Weight Loss eBook
Updated Kindle Version
I’ve been running this blog for more than 3 years now and I have learned a lot about losing weight and keeping it off. Yes, I’ve had my share of ups and downs as well as a few injuries along the way, but overall I’ve managed to shed most of my excess fat.
It all started when I lost my first 30 lbs over a 2 month period. The weight came off quickly because I was doing what I knew would work. It wasn’t glamorous and didn’t have a catchy diet name like “The South Beach Diet” or anything like that.
There are 7 important things that I understood which helped me lose the weight quickly. I call these the 7 Pillars To Weight Loss Success and I’ve written an ebook about them. This isn’t a novel and is only about 25 pages cover to cover, but I think it’s filled with quality information that you’ll be able to use right away.
This is available for Kindle
7 Pillars of Weight Loss Success
I want to help people lose weight and that’s it. I know what it’s like to be overweight and it sucks. I also know how great it feels to be successful at losing weight and what a difference it can make to your life.
Once you’re finished it leave a comment and let me know what you think 
Steve
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Old Habits Die Hard
This will be just a quick update. In the past few weeks I have received dozens of emails from readers. The majority of them have had what I consider to be a common theme.
Falling back into old habits
I have failed at losing weight more times than I can count. I’ve tried many diets and even though I did lose a bit of weight it would always come back.
You’ve heard it a million times before that diets don’t work over the long term. A lifestyle change is what you need and replacing old habits with new habits is the way to do it.
Easier Said?
Old habits die hard and replacing them is sometimes easier said then done.
We’ve all built unhealthy habits over many years and to think that they can be completely eliminated in just a few weeks is crazy. Falling back into your old habits is almost common place among people trying to lose weight.
Here is the Fix
There are 2 things that I did to break the cycle.
1. Small Changes
Giving up your favorite junk foods is hard, very hard. I realized this when I tried to quit Soda Pop cold turkey. My first attempt lasted 1 day. For me the fix was to make a small minor change in how often I drank them.
4 per day was the norm for me. So for the first 7 days I replaced 1 can with 1 bottle of water. I didn’t even notice the difference. After the next 7 days I was down to 2 cans and after a month I was drinking just 1 can a day.
I stayed at 1 can a day for another week and then cut back to just 2 cans per week before finally replacing them with water/juice. All told I had made those small changes over 7 weeks and in that time the cravings slooowly disappeared.
(Note that I had tried the cold turkey method a few years ago and it did work for while. The problem was that I cut it out too quickly, don’t make the same mistake)
2. Breaking The Pattern
This is where the whole concept of trusting yourself comes in. At lunchtime I couldn’t trust myself to walk by a McDonald’s without ordering something weather I was hungry or not. It was an addiction and a terrible habit.
The fix was just to not carry my wallet on my lunch break. I left it at the office or in my car so even when the urge to buy came up, I had no way of making the purchase.
After about a month of doing this my desire for a Big Mac combo dropped quite a bit and I was able to walk past the store without even looking at it. The most important thing was that I had broken the pattern of just buying regardless of hunger.
Doing whatever you can to break your normal eating patterns is such a huge part of changing your lifestyle for the better.
Conclusion
Falling back into your old habits can happen but by making small changes over a long period of time you can prevent them from coming back. Breaking your current unhealthy eating patterns is also key to your long term success.
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Heavy on A&E
I am a huge fan of reality weight loss shows including the Biggest loser, I used to be fat and the last 10 pounds bootcamp. So when “Heavy” a new weight loss show premiered on A&E last night I just had to watch it.
For those that haven’t heard about Heavy here is the official release from the shows producers.
“Twenty-two individuals facing extreme life-threatening health consequences as a result of their obesity experience real life change in A&E’s new original series HEAVY, premiering Monday, January 17 at 10/9c. The eleven episode one-hour series follows two participants per episode documenting their incredible transformations during a six month treatment program.
Unlike other weight loss series, “Heavy” is not a competition or stunt, but is rooted in the incredible real life day-to-day journeys of the participants during a lengthy treatment program. In order to most accurately document these multiple weight loss journeys over the course of six months and present them individually in one hour, A&E sought out two different production companies to undertake the lengthy and ambitious filming process.
The result is a never-before-seen look at the unique struggles faced by dangerously obese individuals who must learn to live healthier lifestyles and understand the root of their food addictions. Through their day-to-day struggle and the voices of their loved ones, viewers will see first hand the pain and self-doubt associated with a debilitating weight problem.”
First Impressions
When I saw Tom and Jodi my first impression was to think ”damn, how did you get that big?” I mean these are not overweight people, these are obese people that could drop dead at any minute. They seem to have given up on trying to lose weight and kinda gave up on life.
Like most people, I used to think that “Fat people are just lazy and love to eat, that’s why they are fat” but the more I see shows like Heavy and the Biggest loser it has become very clear to me over the years that the excessive binge eating is just an outlet for other problems. Laziness has nothing to do with it.
This is exactly what Jodi is facing, a stressful marriage, problems with her mother and self esteem/control issues. It’s not about the food and as she put it, ”Food is the only thing I can control” (or something to that effect).
Tom has a different but equally damaging problem, the enabling family. His Father and brothers are big boys too with Tom being the biggest at 638 pounds. He is the same height as I am (5’9) and was 450 lbs heavier than me. I instantly connected with that. Just thinking about carrying an extra 450lbs was enough to make me tired.
Tom admitted that he hadn’t been inside a grocery store in 5 years relying on his brothers and the Drive thru for his food. He also had a lymphatic growth on his leg making it hard to walk or exercise. In my opinion without this show he would have been dead before he hit 40.
The Trainers
At the weight loss resort (The Hilton Head Health Spa) there were 2 trainers dedicated to helping Tom and Jodi push through their personal barriers and get the results that they needed. Britny and another trainer with huge arms whose name I can’t remember right now. Sorry I was focusing on Britny. (My wife thinks her arms are a bit too muscular….trust me they are just fine the way they are )
Both are very encouraging and don’t let them give up or give in to the mental BS that we all have while doing something that isn’t easy.
Britny and David (see what I mean about the arms?? They’re huge!)
The Results
Tom and Jodi both worked their butts off and saw some really big changes. What is more impressive is that their results are more realistic as they only spent 1 month at the resort and 5 at home battling the environments that helped get them into trouble in the first place.
First Jodi Age 37
Before at 367 Lbs – After 290lbs for a Total loss of 77 lbs in 6 months
Before at 638 lbs – After at 476 lbs – For a total loss of 162 lbs in 6 months
Conclusion
The first show was a big success in my mind and I am hooked for the rest of the season. Heavy has all the real life elements that Intervention and Obsessed have without the short comings of the biggest loser (i.e too many commercials, cheesy product placements and BS voting system that contestants have to go through, I mean come on BL these are peoples lives you are playing with).
This season of Heavy looks very promising and I hope they continue this for years to come.
If you want more information about Heavy on A&E including upcoming episodes you can visit them at aetv.com/heavy they also have videos about the Cast which I can’t post here because they are ironically too big for my website 
There is a Facebook fan page as well with weight loss tips at facebook.com/Heavy
Finally leave a comment below and let me know what you think about the show so far.
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More Great Songs For Running
I wrote a post a while ago (wow almost a year) titled “Great Songs for Running” and it featured a few classic rock songs which apparently not too many people agreed with. Well I thought I would do another quick post about workout songs, but this time I am focusing on the rock/metal.
This first song is from a local band that I just found out about recently and man are they good. They’re called “Hail the Vilian” and they really get the blood pumping when I am running or doing my weight training routine.
Check out their first release – Take back the fear
And my favorite which is perfect for running – Runaway
The next song in my running playlist on my ipod is Muse – Hysteria just singing along with the “I want it nowwwww” parts keeps me going.
Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park is great when running, it makes me think about my life and how far I’ve come in my weight loss goals, “Breaking the habit” says it perfectly. Basically any song by Linkin Park is good for running, always high energy.
So those are just a few songs that I listen to while running, now when it comes time to cool down I listen to these 2 songs almost exclusively.
First, Broken Bells – The High Road It gives you a nice little bounce in your step.
The last song I listen to before calling it a night is…..Sleeping Sickness – City and Colour with Gordon Downie Just a great song to end the night.
Alright your turn, leave a comment and let me know your favorite Rock songs for running so I can add them to the Ipod
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My 7 Link Challenge Post
Well I guess I’m a little late with this but here is my best shot at the 7 link challenge post that was first issued by Darren Rowse at Problogger. Thanks to John from John is Fit for pointing me towards the challenge.
My first post was called…..”my first post” and that was almost 3 years ago. I remember it well as I was so excited to just to get it started. After many weeks of reading about blogging I figured I was finally ready, this post was my first attempt at it and as you can see I had big plans for this blog.
The post I enjoyed writing the most was called Being the Butt of the Joke. For me it reflected a very important lesson I had learned about setting boundaries with people and accepting abuse.
I think the best discussion that came from a post was the one where I asked a simple question and stated my opinion. The question was which is more important when first starting a weight loss plan Exercise or Diet?
The post I wish I had written was called The Fat Voice by Mary from A Merry Life. I had that same voice for a long time. It’s a good read from a great blog.
I’d like to think that all my posts are helpful in one way or another but the most helpful one in my opinion was the post about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). It included a nice little 8 week schedule for doing HIIT and improving your times every week. If more people would adjust their diets and use HIIT they would see results much quicker I think.
I can’t really say that I’m proud of a post title although I think “Meet the Man Behind the Scale” was pretty good back when my logo was just the numbered part of a bathroom scale. I am however most proud of my domain name. Weight Loss Weapons – Arming you one post at a time! – Come on you have to admit, that’s pretty clever
Finally the post that I wish more people would have read was Accepting Personal Responsibility I think it has such a great message and at the time was going against the popular opinions that I had been seeing on other weight related sites. It still applies today.
OK now it’s your turn to take the challenge. If you have a blog click here to see the rules. Have fun with it and remember to leave a comment below with a link back to your own 7 link challenge post.
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No One Is Coming To Save You
That title sounds very pessimistic doesn’t it?
But I’ve phrased it that way for a very specific reason. Because I believe it’s true.
I have always been amazed at our ability to be comforted by false hope, this is something I have done myself hundreds of times. Let’s face it we all want to believe that there is something or someone looking out for our interests, and that “they or it” will eventually come to our rescue and solve all the problems (or at least the major ones) in our lives.
To be completely honest for the vast majority of us, there is no one coming to save us from our problems, no leprechaun with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
At first you may think I’m talking about religion and while I’m sure you can apply this argument to that field, that is not what I am referring to here.
The best example that I can think of is the popularity of lotteries! Is Lady luck on your side? (don’t worry this is related to weight loss at the end)
Lotteries – Solutions for your Financial Problems
I live in Canada and we have dozens of lotteries available for us to play daily and weekly. The most popular one is lotto 6/49. Basically you pick 6 numbers between 1 and 49 and for $2 you have a chance at winning a few million dollars.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 14 million to 1. You have a 99.99% chance of not winning the jackpot. Yet, millions and millions of Canadians play it twice a week, some spending hundreds per draw on these tickets. (I’ve been stuck behind them in a line before)
The lottery for so many people is that great false hope. People know that the odds of them winning the jackpot are astronomical but they play it anyway. Why and why is it dangerous?
Besides the lost money, which can add up to thousands over a lifetime, I believe that the lottery and other games like it give people an easy way to avoid doing the necessary work needed to succeed in life. (financially speaking anyway).
Earning a comfortable living* is not an easy thing to achieve, it takes education, it takes a lot of effort on your part and if you are looking to start your own business a lot of time and money.
Add in the easy access and convenience of credit cards to debt amounts that seem to compound every month and you get many people giving up or avoiding the problem all together.
They stop taking action, instead of trying to change their habits they consoildate the debts only to have them pile up again. They are waiting to be saved rather than trying to save themselves. You think the last thing people in this position would do is throw away a few more dollars on the lottery, but believe it or not from what I have seen firsthand in some cases their “lotto budget” increases as their debt gets bigger.
Obviously I’m not a fan of the lottery, but what makes it worse and angers me is the way in which it is promoted. The Lotto 6/49 slogan is “Just Imagine” meaning just imagine what you could buy with millions of dollars, which just fuels the fantasy and imagine the bills/debts you can pay off “if” you win.
6/49 is advertised everywhere and has just become a part of our Canadian culture. While they technically promote winning the jackpot and its ability to dramatically change your life, there is always this underlying fear that goes along with it. “What if your numbers come up and you didn’t play?”
The Answer To Your Biggest Question
Ok Steve enough with the Lottery rant, how does this relate to losing weight and trying to live a healthy lifestyle?
IT relates like this: Just like the lottery people are looking for the easy out when it comes to losing weight, instead of money problems they are waiting for the “FAT” problem to be solved.
1. They want to lose fat without doing the necessary work to burn the fat.
2. They want to eat fewer calories without having to eat less food.
3. They are waiting for someone to answer their biggest weight loss question, “how do I lose weight” and give them the solution to their greatest desire “I want to lose weight”. In essence they are waiting to be saved.
The answer to solving the lottery/money problem is the same for solving the weight loss problem: YOU TAKING ACTION. You already know that you need to exercise to burn more calories, you know that you need to eat at least 1500 calories per day consisting of good healthy nutritious food like Fruits and veggies, lean meats, low fat dairy products, whole grains and indulge with the occasional treat, (1500 calories of burgers and fries won’t cut it).
(For finances I take the “curb your spending and increase your income/investments” approch)
So get off your ass and do it already, stop waiting to be saved and save yourself.
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