a good start after you have lost
your excess weight to maintain a healthy
lifestyle.
One of the most important things to
remember about foods is that they contain two things, first calories. We need
calories much like an engine needs gasoline. All of the foods out there, be it
healthy foods or fast food have them. The
second is perhaps more important, its nutrients. Vitamins, minerals and macronutrients are all the building blocks of food.
They help heal your body, repair tissues
and keep everything in good working or-

der. Most processed foods; even most of

the stuff you purchase in the supermarket has very little nutrients in it. Its one
of the reasons why juicing is really good
for you, its like getting a direct injection
of loads of nutrients into your bloodstream in a manner of 15 minutes or so.
Calorie rich, low nutrients foods are bad
for your body, while low calorie, high nutrients foods are good for you.
Those processed foods are much like
a drug. Just as cocaine is a white processed substance from the coca plant, refined sugar and refined flour are processed from the actual plants themselves.
When you consume processed sugars and
flour, your body will break them down
into glucose and it will process them as
sugar. If your body receives a large
32

amount of them and cant process the

amounts of them, it will store them in fat.
It amazes me how much high fructose
corn syrup we actually consume in the
US each year. It comes from corn (as it
says in the name) and its actually a nutrient, something thats good for you. But
dont let that fool you, because too much
of a good thing is actually really bad for
your body. That cocaine I just spoke of is
not good for you because its a single,
stripped out nutrient that has been concentrated and we know that its a dangerous drug that has detrimental effects on
the mind and body, however the cocoa
leaf itself that made from is actually safe.
Many people in South America use the
leaf to make tea from it, use it in medicine and medicinal purposes. You
wouldnt run out and buy cocaine (or any

drug) and put it into your body, why are

you doing the same with processed and
refined foods? Well thats a simple answer, because companies over the years
have subconsciously told us too, thats
why. Try to find actual sugar or actual
flour in the supermarkets and it will be
outnumbered 10:1 in the stores. The notion that we dont have enough of it to go
around is false, where do you think our refined products come from in the first
place? Its the sheer fact that its in concentrated form, again our bodies were not designed to handle processed foods, they
are high in calories and low in nutrients
like I talk about.
There is no harm from drinking the
tea from the leave and its not addictive
but you wouldnt want to snort cocaine,
which is from the plant. Much is the
33

same way from the high fructose corn

syrup. Consuming that is much like taking a drug, its a isolated, highly concentrated, changed version of something
thats found in corn. Taken in high doses
is harmful to your body. Refined sugar,
which normally comes from beets or
sugar cane, is the same way.
Natural sugar and flour is not white,
its a light brown, its natural and it
hasnt been processed (stripped out and
then bleached). Fructose is the stuff in
fruits that make the fruit taste sweet, in
corn for example its chemically stripped
away from the corn, then used as a filler
in foods of all types. Its the number one
calorie filler in our American diet. Again,
consuming large amounts of it will have
an adverse effect on your body and
health.

According to an Food and Drug Administration study, in the 1910s we ate

about 15 grams of fruit sugar, in todays
calorie intake we consume roughly 130
grams of fructose or fruit sugar every
day. Its roughly 10 times the amount
more sugar that we are consuming from
even say 100 years ago. People are wondering why were becoming so fat in America today, its simple, corporations design
and make this stuff we call food to make
it cheap, in abundance and convenient.
Everything we ate today is easy to make,
you buy it and have it made in just a few
minutes or you toss it in the microwave
and its cooked for you.

34

Breads and carbohydrates are also

turned into sugar in just minutes when it
enters the body. There is a common misconception that if you simply stay away
from white processed sugar then your
Okay and thats simply not true. When
you eat breads, oatmeal, pancakes,etc.
they break down as a form of sugar in
your body as it has a high glycemic index.
When your thinking about what you
should eat, you need to think beyond
white sugar, things like breads, cereals,
waffles, potatoes, even pasta sauce all
have loads of chemicals that break down
as sugars. Sugars are good for your body,
the problem is that we eat too many of
them on a daily basis.

Another thing that I have found personally bewildering is in diet soda, no not
aspartame that some people say its bad
for you. Diet soda has the aspartame yes,
but mixed with the caffeine that is put
into it, it suddenly becomes a deadly combination within your brain. The chemical
combination will kill off brain cells, but
before they die they have this sort of excitement or buzz, before they dissipate.
Thats a complete bummer to because I
enjoy drinking diet sodas, its one of the
ways that I lost some weight in the first
place.
Please dont take what Im saying as
some sort of hippy, tree hugged radical
up on a soapbox. I want you to understand where your foods come from, why
there out there and I want you to be able
to have a open mind to reading the label
35

on the back of your groceries or fast

foods. I enjoy processed foods and fast
foods in addition to locally grown foods
found at the supermarket.

36

C HAPTER 4

Your Lifestyle
Change
Remember that a lifestyle change is a permanent thing. Losing weight is hard but
then again the only person that made you
unhealthy to begin with was yourself.
Now that you are on your way to becoming a new you is to begin your new life
with lifestyle changes.

Everyone has a comfort zone, an

imaginary bubble if you will of doing the
same routines on a regular basis. You
might not know it but you do. All of us
do. Its called habit. You might for example wake up everyday at the same time,
work at the same desk, have a morning
routine, check email, get coffee, walk to
the snack machine at a specific time everyday, that sort of thing. And its not with
just work, its with everything you do in
life. Where you shop, the day-to-day
things you do, places you go, etc.
There is nothing wrong with having a
routine or daily habit, as long as your routines are healthy. So many Americans are
concerned with wealth that they often forget about their health. Usually your top
priorities in life are work, family, birthdays, vacations, bills, gas prices, news, so-

cial media, religion and things of that nature. At the bottom, its your health. Now
you are saying to yourself, I have insurance and Im in good health. Great, but
just because you have health insurance
doesnt mean you are healthy.
What I mean by this is that YOU need
to start taking a good look at where your
food comes from, what it is that you are
eating to begin with, and know how the
food youre eating effects your health.
Again, Im not advocating that you
should become vegan or only eat certain
foods, no. My point is that now you have
started to correct your body you need to
make certain lifestyle changes to help
maintain and promote your health in order to stay at your new levels. I call it
maintenance.
38

In my life, I still eat fast foods, pizza,

cheeseburgers, pie, fries, oh and cheesecake, wow, I love the stuff! When my
daughter is home, its a no holds bar on
everything out there, but its also a great
mix of fruits, veggies and whole foods
too. About a year and a half ago I
watched a great documentary, which
talks about the benefits of juicing and
juice fasting. Juicing for me is a way to
maintain my body weight throughout the
year. I typically will juice two to three
times a year for about 7-10 days at a
time, losing anywhere from 10-20
pounds during each juicing period. Juice
Fasting dates back to the biblical times as
many people in the Old Testament and
New, including Jesus himself (for 40
days) would fast.

Its a way to cleanse the body of toxins

that buildup in the body over time. What
are toxins exactly? In a nutshell its all
those chemicals on the side of the box
that you really have no idea what they are
unless youre some sort of chemical engineer in a lab somewhere. Things like Disodium Guanylate and Tertrasodium Pyrophosphate, yeah Im sure thats all natural stuffthat grows on a tree.in the
rain forest somewhere, right? What is a
Diglyceride anyway? Its a chemical
found in gelatin and pudding but I have
no idea what is really is without an internet search. I can pretty much assure you
that its something lab created or some refined extract, again created in a lab.
Im a big advocate for juicing. Its
really flushes out your body and rids yourself of all those nasty toxins. Additionally
39

it will help repair your body naturally.

People that juice will tell you after 3-5
days they start to notice a renewed spring
in their step, they have more natural energy and they are more alert than before.
Juicing removes a lot of the fibers that
your body digests, which gives your digestion tract a rest and it allows your body to
focus itself on removing fat deposits that
you might have picked up while eating
fatty unhealthy foods. There are little
calories in juicing as compared to eating
fruits and veggies, and keeping the low
calories means you can drink as much as
you want, feel full, and make your body
into the figure it was supposed to be.
People always ask me why do you
juice, why not just eat them? Good question really. Well to be honest - you were
never really eating good, whole, healthy

foods to begin with so theres a start. Additionally it gives your body a fast infusion of those needed vitamins and nutrients that your body craves to begin with.
While your digestion is resting from a
constant overload of fatty, unnatural, unhealthy foods, the juice from fruits and
veggies helps give your body a quick way
to get on the right healing track.

I typically will juice and eat any fruit or

veggie that I like. I also take a vitamin,
Omega 3 fish oil and a handful of peanuts
every other day for protein purposes. Otherwise, thats it. Is it hard? Yes, sometimes. You dont feel great the first few
days and you really flush yourself out as
well. But I will tell you that by the time
you start to rebound (for me its usually
40

day 4) you will really notice a new spring

in your day. Your hunger goes away, you
are more alert and more active. The more
you do it, the more you really want to exercise, yes exercise.
The foods we eat today are all processed, called convenience foods. In a basic form convenience foods are foods that
are easily prepared for you commercially
and are made to be consumed without
having to prep it fully. Even our fruits
and veggies in our produce isles have labaltered or chemically altered foods. Dont
believe me? Next time youre in the grocery store between October-December
pick up a bag of Autumn Harvest style
grapes. They are usually seedless green
grapes, large, plump and tasty. Theyre
also lab created in 2006, grown in a
greenhouse, transplanted to the farms in

California and they were also approved

by the FDA for eating. Oh, theyre also organic. Theres just something about sitting on the couch watching a BlueRay eating a lab created grape that looks, smells,
feels and tastes like something from nature only to find its grown in a lab.

It started years ago in World War II

when our overseas troops needed good,
high calorie foods on the front lines. First
41

the military brought cooks over to the

war zones who would make everything
fresh, like grandma does. Needless to say
this wasnt a fast-great way to feed our
troops. They turned to companies here in
the United States to come up with preservatives, antimicrobial inhibitors that
stop the growth of mold or bacteria. Thus
was born the MRE or Meal Ready to Eat.
After the war the companies turned to
public food markets and our industrial
food revolution was born. TV dinners
from the 1950s & 1960s to todays microwavable meals and instant dried soups.
Today preservatives can be found in
every aspect of our food supply, even
fruits and veggies in the commercial markets.
I want you to understand that food today is much different that it was 50 years

ago. Its important to know because not

everything out there was designed to be
good to eat. Corn for example is a grainbased plant domesticated for use in our
food as filler. Remember we talked about
high fructose corn syrup earlier. Its in a
lot of food we eat: ketchup, chocolate, cereals, soda, breads, syrup,crackers, tomato paste, drink mixers, cottage
cheeses, ice cream and the list could literally fill up this book. Corn is a product
that human beings as well as animals are
not designed to be able to process and
break down naturally. Our bodies were
not designed for it, but its used as a
sweetener and filler in more food than
you care to know about.
As for a lifestyle change you simply
cannot avoid Americas processed foods,
I mean hey who doesnt want a cheese42

burger and fries? But what you can do

are a couple of things. First, you could
continue to write things down and manage your weight through calories. You
could simply eat homegrown items, shop
local farms for meats and veggies which
honestly its a pain; I mean we all have
lives here. You can also do a juice diet
like I do every 4 months or so. You can
even exchange one of your meals a day
for juice.
Again speak with your doctor before
doing this. Its not something you want to
do without doctor supervision. I will say
that for some people that take this approach, it helps their bodies out so
greatly that they no longer need to take
medications. Their bodies have repaired
themselves naturally, the way God intended it to be. If you decide to do it,

speaking with a doctor followed by a nutritionist is a great step. Remember the

old notion, an Apple a day keeps the doctor away, it holds true.

I will eat normally (within 1,800 to

2,000 calories a day now), then juice in
43

March or April for 7-10 days, again in the

fall and usually around or just after the
Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday. Otherwise Im eating what you eat, just
smarter, smaller portions of it.
I would hope that the things that I
have talked about here have given you
some insight to become healthy. Its not
just about losing weight, but its about becoming happy with you. Losing weight
and becoming healthy can be a good and
fun experience for you. Changing your
life can be one little meal at a time. You
also dont have to be a vegan or health
food nut either unless you wan too. You
can just be you and with a little proper
knowledge you too can look and feel better.

Just remember, if you take care of

your body it will last you a long time.
Dont waste being overweight to a life of
pills, diseases and the constant feeling of
being tired all the time. The chains of
that lifestyle have effected too many
Americans and its only getting worse.
Lab created convenience foods are counteracted with more lab created drugs and
your ever-growing health care bills are in
the middle. As we get fatter, so do the wallets of large multi-billion insurance firms
through YOUR harder earned money and
the sad thing is that were forking out
more and more money each month to
them because of our lifestyle choices and
no one seems to really care. Ever notice
that every year your healthcare seems to
increase in monthly payments? I see people all the time online and in person that
44

complain about their lives and how they

wish they could get ahead, be it through a
job, finances or health. YOU are the
ONLY person in charge of your own life.
If you dont like it, then change it. Yes,
its easier said than done BUT no one is
going to make you happy in life other
than yourself.
You got yourself into the mess that
your in, youll have to be the person to
get yourself out and sometimes it isnt
easy. Try to enjoy getting out of that hole
you have been digging and start putting
your life on the right track!

From left to right, me in 2012, again

in 2009 and in 2006.

45