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 and Kindle for PC.

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

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

I like to catch up on my favorite tv shows (the daily show, the league, and workaholics etc..) when I’m running or walking on the treadmill. There is a groove on the display area where I can rest it, but it isn’t very stable. My ipod has fallen off a few times already with no major damage (yet).

So when I had an opportunity to try out this great little stand made for ipod touches and smartphones I jumped at the chance.

It’s called the ZHIP and I have to say it’s a pretty cool little gadget. Basically it is a fold-able smartphone and ipod stand that has a 3 foot zip cord attached to it. I took it for a test to the gym on the first day I got it. I attached it to the ipod and wrapped it around the treadmill display and locked it in place (another cool feature).

This thing didn’t move, I pushed the speed up to 10 mph for about 30 seconds just to get the treadmill shaking and it held it’s ground. I finished the rest of my run without an issue. You can see how I attached it to my home treadmill below. (sorry my camera sucks)

Pretty impressed with the Zhip so far even though I am probably not using it correctly, lol.

Great as a Stand

I was looking at recipes videos on the ipod as well and when you lay it flat on the counter-top it’s hard to see properly. I hooked it up to the Zhip and it gave me a much better viewing angle, I could actually watch the video instead of just listening to it.

I didn’t try the eye level viewing set up show in the video below but that’s pretty cool too.

I was watching a video on making homemade hamburgers which were great by the way.

Below is the promo video that they have posted on youtube if you want to see everything the Zhip can do.

Clearly I am not using it to it’s full potential!

Recommendation

I don’t promote a lot of products but the timing of the ZHIP was perfect for me, with the ipod purchases and all. It was exactly what I was looking.

If you own an Ipod, Iphone or Android device I would highly recommend that you get one of these. They are really inexpensive too just under $15 buck I think.

I have a feeling that “Santa” will be adding a couple of these to the kids stockings this year.

Where to Buy

Currently you can only buy the ZHIP online at THEZHIP.COM which is fine, they have a 100% money back guarantee and can ship anywhere.

EDIT: Apparently you can also buy the ZHIP at Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com and Newegg.com

But, You better hurry and order soon if you want to get it for Christmas though.

Buy the ZHIP Here. (No, I do not make any money from this)

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

It’s that time of year again when everyone and their mother is starting a new diet or workout plan. ( I am no exception). What I’ve noticed recently is the huge increase of Spam email that I’m getting for the weight loss drug Phentermine.

Normally I get the odd 1-2 emails that slip past my spam filters and make it to my inbox. In the past 5 days however, I have received no less than 25 per day.

Why so many? Simply put it’s a numbers game and my spam filters have captured 8000 spam emails, that’s a 10 fold increase over normal rates so naturally the number that are getting through would also increase.

Looking at all these wasted emails it got me thinking about Phentermine, what it is and why it is so popular. If you don’t know by now I am against diet pills and do not recommend them unless your obesity situation is extreme.

What is Phentermine?

Phentermine is an appetite suppressant that is taken orally as a tablet or in capsule form. This drug is only available by prescription (legally anyway).

Phentermine works by “stimulating the hypothalamus gland and affecting certain neurotransmitters to decrease appetite” according to the manufactures website. “The hypothalamus is the region of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, regulating sleep cycles, body temperature, appetite, etc”

This is why many Phentermine users report insomnia, fatigue, hot flashes etc.. as you are messing with a gland that regulates all of this stuff.

Phentermine Side Effects

As with any drug Phentermine has its side effects and they can range from mild to sever to down right crazy. I am just going to list a few of the more notable ones (along with my smart ass comments).

Depression – You shouldn’t be sad when you’re losing weight!

Drowsiness/Tiredness – Usually because you are up all night or can’t sleep.

Increased blood pressure - Again, your blood pressure should be dropping as you are losing weight and becoming healthier, not the opposite.

These are listed as less common to rare:

Change in sexual desire - That could be a good thing for some of you

Clumsiness/Confusion/Blurred vision - As long as you look good does it really matter if you can’t see properly, drop stuff and have no idea where you are?

Nausea or Vomiting/Stomach pain - Lose weight by not being able eat and throwing up everything that does make it into you? Sounds a lot like my Lose 9 pounds in 4 days diet plan don’t you think?

This is my favorite one and has to do with the symptoms if you over dose on Phentermine, which is possible apparently.

Hostility with urge to attack – This is exactly the type of person I want in the gym with me when I forget to put the weights back on the rack or wipe down the treadmill!

In all seriousness, I don’t mean to make light of the serious side effects that this weight loss pill can produce. I just want you to be aware that taking Phentermine carries risks and in my opinion they are not worth the benefits of dropping a few extra pounds.

My Beef with Phentermine?

First let me be clear that I have never tried Phentermine so I am not a “user” and my experience with the drug is obviously limited. However, I do know people that have tried it and I’ve read a lot of postings in forums about the experiences that other Phentermine users have had with this weight loss pill.

What bothers me the most about Phentermine is that it is supposed to be used “in conjunction with diet, exercise, and behavior therapy” and even then it “may” help you lose weight. Which begs the question, If you are able to maintain a proper diet, a regular exercise plan and are working to change your behavior/habits then why do you need Phentermine at all?

You may be thinking, “well taking Phentermine will help me lose weight more quickly than diet and exercise alone” the answer is well yeah it probably will but not by the massive amounts you are thinking of.

Although I couldn’t find a ton of clinical studies about Phentermine and weight loss on the Pubmed government site, I did see one that showed a small amount (under 5 pounds) of additional weight loss when it was combined with another drug over a 24 week period vs. a placebo group. (do your own research though as I am not a Doctor)

The last thing I want to say about Phentermine and it’s effects follows this quote on how to take Phentermine: “Take Phentermine about 30 minutes to 1 hour before a meal” You know what else works just as well 30 minutes before a meal? Drinking a Bottle/Cup of water and it costs waaaaaay less. (Phentermine costs about $500-$600 for 180 pills, you do the math)

What are your thoughts, as I am sure there are many supporters of this weight loss pill and weight loss pills in general. Let me know in the comments below and I look forward to some interesting discussions.

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

Disclaimer: Mio sent me this heart rate monitor to review, however I am under no obligation to do so nor to make the review positive. This review reflects my personal opinions about the Motiva watch.

Like I said, I was sent the Motiva Strapless Heart rate monitor to review from Mio back in November 08. I was ready to post my thoughts after a few weeks but decide that I wanted to give this heart rate monitor a more lengthy trial.

I have been using the Motiva for more than 3 months now, daily and here is what I think of it.

What I Liked About The Motiva

Before getting started you need to personalize your Motiva by enter some information into it. Things like your name, weight, birthday, activity level etc… Setup takes 5 minutes maybe 10 reading the users guide beginning to end. So it wasn’t too difficult to set it.

The big feature of the Mio Motiva is it’s ability to display your heart rate without using a chest strap. There are 2 silver senors on the front of the watch where you place your index and middle fingers. A “test” message appears and in about 5 seconds it displays your current heart rate.

As far as accuracy goes I did test it a few times against the old fingers to the neck method and it was pretty close, 5 beats was the most it was off by.

Along with your heart rate in BPM (beats per minute) it also displays the percent of your maximum heart rate that the BPM equals. For example, tonight when I got back from my run after about 10 minutes my heart rate showed as 99 BPM and it also displayed it as 52%. That is important for training within your targets (see more info on target heart rates from the American Heart Association)

5 Different Exercise Timers

This is a feature that I really liked. Instead your standard timer that goes from 0 until you stop it (which is also does) you get ability of using 4 other modes. It counts down to zero from whatever number you set the timer to, I used this when I was running around my neighborhood and was trying to get back to my house before the timer ran out.

I won’t go into all the other timer modes but I will say that I did manage to find a use for all of them.

Calories Burned

The Motiva also tracks the number of calories that you’ve burned during your workouts. This worked really well while doing steady state exercises like running but once I started doing HIIT the numbers seemed off by quite a bit.

Heart Rate Recovery Mode

Some experts say the faster your heart rate recovers the healthier your heart is. I think that’s true and I was able to track that using the heart rate recovery mode. You take your heart rate right after you stop exercising which gives you your “high” rate, then it counts down 60 seconds and asks to take your reading again which is your “low”. Then it displays the difference and gives you a rating. Either Poor, Fair, good, superb, mine has been fair for 2 months now.

What Didn’t I Liked About The Motiva?

One of the features of the Motiva is that it has the ability to track the number of calories that you consume everyday. It’s promoted as a major feature of the watch but I found no use for it. I did use the feature for a few weeks but stopped because I found it to be tedious. I would forget a meal or a snack and that would throw the whole thing off.

In general I have stopped counting calories so I really don’t have a need the calorie counting feature.

The whole package comes with a little book called Mio Sense and inside there is a lot of good information including the Mio Sense weight management system, a few simple workout plans and food tables that show you the calories, fat, carbs etc.. of a wide variety of foods. I really hate the size of the book, I think it’s made to fit in your pocket but it is way too small and is almost unreadable. That’s a shame because the content is great.

Recommendations

Overall I like the Mio Motiva and recommend that you pick one up either at one of the many dealers or directly online at Miowatch.com. It will help you keep your workouts focused and the timers are extremely useful. Many of you know that I am doing P90X and a heart rate monitor is recommended, this watch fits that role perfectly. It’s stylish and I honestly get asked about it once or twice a week when people see me taking my heart rate, which I do a lot.

There is definately more to this watch then I have mentioned here. Each one comes with access to the 3500 calorie club which I have yet to sign up for at miowatch.com but the descriptions of the program seem excellent and if it equals the quality of the watch it’s self then I’m sure it is great.

One finally note: Look for the first ever weightlossweapons.com contest where I will be giving away prizes including a MIO Motiva Petite Heart Rate Watch worth $100.

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy