Archive for 8. Recomended Products

Jan
22

Lose weight with gentle Self-Talk and a good Safety Net

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

bruceits2010 Lose weight with gentle Self Talk and a good Safety Net

Self Talk will make or break you.  How you talk to yourself can uplift you or put you down. I am reminded some Sunday School lyrics  ” let us oft speak kind words to each other, at home or where ‘er ye may be….kind word are sweet spirits of the heart”.  You need some help in this life, especially with examples like the bigest loser to guide you.

Have you ever been on a diet, lost weight and then lost momentum and gained it back. Sometimes you gain what you lost plus a little.  That is why you need a safety net, to prevent all that effort from being lost.  You can go recruit someone or you can use an internet service created by a psychiatrist from UCLA – Dr. Roger Gould.  He wrote the book Shrink Yourself and created a program by the same name.  No matter where you live, if you have access to a computer, you have access to a safety net.  Why not go for it!  Click on the big Orange box in the right hand column of this blog and check out what they have to offer.

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Jimmy Moore is a writer, blogger and great guy.  He hails from SC and has just written his second book.  I wanted you to know about it because it will be a great reference for you if you are a health writer, a blogger, a person who wants to loose weight, or you want more information about a low carbohydrate lifestyle.  There are lessons here for everyone.  Below is a cover shot of the book by Jimmy.

21 LIfe Lessons Book

What is this book about?  Well if we examine the table of contents, we can discover much about the book. Below are two pages from the book that contain the table of contents.

Table of Contnets 1Table of Contents 2I love these chapters: #2 about the validity of cholesterol testing.  The old standard test is great if all is really normal, but if your Doctor suggests you take a drug to lower your cholesterol, read this chapter and talk to your Doctor about a more detailed and comprehensive test.

Chapter 3 about the perils of high sugar, especially high fructose in your food is a gem.  You know that this is called natural sweetener by the corn council.  I was a farm kid, but we aren’t defending small family farms here.  This is about something that is as toxic to your liver as Hepatitis.  Actually, the fatty liver disease you can get from ingesting this stuff causes a form of hepatitis. Read up and be informed.

Here is a quote from Jimmy from pages 3 and 4:

If you are reading this and thinking you’d like to go ahead and get started on your own low-carb
lifestyle, then let me encourage you to do the following:
1. Read a solid low-carb book like Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, Protein Power by Drs. Mike
& Mary Dan Eades, or for a side-by-side comparison of the most popular low-carb diets get Dr.
Jonny Bowden’s newly-updated 2010 release Living Low-Carb.
2. Have your doctor conduct a NMR LipoProfile (NMRLipoprofile.com) blood test to measure
your LDL particle size, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides at baseline so you can see how much
improvement low-carb will make on your health.
3. Commit to following your chosen low-carb plan exactly as prescribed for at least three
months while continually educating yourself more and more about the low-carb lifestyle (read
Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories for an excellent history of the science behind low-
carb).
4. Get active support not just from your friends and family, but by getting involved with others
who have been successful eating this way online through low-carb forums like mine
(LivinLowCarbDiscussion.com).
5. Most importantly, NEVER, NEVER, EVER GIVE UP! You’ll likely face struggles, temptations,
cravings, and even some pain early on when you do this. But let me tell you, the payoff in the
end is totally worth it if you can just stick it out until you reach your goal. By the time you get
there, you’ll want to keep on low-carbing for the rest of your life.

The best place to purchase this is through Amazon.  I used to be an associate but no longer am, and if you purchase the book, Jimmy receives all the profit from it.  He wrote it and he deserves it.  He did give me a PDF copy of the book to review and it is 300 pages so it took me a few days.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  Consider giving a copy to friends and family who are trying to lose weight and are serious about keeping it off.

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Oct
19

Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

A few months ago I bought a product to try called The Diet Solution Program.  I have been pleased with its information, the philosophy behind the diet solution and the support after the sale from Isabel de los Rios.  Isabel sends me information on a weekly basis via email in support of the product and the process.  Here is what she said most recently about foods commonly believed to be healthy but which are not healthy.thinwomanpants Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan

Isabel’s “Top 10 Foods you May Think are Healthy, but are NOT”
(and I’m going to hope that your favorite meal, snack or drink is not on this list):

1. Whole Wheat bread – all contain enriched flour and some contain high fructose corn syrup
2. Low Fat and/or Low Sugar Salad Dressings – canola oil, sugar
(or some use artificial sweeteners instead…which is worse!)
3. Sports Drinks – high fructose corn syrup,
not to mention all the nasty dyes that are used to make it all sorts of fluorescent colors
4. Dry Roasted Almonds – canola oil and some add sugar
5. Almost all Protein and Energy Bars – soy and sugar
6. Almost all High Protein and High Fiber cereals – soy and canola oil
7. Low Sugar Instant Oatmeal – sugar, soy, and artificial sweeteners
8. Diet and Weight Loss Shakes (and other diet shakes) – canola oil and sugar
9. 100 Calorie Snack Packs – enriched flour and artificial sweeteners
10. Flavored Yogurt – sugar or artificial sweeteners

Take a look in your fridge and in your pantry right now and see if any of your favorite foods
contain ingredients that may just be stopping you from reaching your fat loss goals. Sometimes, seeing results or overcoming a weight loss plateau is as easy as getting rid of some of these so called “healthy” foods.

If you would like to eat a healthy diet and have a healthy weight loss plan, then you should look at Isabel’s “The Diet Solution Program”

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nutritionpic Self Care Practices   A Diet to Keep You HealthyThe word diet has several different connotations.  It can mean a temporary change in eating habits and macro-nutrient ratios (percentage of protein, carbohydrate or fat in your diet) to effect some end result ( look better naked or lose “weight”).  This does not mean it improves your health or longevity or strengthens your mind and nervous or immune systems.  Diet can mean all the things you eat – your diet is what you eat.  It could mean the habitual eating pattern of some non-human species that eat so they can live and reproduce.  Humans get to choose and often choose badly or have no choices and don’t eat enough of all they need.

What nutrients do you need to stay alive and stay alive long and remain healthy?  There are three main macro-nutrients – those you need the most of – Protein, Carbohydrate and Fat.  You need all 3 and you need them in proper ratios. Generally, not eating quite enough is better than eating too much.  I need you to remember I am talking about most people but if you have phenylketonuria or some other inherited metabolic disorder, listen to your specialist!!!!  If you are not diabetic, hypertensive, or do not have some other chronic disease especially liver or kidney disease then this is for you.  If you have a disease and have been told to follow a specific diet – DO SO!

OK, disclaimers aside, you need to eat and you need enough energy to sustain your needs.  You need to be able to repair your body, fuel your brain with glucose (about 60 grams a day) and ketones from fat metabolism (equivalent to 40 grams of carbohydrate). We get multiple times that much glucose and not nearly enough ketones for our brain. At least the average American does.  We need protein, but not nearly as much as most believe. Even serious weight lifters need only slightly more than most people who are much more sedentary.  If you eat too much protein your body will turn it into sugar!  It has the same effect as eating too much carbohydrate.  Lastly you need a little saturated fat and a larger quantity of unsaturated fats like omega  3 fatty acids.

How much?  Your body will tell you, but you need to follow a few guidelines so you can hear what your body says.

  • schedule your meals – know when you are going to eat and don’t eat at other times

  • eat sitting down so you can chew thoroughly and know when you are full – not when you have eaten everything

  • to slow yourself down and guard against over eating – use smaller utensils and plates and only eat one helping

  • don’t fear hunger – skip a meal on a light activity day – go 8 hours without eating – you will live

  • Drink plenty of water – learn to like it! You need it. – 2-3 quarts(liters) per day

  • Skip eating anything with added sugar of any type M-F and sparingly on weekends and holidays (see Reinhard Engels at EveryDaySystems.com )

  • When you are full quit eating! Throw away the excess on your plate and take less on it next time. This is not wasting food. Wasting food is becoming a human garbage can and eating more than you need just because it is on your plate.

  • cut down alcohol – men one 12oz beer per day, 4 ounces of Wine or 1 ounce of distilled spirits, Women 3-4 times a week max when you are not pregnant.

  • Eat real food – raw unprocessed nuts, vegetables from the produce section or frozen not canned that require minimal cooking. If you could eat it raw it is better for you than things that must be cooked (they have some toxin or protective system that must be denatured by cooking (potatoes, beans, etc…)

  • Eat small servings of meat 4 ounce twice a day is plenty for all but athletes – they could eat another 4 ounces.

  • Get enough rest 7-9 hours of horizontal time with lights out – no TV, no computer, soft music if you must but get melatonin into your brain with enough time in darkness.  There are only two good things to do in the dark – do the first one then get to sleep but no lights!

You can use the scales but the fit of your clothes, your energy level and the size of your waist and hips should tell the story.  Over  a few weeks you should see a return of youthful energy and clearing of your mind when you awaken and a decreasing percentage of your body weight as fat.

Who has done this?  Share with us your story and experiences.  Who wants to do this?  Sign up for one of my virtual workshops so I can show you how you can use coaching to empower your changes and gather some momentum toward your goal of better health and greater vitality. Leave me a comment on this article please.

Ask an Expert Anything – Diet

icon for podpress  A healthy Diet Podcast, #1: Download
icon for podpress  A Healthy Diet Podcast #2: Download
icon for podpress  A Healthy Diet Podcast #3: Download
icon for podpress  A Healthy Diet Podcast #4: Download

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Aug
19

Josef Brandenburg – Personal Trainer Extraordinaire

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

Last Monday evening, August 10 at 730PM EST, I interviewed Josef Brandenburg as part of my Ask An Expert Anything series.  Josef had a phone line failure and had to call on his cell. I had a power failure and had no Internet connection. I called in on my cell and hoped the auto-record function of my teleseminar software would give me a recording – it did not! Everything went wrong except the interview. If you were on that call you know what a dynamic guy Josef is.

Josef said that most of his life he was “fat”.  For a few years he was considered obese.  But, about 15 years ago he began to experiment with different diets and types of exercise and stumbled into a pattern that worked very well for him. He got an education in Dietetics and became a personal trainer. It was then he began to apply the principles that worked so well for him and now his clients.

Some of the principles Josef told me about were:

  • Keeping insulin levels low

  • Eating enough but not too much

  • Lifting weights – as heavy as possible for men and women

  • Doing intense, short bouts of cardio

  • No long slow exercise sessions

He has a book out called “The Client Success Manual”. It will cost $80 after August 24 but until then you can buy it for half price.Fresh ideas sign in the sky

It contains workout information and diet information – a complete system for increasing your total fitness.  It will also or should also improve your health. I always tell my patients to fill out a PAR-Q (I have them here on the blog if you search or download one from the Internet) to determine if you need to see a physician before you begin an exercise program.

If you want to see what Josef has to offer you can click on one of these links.  Josef will also be doing phone consultations for long distance clients.

Josef Brandenburg fitness Blog The Body You Want The Client Success Manual

Some times it is something else that blocks you from taking advantage of such expertise.  When you try and fail any times, perhaps you should slow down and asses your life, you intentions for it and what you are saying to yourself.  That is where a coach comes in.  I have a special group offer that you want to take advantage of. When it is gone, it is gone forever. You can find it here on my blog.

Or Sign up for a work shop in the form below. There are 3 options, 1. morning workshop, 2. Evening workshop or 3. a workshop as a prelude to a Passion Party conducted with Passionate Living Expert Paula Harvey. Workshops can be done for one on the Internet or for a group of 10 or more in person. My workshops are free, Paula has a per person charge for her services.

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Aug
03

Stress – Breathe and live with less Stress

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

Stress is a response to a threat.  When the threat is perceived like possibly losing your job during a recession, the response to it can grind on and on. This response is detrimental. The purpose is to get you moving and that is what these words are intended to do.

Breathing is necessary for life. Three minutes without oxygen and you enter another realm but leave this one. Increasing your levels of oxygen for brief periods throughout the day can make you anxiety proof and lessen your stress response. It isn’t hard and when you do deep breathing for brief periods of time you make you body accustomed to changing levels of oxygen. One indicator of an emergency to your brains emergency monitoring system is falling levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is a waste product we breathe off. There are levels that are usual. If the body perceives lower than usual levels, it thinks you are sensing a danger because you are breathing faster. Breathing exercises can teach your body that lower levels of CO2 can be a sign of relaxation and this will help you reduce your stress response.

Here is how you do it. Stop for a moment right where you are. Imagine you need to blow away something falling on your face. I don’t like feathers so I imagine them. I imagine each feather is something bugging me. A person, a situation, a problem that I am going to blow away.

Now, take a deep breath down into you abdomen. You know you are breathing abdominally when your belly button moves out or up when you inhale. Now exhale fully and completely but purse your lips like you are blowing something away. For me I blow away feathers and problems and relax. I let my shoulders fall into their normal place, I let my back relax and I feel better. Stop what you are doing now, stop reading, stop any music and breathe deeply in and out 3 times. It isn’t magic. It is effective. I have learned to do it when walking from one exam room to another, quietly and quit effectively. You can learn this too.The Circle of Life for Personal Empowerment

Want to learn more? Join my Personal Empowerment Plan. You can find it here or you can become a fan of my Personal Empowerment Plan on Facebook. Too much to do? Leave me a comment or question in the comment section below or contact me using the information on the “contact me” page of this blog.

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Jul
24

Personal Empowerment Program using the Circle of Life

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

The Circle of Life for Personal EmpowermentDo you have a problem in your life you are having trouble solving?  Is there a change you have wanted to make  but it just has not worked out?  Maybe you are working on the wrong area? Maybe you need help to plan and execute your plan successfully.  How would you like to assess your life, create a plan and have a council  and coach to support you?  Such things exist you know.

I am accepting applications for 4 people that have some common challenges in their life – like empty nest boomers – or single women or men over age 50 or some other group of 4 with similar life challenges.  The course will begin in early September and last 10 hours. You will receive my coaching, support from the group, recordings of all the calls that only your group can access, a guide book that is 81/2×11″ format and very well written and access to me for 10 hours.  Your group will learn a process and can after 10 hours remain together and proceed to use the process to help each other to accomplish all they wish to accomplish over time.

This is not a panacea for every problem.  If you have serious problems that need resolution, then counseling is the place for you. But, if you have things you want to do and have a desire to change and improve, then my course – Personal Empowerment Plan is for you.  The hooker is this first inaugural program is only going to cost the 4 participants $50 each and their time.  After this opportunity, the cost will go up to $265 each for the same amount of time.

If you are interested, you need to download the application, fill it out and mail it to me. I will call you and if you are a good fit for the group, will accept you for our September sessions.

You can email me at (I am spelling the address to keep spam bots from stealing it and using it) Bruce dot L dot Bair at gmail dot com   Mail it back to me Bruce Bair at 127 Long Shadow Place, Durham, NC 27713

Here is the application to download.

Group Participant Application

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May
18

A Personal Empowerment Plan

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

Have you thought you needed to do something about your health but were afraid to or did not know where to start? I know the feeling. I have felt like I needed to lose another 10 pounds while gaining some muscle and improving my fitness level some.

I would like to offer some free help you can use in the privacy of your own home. It is the nucleus of a Personal Empowerment Plan I will help you design. First, you need the basics, then the details.

The basics are 20 podcasts, delivered one per day for 5 days, then none for 2 days to allow you to discuss and assimilate information. Then 5 more on a different topic until you receive all 20. Each is about 10 minutes long. The links are delivered via email and you can listen on line or you can download them and listen on your mp3.

You can sign up to begin receiving them at http://www.pepbybruce.com. There is a paragraph or two of explanation and a sign up form. I hope you will listen and if you like them, tell your friends. I will be having some calls soon also that you can listen to over the web or on the phone. Each call will be either an Ask Bruce a health/wellness question or an interview with someone with special knowledge in an area of related interest.

OK, be sure you are signed up here and if you are, sign up to get the podcasts. It is completely safe. I pay Aweber to protect you, (not much about $15 per month) and to satisfy your Internet service provider that I am not sending out spam. I will never share or reveal your email address. Now it is time to click on the link and start your PEP.

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Apr
20

5 Guides to a Better Diet

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments (2)

Diet as we have been taught is not good science. For many years, the only acceptable research has been on low fathomework 5 Guides to a Better Diet diets. The experience of the last 25-30 years has shown that low fat does not work well. Look at the results of a healthy diet full of Whole Grains, and low fats. We have an “obesity epidemic” though you can not catch obesity. There are more people than ever with Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) – actually not a disease but a syndrome or complex of symptoms related to acid from the stomach backing up in the esophagus. It is like a backed up sewer and just as allowing sewage to back up in our house could make us sick so can GERD. We have too many over weight children that began as over weight babies because their Moms had gestational diabetes, another problem caused by high carbohydrate, low fat diets with too many total calories.

We seem to think that everyone in America is a lazy slob and that it is the lack of exercise that is the problem. If you have noticed the terrible financial crisis, that was caused by the same thing that is causing our obesity epidemic. the first factor is greed. The people in charge turned their heads to obvious, known problems that had easy solutions before everything crashed down. It is greed, wanting more and more, faster and faster no matter what the cost. The other factor is accurate information and a will to act on that information. We have to act and to do that we have to understand. Most of us just want to work, get paid and allow someone else to run the country.
We see what the cost of that can be. The financial crisis cost us money and some of our dreams. The obesity crisis can cost you your life or the quality of your life.

You need accurate information and you can not depend on those in power to give you accurate, unbiased information on finances or on food. The food industry is an over 2 trillion dollars per year business. We talk about trillions like they were amounts you could earn. Here is an illustration of what one trillion dollars looks like. Do you think they are going to risk the market with information that threatens profits? NO WAY! You are going to have to hunt for the information for yourself. Here are some good sources of information.

James Carlson  M.D. is a practicing physician and now an author. He chose the name Genocide for his book for its shock value and to emphasize the fact that dietary ignorance was causing the serious health problems we face. It has been written in many places by many distinguished, knowledgeable authorities that if we don’t change things, my grandchildren’s generation will be the first in America to have a shorter life expectancy that their parents. This is all preventable with correct information. Dr. Carlson presents dietary information in a logical way and makes some of the difficult concepts easy to understand. He also presents solutions to our dietary problems. His book might be a good place to start. His information is not the final word, but it is more accurate than many of the books I have read previously.

If you want to read a book that is scientifically rigorous, well documented and based on solid information after a review of the literature and over 150 interviews then Gary Taubes is the person you want to read. This is written for health professionals. It is not easy reading as it is more textbook than simple nonfiction. Taubes presents the same information as Dr. Carlson but in a scientific way. He looks at the origins of our low fat diet recommendations and at the accuracy of the science behind it versus other recommendations. Taubes is a science writer and researcher. He is doing the same work for diets that Woodward and Bernstein did during Watergate. He is searching for the truth and stirring up quite a controversy in the hierarchy that makes the current recommendation. His book has a couple of areas where it could be more thorough but generally it s greatest flaw is that it can not be easily understood by the lay public. No matter what you need this reference on your bookshelf as you find your way to a longer healthier life.

Dr. Larry McCleary is a very knowlegable author on brain science. He ought to be since he has been a pediatric neurosurgeon for 30 years. He has brought his knowledge of the brain into the realm of the layman. Dr. McCleary explains our brain’s functioning and its needs in a clear manner. He explains what we can do to enhance our brains potential and protect its functions throughout our lives. His book will help us to understand how we can best eat to protect our “Brain Trust”.

These two books are not diet books. You need a way to get started with a change process. The best two authors to do this are Dr. James Prochaska and Leo Babauta. I am presnting Leo’s book first – Zen Habits. Leo took his life by the horns, got himself out of debt, quit smoking and lost over 30 pounds of fat. He took up running, became a vegetarian and fulfilled his dream of making a living from writing. He began a blog that is one of the top blogs on the internet. He credits learning to focus on what is most important now to his success. His first book – Zen to Done – is available as an $8 down load from Amazon. His second, Zen Habits is a thin hardback that leads you step by step into the system Leo used to accomplish and maintain his progress. It’s simplicity is what makes it both powerful and effective. I highly recommend understanding what Leo teaches as a frame work for implementing what you lean from these authors on diet.

The book Changing for Good by Dr. James Prochaska, PhD explains the process of change. We pass through stages at various rates of speed. Dr. Prochaska has identified and labeled these six stages as well as the pitfalls that can cause us to slid backwards and lose progress we have worked so hard for. He maintains that if we skip a stage, we will lose our momentum and slid back. One example he uses of skipping stages is the person who is in stage two – contemplation. They are thinking they need to exercise, to “get back in shape”. Then one night they see an infomercial about a machine that can do it fast and save them time. They jump over preparation directly to action and buy it, use it for a few weeks an then don’t see the promised results. They slid back to contemplation twice shy of doing anything and less confident they can actually succeed in accomplishing this important goal. Reading this book can help you change yourself or to be a better coach to a friend or family member who is trying to change.

These 5 guide books can help you become better informed so you can apply the correct knowledge to your efforts. If you need someone to talk to about this, you should contact me about coaching or about a custom seminar for you and 4 friends. You can not do anything until you sign up and that just puts you into my loop and tells me you really want my help. OK, so sign up and contact me.
One thing more. There is a “Thumb this Up” tag at the end of every article. If you click this it will take you to a social bookmarking site. This means that you can mark this article as one you recommend to someone looking for this kind of information. It marks you as a resource and if your recommendations are good, many people will listen to you and it will direct more people to me and my writing. You have to have an account with the bookmarking site StumbleUpon to do this. My SU account is under my pen name DurhamDad which is how you can find me on Delicous and Twitter. Thanks for your STUMBLE!

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Apr
19

5 Great Exercise Books

Posted by: Bruce Bair | Comments Comments Off

Richard Bradley was head of fitness for the Department of Transportation.  He designed a program for employees that would allow them to begin an exercise program using just 15 minutes a day and stay in their work clothes.  He wrote a book entitled Quick Fit so anyone could begin to use this method. If you are already walking, or doing regular exercise, this book probably is not for you. If you have not exercised in some time, and have been considering starting, this is a good place to begin. Often we get excited, and too revved up and do too much too soon. Follow this program as you begin and that won’t happen. I have this book I am on my third or fourth copy – I keep giving them away to friends.

If you are ready and want a place to start, here is one solution to help you. Walking is a way to exercise throughout your life. Most fitness runs now include a walking portion that allow walkers to participate. If you want to step up, no pun intended, this book can help you begin and maintain a program of walking.  I love to walk and a favorite vacation diversion is a walking tour of wherever I visit. This is a good way to challenge yourself and keep track of your progress.

If you are a weekend athlete, keeping your core strong and your muscles stretched is very important. You can do this in a number of ways. I use this book by Mark Verstegen. He trains a lot of pro athletes and this is part of his info for all of us that went “Pro in Something Else”. If you are a golfer, gardener, or play ultimate Frisbee, you will find the premovement exercises and the core fitness in this book to be superb. I have included a video by Verstegen in this same type of training here also.

Beth Shaw has taken Yoga and made it fit into an American style work out. She uses English names for her moves and she combined the best of several forms of Yoga into a series of routines. She has a book and a video series that I have included examples of here.

If you like working on a ball, here is a book and a video that will make it fun and easy to begin. The book has beginner to advanced routines and the video is for novices. The idea is to take an idea – to begin to exercise and go with it. Everything I have included here is for the person who is a beginner and requires flexibility in their time. there are more rigorous routines but, these will get you started and help you to progress until you are fit enough and practiced enough to take it to the next level.

Sign up for Get the Skinney via email and for the audio seminars. Remember you can get a customized seminar for you and 4 friends or just get notified about new ones as they occur.exercisepic 5 Great Exercise Books

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