Day 16

Yes, I know I skipped a day...

Let us talk about an uncomfortable topic for a second. Poop. Its a great word. Poop, poo, doodie, dookie... I get happy just laughing at these words. But, I digress. This isn't about my inability to leave 3rd grade. Its about digestion. What you eat has a tremendous effect on losing weight, your general well feeling, thoughts, everything. If you eat crappy chinese food 3 or 4 times a week, you will feel like an overweight, bloated MSG ridden blob. Eat some mexican food,you most likely will become bloated and flatulent. Not a comforting thought.

But does that mean you can't eat this stuff? No. Should you eat this stuff? Well, no, but it is soooooo good. Moderation is key with deep fried General Tzao's chicken and/or a Beef Burritto (See the other day about my love of the wonderful burritto.)

A real diet should consist or proteins, carbohydrates, FIBER (I will discuss this wonderful little colon cleanser later), fats and yes, some sugars. Balance is key in a diet. Going on a pasta and bread bender may be delicious, but it is not balanced and those carbs breakdown for use slower that anything. Not only that, carbohydrates actually, in the process of being broken down, turn in to a specific type of sugar and, if not used, gets stored in that spare tire.

Get used to cutting out candy bars and sodas. Donuts and high fructose syrup juices. They make you feel like garbage anyways.

Also, get used to eating less process foods. Whole grain breads, fruits and vegetables, water. Doesn't sound enticing? Well its not. Who wants to eat tasteless veggies, boiled till the devil doesn't want to look at them? Water? Tasteless, boring.

These foods don't have to be boring. Start looking around for interesting recipes and make them. If you own a TV or just watch TV on your computer, find cooking shows. My personal favorite is Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. He travels all over the world, eating local foods that look incredible. They use fresh ingredients (no deep fried, pre-packaged, MSG filled, garbage pieces of chicken.) They use spices. Don't be afraid of spices ladies and gentleman. A lot of them have serious health BENEFITS!!! If you have high cholesterol, eat some cinnamon every day. Eating a grapefruit everyday, if you are on cholesterol medicine, actually helps you reduce the dosages, and in some cases, the entire pill out of your repetoire!

Buy yourself a George Foreman grill for meat and dairy. You can grill fish and have a nice milchig (dairy) dinner. You can grill pineapples and put them on a handmade, fresh, delicious burger. Now we're talking! Good food, done right, will always prevail to fat people like me. And, added bonuses of it being healthy works too!

Water. As boring as it is, I can't stress enough about drinking water. There are different ideas of how much should be consumed everyday. 8 glasses is good I guess, I don't know, speak to your doctor. Drinking water is incredible. It helps regulate your entire body. It flushes out bad things, helps you retain skin elasticity, helps your brain, helps you digest. It is an amazing substance.

Back to the original topic though. What happens when you need to...release that water. Or the flip side, no pun intended. Fiber fiber fiber. Say it with me FIBER. You can get this wonderful substance from whole foods, grains, vegetables, fruits, Metamucil. Get some in your system. Eating something like 23 grams of fiber daily will actually help you drop the poundage without being on the can ALL day. Fiber acts like those scrubbing bubbles from the commercials. As it passes through you, it helps clean up your digestive tract. All of the extra waste that hasn't passed through you or is stuck in your system begins to make its way out. If you are feeling sluggish, tired, can't think straight, getting sick or generally under the weather, this could actually make you feel better.

Its like having bacteria just set up shop in your gut. A lot of bacteria are terrible and begin affecting the natural Flora and Fauna of your stomach, which in turn, makes your system focus on getting rid of those nasty vermin, but takes its energy away from other things. Again, the sluggishness hit and all of a sudden, you are on the couch, burping and farting, eating nachos watching Varsity Blues or some other horrible movie because you are too lazy to change the channel because the remote is just "too far".  Time for a clean start.

Water and Fiber. Diet and Exercise. This is the only way you'll feel better.

If you are normally sluggish and tired or can't seem to beat that cold. Try 2 weeks of diet and exercise, with tons of water and fiber. The difference will amaze you. And you'll be hooked.

Good luck out there. And...

Happy Huntings.