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Weight Loss Is Not An Industry

August 7, 2013 by

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 3.

Today’s topic:  Weight Loss Is Not An Industry.

Is there really a tangible goal when it comes to weight loss?

Is there really a tangible goal when it comes to weight loss?

 

Is there really a  tangible goal when it comes to weight loss ?

After more than 100 years the  several approaches to weight loss have been  “Industrialized” into a wide variety of  products and services.

Here are a few for example:

Information-Based  Products/Services:

  • Clinics
  • Coaches
  • Personal trainers
  • Gyms
  • Forums
  • Books
  • Recipe books
  • E-books
  • Calorie counters
  • Blogs
  • Entertainment (weight loss shows and news)

Weight Loss Products:

  • Food
  • Gear
  • Clothing
  • Shoes
  • Equipment
  • Supplements
  • Pharmaceutical

If weight loss had a cure it would be the golden goose.  This is the crux of it all.  If weight loss could be solved with one paradigm or one fix, you would pay for it and you would get your money’s worth.

What drives people to over eat?  It is true to an extent that people are not as active now as in previous generations, but it’s only a factor.  People living prior to the Industrial Revolution were certainly more active all day long.

There is no comparison when it comes  to the one or two hours of high intensity work at the gym versus the laborious activities in manufacturing and agriculture performed all day long in previous generations.  As technology increases, we are slowly chipping away at our daily physically  activity levels. All of our daily chores are becoming automated.  Modern conveniences replace what would once require  hours upon hours of work.

We were built to move; the Information Age, strives for modernization and convenience so that will barely have to move at all.

There are hundreds of  driving forces behind why we eat too much (advertising, boredom, stress, etc.).

The bottom line is our appetite exceeds what we can eat for current activity level. Our metabolic rate is very low for our activity level. It does not feel wrong to eat 3000 calories in a day when our metabolic rate is under 2000.

We are designed for feast and famine. This is why we crave high caloric foods like sweets and fats.

We have gotten away from being able to feel when and how much we really need to eat. So the key would be to learn what just enough is, and sadly just enough is always going to be a little less than what you want.  When in doubt a little bit extra exercise is always a good idea, but not enough to burn you out.

You can’t get this answer from the “weight-loss industry”, in a pill, or in any of the “quick fix” answers.  One hundred years of industrial advances has not quite solved this.

If you want to know what it feels like to actually burn say 3000-4000 calories in a day try a form of exercise that takes at least three hours. That’s the sort of day where you might be able to eat ad lib or sort of unchecked.  Then as you are eating notice how quickly you can eat 3500 or so calories.

The bottom line is you will need to take steps to not become obese.  You will need to make an active effort from now on and for the rest of your life.

 

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Filed Under: diet, exercise, Fat Loss, Uncensored Podcasts S03, weight loss

The Twinkie Challenge: Interview with Professor Mark Haub

April 17, 2013 by

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic:  The Twinkie Challenge: Interview with Professor Mark Haub

Professor Mark Haub experimented with The Twinkie Diet

Professor Mark Haub experimented with The Twinkie Diet

Today you will get a chance to hear John’s interview with Professor Mark Haub.  Professor Haub works at the Kansas State University in the department of Human Nutrition.

The “All-Twinkie” Diet experiment

Professor Haub challenges society’s beliefs about diet, nutrition and weight loss. His honesty and the fact that he is not endorsing or selling a diet or food product is quite compelling.  Mark’s journey to beginning the “Twinkie Diet” spawned from his desire for personal weight loss and  his  scientific knowledge in dietary fiber and whole grains relative to diabetes and obesity.

Since refined grains are listed by the USDA as potentially unhealthy and obesogenic Dr. Haub decided to use this opportunity to experiment with his own need to lose a few pounds.  He said it did not turn out the way he expected.  He learned a few things about himself during this experiment and after losing the excess pounds he decided to make some long term diet changes.

 

Professor Haub was surprised by the results of his experiment with snack foods. His health parameters improved.

Professor Haub was surprised by the results of his experiment with snack foods. His health parameters improved.

He measured his health parameters and used a DEXA scan to measure his body composition.  He lost 27 pounds of fat and 6 pounds of lean body mass which are both typical for this amount of weight loss on a just about any diet.  His health parameters improved.

Calories really do matter

Professor Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day.   A man of his size usually consumes about 2,600 calories a day.  He followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.

This confirms what most of us here at the Adonis Golden Ratio already knew all along from the principles of John’s Anything Goes Diet.

You have your own unique dietary needs

Most of us have experimented to find our own way to lose weight.  We have found that the right amount of calories was key, along with not depriving ourselves of foods we love.

So if you have weight to lose the key is to find the right amount of calories and do whatever it takes to keep yourself sane and satiated for the short term.  Then spend the rest of your life figuring out what type of diet is good for you.  All of us have unique likes, dislikes, and health needs.  Pay attention to your calorie needs, what nutrients you need, what your health practitioner advises, and refuse to let food control you.

You can find Professor Mark Haub on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and CNN online.

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Filed Under: body image, Fat Loss, Food, health, Identity, Sage Advice, Stories, Uncensored Podcasts S02, weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Weight Gain And Muscle Gain Escalators Part Two – Sick vs Corrective Mentality

April 3, 2013 by

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic:  Weight Gain and Muscle Gain Escalators Part Two – Sick vs Corrective Mentality

There is a different degree of effort required to ascend the escalators vs staying at the top of the escalators.

There is a different degree of effort required to ascend the escalators vs staying at the top of the escalators.

Last time we talked about the muscle gain and fat gain escalators.  This is a new analogy and a better way of picturing what the process of muscle gain and fat loss is really like.

Today we will take the analogy further and talk about the process of getting to and staying at peak condition.

Specifically it’s the difference between viewing your body and the process from a ‘sick’ mentality vs a ‘corrective’ mentality.

There is a different degree of effort required to ascend the escalators vs staying at the top of the escalators.

Today we’ll talk about changing your mentality and what can and should be done to get to the top and stay there.

John

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Filed Under: Fat Loss, health, Identity, metabolism, Muscle Building, Sage Advice, weight loss, Workout Design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Does Bodyfat % Matter?

October 19, 2012 by

Does it really matter what the bodyfat percentage is for this look?

The look and shape of your body is transient. Muscle size, definition, and overall shape will be defined by your current training regimen combined with the total amount of bodyfat you are carrying.

Your genetic predisposition for bodyfat storage patterns will determine what you look like at various body fat percentages. Men who store a higher percentage of their fat viscerally can have visible abs while carrying up to 15% bodyfat.

On the other hand men who store a higher proportion of their abdominal fat subcutaneously may need to be as low as 10% bodyfat to have visual abdominal muscles.

The genetic predisposition for fat storage in the abdominal area is not within your control. What IS within your control is the total amount of fat you are carrying. No matter what your fat storage pattern happens to be, you can always lose more fat to get to a look and definition that you want.

Knowing your actual bodyfat % isn’t really going to tell you much about your look, knowing your bodyfat % combined with your genetic storage pattern will give you much more information. This can only be determined with a DEXA scan which might be difficult to come by. But thats ok because in the end the only things within your power to change are your total amount of fat and your total amount of muscle.

Focus on changing the things you can and avoid getting caught up in a numbers game about bodyfat and bodyweight.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Fat Loss Tagged With:

Eat for “Flavor” & The 6 Step Recovery Method from Orthorexia

September 19, 2012 by

Here’s the second part of this month’s UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2 on Orthorexia.

Check out the first part here: The Side Effect of Modern Society and Even Scientists Can’t Escape

What we covered in the first part:

  • We’ve talked about how certain foods can completely mess up your personality and social identity
  • You learned why people in the fitness industry feel superiority over you because of their diet choices
  • You discovered why you should bother tracking and testing things related to nutrition and not just training
  • You learned about the connection between people suffering from orthorexia and drug addicts
  • You also discovered what’s really in the root of the search for healthy eating and if that goal is really achievable
  • You learned that orthorexia is a marketing driven eating disorder and that the food and fitness industry are making billions just from people getting fatter every year

Let Go of the Good Food/Bad Food Belief

You need to learn to let go of the good food, bad food belief and dump all the bad food lists. And instead start focusing on the foods that taste good, are filling and make you feel great.

It’s a mind shift and a whole different perception, especially if you have been exposed to the mainstream fitness media for the last couple of decades.

Ask yourself this question: ” What do I like to eat?” And eat exactly that!

A lot of people will be thinking that this statement means you can eat burgers and ice cream all day long. Well, that’s not true. Nobody can do go on a diet like that and that’s a pretty boring lifestyle to have.

There are lots of food choices, if chicken with broccoli and chocolate with ice cream are the only meals you know you are limiting yourself and preventing yourself from tasting some amazing foods that are also rich in nutrients.

Get a variety in your diet and start experimenting with different cuisines. Just ask yourself, what exotic meal you haven’t tried yet?

Believe it or not, there are other foods and meals outside the “healthy” recommended by fitness media and “unhealthy junk food” like chocolate or burgers. There are a lot of other options and they can be very tasty.

Today John Barban and Brad Pilon will show you how to switch  from good/bad thinking into “eating what I really like and what makes me feel good” and “what would be the best and most tasty option for me?“.

If you’ve heard the first podcast and you’ve read so far then you understand what’s the point of it, but you may still be unsure of the whole process, so before you listen to today’s episode where John and Brad discuss this in great detail, let’s look over the steps you can take to recover from Orthorexia and start eating for flavor:

  1. Realize that any health message is a marketing message
  2. Understand that you won’t cheat death, and especially not by choosing different foods
  3. Create new food lists, but assign them different meanings (e.g. rank them by flavor)
  4. Make a list of foods that makes you bloated or that you are allergic to
  5. Evaluate every food on those lists based on how much you enjoy it, how many calories it contains etc.
  6. [you will have to listen to the interview for this one :)]
There is a lot of choice outside the traditional healthy and unhealthy lists AKA good foods/bad foods. European and Asian cuisines are very rich in different flavors and tastes, just start experimenting. Today we are going to give you the permission to do that and explain you why it’s beneficial and how to go about it.

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Filed Under: Fat Loss, Food, health, Podcasts, Uncensored Podcasts S02 Tagged With: , ,

“State of the Adonis Union” Inaugural Address by Allen Elliott

April 27, 2012 by

“The State of The Adonis Union is getting stronger.  And we’ve come too far to turn back to the couch.” – Allen Elliott, Adonis Lifestyle Ambassador

My Adonis Lifestyle Journey began when I made the Watch List in Contest AT3. I received tremendous support from members of the AI/VI community to pursue my fitness endeavors. After winning the AT7 Open Level 2 Contest Category I'm inspired to support and motivate others to begin their own Adonis Lifestyle Journey.

Hello, my name is Allen Elliott and I’d like to share my “Adonis Lifestyle” Story with you. While stumbling upon the Adonis Index website over three years ago, I could’ve never imagined the incredible amount of success and personal satisfaction this system has provided for myself and my fitness endeavors. As an ex-athlete, I’d hear the horror stories’ of guys who started off in great shape only to be de-railed later in life & never recovering.  Now that training for performance was no longer a goal or requirement, I was desperately looking for direction.  I found the Adonis Index Systems  to be straightforward and applicable to anyone desiring to improve their overall “Look” as opposed to specific performance training.

After completing the First Week of Workouts, I took the plunge and never looked back.  Training exclusively with Adonis Index Systems, I have competed and placed with top honors in Natural Bodybuilding/ Men’s Physique Fitness Competitions, graced the runway in several prominent fashion shows, and have published work as a fitness model. Following the Adonis Lifestyle has given me unstoppable confidence to pursue my fitness goals with a relentless tenacity.

Allen Elliott | Fitness Model Comp Card || Credits: N3K Photo Studios | Bertron Anderson Photography | Michael Martin Photography

When John contacted me and asked if I would like to become a guest blogger on the site, I was deeply honored and graciously accepted his offer. My Goal while giving back to the Adonis Index Community is to: Supply, Train, and Build.

Supply–As a guest blogger, I will post helpful tips for contest preparation, provide insight on making the transition from an AI Contest to a “Live Show”, and share updates from my Journey in the World of Fitness Modeling.

Train–I’ll also be active in the AI forums to chat with members about training styles, body-part specialization within the AI system, and any other topics that may arise that I can help with.

Build–Preparing for the road ahead, John and myself are masterminding to bring you the next Adonis Index workout.  This advanced workout will show you how I prepare for Fitness Competitions and Model Photo-Shoots, Adonis Index Style.

As we carry forward the plans and programs to better help you achieve your fitness goals I’d like to remind you to enjoy your fitness journey, the results are worth the effort. Stay Tuned! The best is yet to come.

Allen Elliott

Filed Under: body image, Contest, Fat Loss, Featured Articles, Goals, Muscle Building, Podcasts, Reviews, Weekly Guide, Workout Design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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