Waist appearance improvement.....

Today's post:  Thursday, 9-28-2017

As regular readers of this blog know, there are two effective ways to remove fat that you can keep off.

1.  Reduced calorie and carb high protein eating plus exercise including some strength training.

2.  Eating in a way that puts you in ketosis with almost zero carbs or close to it and making that your permanent or frequent eating style on a long term basis.

Last week we posted on how the first method tends to only work reliably when you measure the high protein, healthful foods you do eat precisely to ensure you use extra calories during fat loss and keep the fat off after that.

A.  Regardless of which of the two methods you use, Mike Matthews makes the point that the most effective way to make your waist look better is to remove the fat that covers it!

He posts pictures of people with different levels of bodyfat so you can easily see this directly for yourself.

Men who have 8 to 10 % of their bodyweight as fat have abdominal muscles that are easily  visible.  Men who have 20% of their bodyweight or more, as I currently do, do not.

(Healthy women tend to have 8 to 10 % higher fat so the range for them for seeing their abdominal muscles is closer to 16% or a bit less.  Their abdominals are more visible and they look much better if they also strength train Mike’s pictures show.)

B.  Mike also makes the point that doing hundreds of crunches and the like does little to make your waist look better.

Using one of the two fatloss methods successfully is far more important.

And, the kind of cardio that burns extra calories works far better with exercises like jump rope or trampoline work or running while towing a weighted sled that use much bigger muscles and burn a lot more calories.

Doing much less abdominal work that strengthens your abdominals is all that is needed beyond that.

C.  However, I’ve discovered that there is a third thing you can do to improve the appearance of your waist!

In my case it was when I added a more effective one of these kinds of exercises that my wife actually noticed my belly was flatter and stuck out less!

I already knew that spending a lot of time sitting tends to weaken your abdominals and leave them in a state of relaxation.  And, in both of my kinds of work I do a lot of sitting every day.

She does something herself that some of the health writers I read do and recommend.  When she is between tasks at her desk or has just stopped at a stop light she will simply tighten her abdominal muscles very strongly and hold it for a few seconds.  If she has time, she will do two or three.

Mike Geary says he takes a big breath in and then breathes out slowly and strongly and completely –and THEN tenses his abdominal muscles hard and holds it for several seconds.

I’ve tried those and I just don’t remember to do them after a few days.

BUT an article I read about how and why gymnasts tend to have such great looking abdominals sparked an idea of something similar I could do.

I don’t do leg raises for my abdominals because doing them as I lie down bothers a tendon where it crosses my pelvic bone.  And, I have no bar at home to do them as I hang on one.

I had been doing a brief reverse plank where I hold both legs up and straight and about six inches off the floor while lying down for a brief time -- perhaps 5 seconds or so.

After I read the article about gymnasts, I decided to simply extend that time to over 30 seconds.

To enable me to hold longer and avoid giving myself high blood pressure as I do this, I take periodic deep breaths.

I find it does burn some extra calories because it exercises the front of my thighs enough I can feel it when I’m done.

So I’ve simply adopted it as a continuing part of my short abdominal program.

Then, MUCH to my surprise, because I’d just gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks, my wife commented that my belly looked noticeably flatter!

THAT was a nice surprise!  And it was a completely unexpected one!

I do the set of a few abdominal exercises that now contain this one three times a week, Wednesday, Friday, & Sunday first thing in the morning.  The whole set – all 5 exercises, now including this one, takes only 7 minutes each time!

(One of those I’ve done for some time, the twisting crunches where I lift my knees off the floor as I lie down on my back and on each repetition I touch my elbow to the opposite knee for 98 reps as fast as I can, work my abdominals hard enough that when I went briefly to The Perfect Workout, I had no trouble doing well on their weight machine for crunches or holding planks for two minutes.  So that one exercise ensures my abdominal muscles are strong.

However, despite strengthening my abdominals they hadn’t gotten this flattening effect!)

Is this the only exercise that does this?

No.  I have found a couple others.  However they have not been as effective as this one!

Once a week, I do an exercise where I stand up and turn my palms forward while my arms are at my sides; for about 35 seconds I hold my head back as far as I can make it go and try to stand taller than usual; I hold my shoulders back; and I hold my upper chest up.

I focus on those things only but I find that doing so strongly contracts and flattens my abdominal muscles while I do this.

Similarly, when I take my 4 seven minute brief walks, I hold my chest up and shoulders back so that I breathe better.

And, I’ve found that both walking -- and doing it this way tends to tighten my abdominal muscles also.

So, if I did five times as much of each one, I might flatten my belly even more.

THAT won’t happen given my time constraints.  (You might have more time and be able to do that much more though.)

But the more intense exercise I’ve just added, seems to be doing the job!

Now I may get more effect on my abdominal muscles on these other exercises; my belly will be flatter; and when I finally add the strategies that remove the covering fat better, my waist measurement will go down; and I’ll look much better!

Less than one minute just three times a week to get a flatter belly! 

I decided it was worth posting about and sharing it with you.  

Avoid or reverse type 2 diabetes II ….Today's post:  Tuesday, 9-26-2017 

A week ago, 9-19, we posted on the upgrades to eating and exercise that tend to turn off type 2 diabetes & do turn type 2 diabetes way down at the very least when well done.

We posted on why taking statins causes diabetes and makes the exercises that turn it off best dangerous to do. 

And, we posted on the research showing that no diabetic should ever take statins because the mitochondrial damage statins cause is itself the cause of the more serious and deadly harms of severe diabetes.

We also posted on the evidence that fasting or ketogenic eating has actually turned off type 2 diabetes.

This post was triggered by some useful information on the subject that I realized I’d left out:

1.  What are the inexpensive blood tests for high blood sugar and heart disease risk and what levels are dangerous or undesirable and what levels are achievable and desirable?

2.  Why do more of the lifestyle upgrades to reduce high blood sugar or take Metformin only and NOT take the other drugs for diabetes.

Except for Metformin, the other drugs for type 2 diabetes tend to cause heart attacks and strokes and various cancers often enough to suggest NOT taking them even on a temporary basis.

Except for type 1 diabetics taking insulin tends to make diabetes worse and more damaging. (It was seeing this directly and even having a patient call it to his attention that caused Dr Jason Fong to work on a fasting protocol followed by low carb eating that indeed has turned off type 2 diabetes in his patients.)

3.  More ways to protect yourself from the harms of type 2 diabetes and high blood sugar.

Avoiding tobacco and its smoke and nicotine 100% is one. 

Surprisingly, eating one piece or serving of whole organic fruit a day or taking fruit extract supplements or both is the most effective way yet found to prevent BOTH kinds of stroke.

There is also a list of supplements that help avoid high blood sugar or all forms of heart disease that are documented to work.

1.  What are the inexpensive blood tests for high blood sugar and heart disease risk and what levels are dangerous or undesirable and what levels are achievable and desirable?

These 7 tests are:

Two are:

Fasting blood sugar and HBA1C for blood sugar levels directly.

In the lipid panel there are these four tests:

Total Cholesterol

HDL

LDL

Triglycerides

Total cholesterol is much less indicative than they once thought.  People with lower normal levels get heart attacks; and if other things are positive, such as exercising and NOT smoking, higher levels are less dangerous.

Small particle LDL and inflammation are the most potent of the causes of heart disease.

So levels of LDL much above 115 are undesirable and those 75 or under are best. 

Statins are harmful ways to reduce those two measures. 

But the lifestyle in the book Anticancer including curcumin and turmeric supplements do the same and have health BENEFITS instead of harms.

Instead of causing diabetes or making it dangerously worse as statins do,

 eating the vegetables and low glycemic fruit this book recommends --

AND stopping soft drinks and high fructose corn syrup and all hybrid wheat and baked goods and packaged foods and fast foods made with it -- tends strongly to turn OFF type two diabetes and has been shown to strongly prevent heart disease. 

Simply put, it’s beneficial instead of harmful to use these lifestyle upgrades NOT harmful as statins are.  Even better, these lifestyle upgrades are several times more protective against heart attacks and fatal heart attacks.

Then too, work at Harvard found that high HDL and low triglycerides means that the LDL has far less of the small particle LDL that causes heart disease. 

Triglycerides are mostly influenced by how much sugars and hybrid wheat you eat, just like blood sugar!  So to reduce them, stop eating those things!

HDL tends to be higher in people who stop eating those things as well.  Taking DHA and regular vigorous exercise also turn up HDL. The combination works quite well!

Eating ANY foods containing hydrogenated oils boosts triglycerides and lowers HDL.

In fact exercise has been directly tested to reduce small particle LDL; and hydrogenated oils have been directly tested to dramatically increase small particle LDL.

And, there is a measure of chronic inflammation as measured by a CRP or C-Reactive Protein – also listed as HSCRP which is a High Sensitivity version.

There are two things you  can do to get health benefits AND sharply lower this cause of heart disease.  Follow the lifestyle in the Anticancer book that is tested to lower inflammation.

The other is to eat no food that lists ANY hydrogenated oils and eat no food likely to contain MSG.  (Hint if a food or spice blend or condiment list “spices” as an ingredient, take a pass because it likely is hiding the MSG and related compounds they used.) 

MSG boosts inflammation by quite a lot and is directly fattening by actual test.  In fact because this looks likely to be caused by damage to the mitochondria, MSG looks likely to be a CAUSE of type 2 diabetes

*Simply put, if the two blood sugar readings consistently are at the lower end of the normal range this reflects a health protective state of affairs. 

But if they are at the middle to higher end of the normal range, they begin to be damaging.  Some studies have found that commonly found only somewhat high level begins to cause beta amyloid tangles and Alzheimer’s disease.

Levels just above that are in the diabetic range.

For fasting blood sugar 68 to 79 is desirable.  80 to 89 is less so but not too bad.  90 to 99 is high enough to flag you to eat better and exercise more.  100 to 115 or 119 is damaging enough to suggest eating a LOT better and exercising more!  And, 120 or over is defined as diabetes.

Fasting blood sugar is a snapshot of a specific time.  If you were moving the previous day and skipped meals and were too tired to eat much, it might read lower than you normally would. Or if you went to wedding and ate too much sugary and starchy food it might be higher than normal.

Isn’t there a way to see what your average is that smoothes out such things?  YES!

That is what the HBA1C is.  Sugar sticks onto red blood cells and they tend to live about 60 to 90 days.  So that measure shows you the average blood sugar for the last 60 to 90 days.

Web MD had this just now on Google:

“For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1c level is between 4% and 5.6%.

Hemoglobin A1c levels between 5.7% and 6.4% mean you have a higher change of getting of diabetes.

Levels of 6.5% or higher mean you have diabetes. 

Oct 26, 2016  Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Test for Diabetes: HbA1c Normal Levels ...

www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/glycated-hemoglobin-test-hba1c “

This is a bit off in my view.

Desirable IS 5.6 or less just as they list it.

5.7 to 5.9 are not that bad but are less desirable.

6.0 or higher is damaging and in fact some medical groups list it as low level type 2 diabetes.

6.5 or higher is damaging enough to make action to reduce it desirable and everyone defines it as type 2 diabetes.

We will continue this next week covering the drugs not to take and the foods and supplements that are documented to help keep your blood sugar low.

Eliminate fattening things -- measure good food to force fat loss.....

Today's post:  Thursday, 9-21-2017

As regular readers of this blog know, there are two effective ways to remove fat that you can keep off.

1.  Reduced calorie and carb high protein eating plus exercise including some strength training.

2.  Eating in a way that puts you in ketosis with almost zero carbs or close to it and making that your permanent or frequent eating style on a long term basis.

For:

1.  To use reduced calorie and reduced carb high protein eating plus exercise including some strength training and have it work, this post suggests that to be effective you need a weekly food plan to make it doable AND a food scale to ensure the exactly right amount of calories.

Here are three plans that have helped people lose fat they keep off.  And, it’s true of all 3 of them.

a) One version is to have periods of time where you eat high protein, low or very reduced carb, and reduced calorie food for a period of time and alternate for periods of time with enough more carbs to enable more muscle gain from strength training as Mike Matthews teaches. 

Mike Matthews’ clients who follow his advice well get very good results.

However the calorie cut back part requires eating precisely the right amount of calories.  Without a meal plan and a food scale, doing this is not nearly as doable or effective.  Reducing stress may improve things; but the exact calorie intake compared with what you use is essential.

b) Medical News Today recently reported a study where to minimize the famine response that slows metabolism they had groups of people follow a calorie reduced health oriented diet for 2 weeks and a diet with exactly the amount of calories burned for two weeks.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319474.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily&utm_term=MNT%20Daily%20News%20%28Combined%29

"Greater weight loss with intermittent dieting

At the end of the study period, the researchers found that the men who took 2-week breaks from dieting lost more weight than those in the continuous diet group.

What is more, the team found that 6 months after ceasing the calorie-restricted diet, men who had engaged in intermittent dieting had maintained a weight loss of around 8 kilograms more than men who continuously dieted.

The researchers say that their findings indicate that a 2-week on, 2-week off approach to dieting may be more effective for weight loss and maintenance than continuous dieting."

[The people in this study ate fewer calories than they were using on the "dieting" weeks AND they ate only TO the amount they were using on the "break” weeks.

The researchers found this did work and set it up to minimize slower metabolism from the famine response.   In this report however they do not say they measured metabolism to be sure.  They may have done so; & the good results they got suggest the metabolism of the participants did stay higher.]

Notice that here too:  The calorie cut back part requires eating precisely the right amount of calories.  Without a meal plan and a food scale, doing this is not nearly as doable or effective.  Reducing stress may improve things; but the exact calorie intake compared with what you use is essential.  And, for this protocol, the same is also true where you eat exactly the amount you use for those two week periods.

c)  There is a group of people who have the worst trouble with losing fat they keep off.  So a program that enables THIS group to do so even if they have tried several methods and failed is a special and very worthwhile program indeed.

Just after I read of the study above, I found this program exists now!

Women after menopause often have the worst trouble with losing fat they keep off.  Quite often they have tried several methods and either lost no fat or always regained the fat they lost.

We have posted on the many ways that women just beginning menopause can minimize this effect; produce dramatic improvements in their health protection; and avoid or turn off things like migraines and hot flashes and night sweats.

What if a program was developed that also required women to totally stop all the foods and drinks that harm their health or fatten; AND had them cut their calories and ensure this by measuring their food at EVERY meal; AND gave them continuous access to success stories; AND gave them continuous coaching and support?

As of NOW, it’s been done!  The results are in.  The post menopausal women who have followed this plan typically lose ALL their excess fat AND keep it off.

This program works due to several factors:

It DOES remove ALL sugar and hybrid wheat.

It DOES use an exact scale every time to be SURE of caloric intake control

It does use meal planning to make the eating plan doable & manageable.

I've not yet seen them but I think it does have recipes.

It DOES use testimonials heavily to keep people motivated.

I've not yet read her book to know what brain & cognitive studies she uses or uses to persuade people to follow her effective plan.

It does seem to be a very women centered system.

The thing that endears it to me most is that it has been successful with helping a post-menopausal woman who tried dozens of things that all proved to be temporary fixes lose 57 pounds & keep it off.

The book on it is:  “Bright Line Eating: The Science of Living Happy, Thin & Free

Hardcover March 21, 2017

by Susan Peirce Thompson.

It’s available on Amazon now.

Here is the bio for the author and an excellent review to give you some insight into the system:

“Biography

Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester and an expert in the psychology of eating.

She is President of the Institute for Sustainable Weight Loss and the Founder and CEO of Bright Line Eating Solutions, a company dedicated to helping people achieve the health and vibrancy that accompany permanent weight loss.

Her program utilizes cutting-edge research to explain how the brain blocks weight loss and every day she teaches people how to undo that damage so they can live Happy, Thin, and Free.

“Review by a woman who does health coaching herself:  Becky Gillaspy, I teach 4 Daily Habits for predictable weight loss

Feb 25

I've been following the growth of Bright Line Eating since the start, and you cannot deny it has been successful for many people. They posted a video of Bright Line Eating Success Stories from 2015, and the before and after pictures are impressive.

Of course, that success comes at a cost. The five Bright Lines must be strictly adhered to, and that goes for wherever and whenever you are eating.

Bright Lifers, as they warmly refer to themselves, stick with the bright lines regardless of whether they are at a restaurant or a Birthday party.

As you might know, the Bright Lines include the complete avoidance of sugar, flour and snacking. You are also expected to weigh and measure everything you eat and plan your meals for the next day.

I think the biggest question about BLE is how people who have struggled to stick with a diet in the past can be expected to stick to these strict Bright Lines. The answer is support.

By far, the best aspect of Bright Line Eating is the tremendous amount of support that members of the program, specifically the BLE Boot Camps, are given.

There are many ways to get support to help you stick with the Bright Lines.

"           Weekly coaching calls are offered for anyone who wants help staying engaged. While these are not one-on-one support, they are uplifting because you are on the calls with others who are working toward your same goal.

"           The BLE Facebook Community is very active, and they are monitored by former boot camp members who have been successful with the program.

"           Small Groups are very common within the community and can sprout up organically. An example might be a few members who call each other regularly and provide close and constant support.

"           A committed and trained staff is available for anyone who has special diet needs.

The bottom line of Bright Line Eating is that it is not for the casual dieter, but if someone needs to get the pounds off and wants to have an army of people to reach out to for help when things get tough, Bright Line Eating is the way to go. Here is a BLE Meal Plan that can give you an idea of how Bright Lifers eat.’

(In the review the link to the BLE Meal Plan is live.)

As you might imagine, we will do a future post or two on food scales!

My next step personally will be to read her book!

Avoid or reverse type 2 diabetes….Today's post:  Tuesday, 9-19-2017 

a) Most people in the United States think soft drinks and diet soft drinks and refined grain hybrid wheat in breads and baked goods and packaged snacks and desserts are normal and that these foods are safe to eat.

b) The majority of people in the United States are sedentary most days of every week -- and spend at least two hours a day watching television which burns less calories than sleeping.

c) The majority of doctors still believe that statins are a strong preventive for heart attack and that the increase in diabetes in people taking them should be overlooked.  Worse, because people who do have diabetes DO need extra protection from heart disease, they may suggest diabetics take statins.

This is tragic because each of these things results in more people who get type 2 diabetes.  Each one tends to cause Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss.  AND, each one makes getting the serious harms of diabetes like amputation and blindness and fatal heart attacks more likely.

The people who do the exact reverse of every one of these have dramatically lower blood sugar; think better and slash their risk of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss; they also avoid the serious harms of diabetes like amputation and blindness and fatal heart attacks.

d) From that point, it’s possible to more than double your protection from these harms with other methods.

e) AND, there is evidence that a period of ketogenic fasting or eating can reverse type 2 diabetes in many people.

The details:

a) Soft drinks and high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners and excess sugar and fructose and fruit juice or its concentrate and excess real sugar and ANY hybrid wheat ALL cause high blood sugar levels. AND high blood levels of these and blood sugar DEPLETES magnesium.

So, to reverse this cause of hearing loss and osteoporosis and diabetes and heart attacks -- STOP all that totally – AND take 400 to 600 mg a day of magnesium from supplements.

(These actions also turn off migraines for some people and are heart and brain protective.  For some people, they cause effortless fatloss because each of these foods and food like ingredients are fattening!)

b)  Do at least four brisk walks of 5 to 7 minutes on separate days each week.  And, limit TV watching to 15 hours with 10 or less better.

Surprisingly, just that little bit removes nearly half the risk that an ideal program with burst cardio and effective strength training added most days of every week.  Of course if you do add that, you double your protection.

To watch that much less TV, ONLY watch the TV you like or care about most.  Almost always get your news from newspapers or online.  And, for some TV, watch the video later with the commercials deleted.  If you have a TV in your bedroom, remove it and have sex or sleep there instead.

If you love to watch sports at least get an exercise bike so you can watch while you burn calories at least.

Also, if you can skip TV one or two evenings a week or watch the video later, that can free up those times to go to the gym for strength training, etc.

c. Besides these two causes of type 2 diabetes, damage to the mitochondria that generate energy and burn calories, is a significant cause of type 2 diabetes.

The regular exercise tends to keep your mitochondria healthy directly and the better blood flow and far less damage from sugars also protect them.

More vigorous exercise such as effective strength training and burst cardio when not overdone and that you build up to gradually actively boost your mitochondria and can even help grow new ones.

Statin drugs deplete the ubiquinol form of CoQ10 that your mitochondria need to stay healthy. 

This has three effects for which statins should at least have a black box warning.

1.  When you take statins, particularly the stronger ones, the more vigorous exercise such as effective strength training and burst cardio when not overdone and that you build up to gradually  that should actively boost your mitochondria and can even help grow new ones instead kill them off.

This can cause pain and inability to exercise and permanent muscle damage and death -- and has done so.

2.  Depleted mitochondria mean your cells uptake less sugar which tends to be a direct cause of type 2 diabetes. 

3.  Research found that the harms of more extreme diabetes such as blindness, foot amputation, and more are caused by harm to your mitochondria. 

Since statins deplete mitochondria, that means that taking statins is totally contraindicated for diabetics!

Not only that but the heart attack protection and lower LDL cholesterol and lower C-reactive protein measure of chronic inflammation that statins achieve is a fraction of what the more effective methods give you!

Eat at least 3 servings a day of organic vegetables and read the book AntiCancer a New Way of Life to find out how to lower inflammation even more.

This does all of it!  It prevents more heart attacks and fatal heart attacks than statins by actual test; and it isn’t even close!

The strategies in the book AntiCancer a New Way of Life lower inflammation more than statins do by far.

AND, people who eat and take the turmeric and curcumin supplements from turmeric and ginger have much lower LDL cholesterol.

In addition, slashing or stopping the sugars and wheat combined with taking DHA or eating wild caught fish and doing regular exercise, boosts your HDL and slashes your triglycerides.

Research at Harvard found that this indicates a dramatic reduction in the small particle LDL that causes heart disease and strokes. 

This too is a more protective effect than statins deliver!

d) Besides turmeric and ginger taking cinnamon and alpha lipoic acid tends to prevent surges in blood sugar from the healthier carbs you do eat.

This too can minimize your blood sugar levels.

So can eating health OK fats and oils such as extra virgin olive oil and butter from cows fed only grass and organic & sustainably harvested coconut oil – and Brain Octane from Bulletproof that has only the effective and mild tasting MCT fractions.

e)  In fact if you eat for a time or fast for a time using only such fats and oils, it has been found that you enter a state of ketosis.

That feeds your mitochondria and brain cells from these fats and oils.  That enables the damaged glucose using system to recover as it gets a rest.

This is safer if you do it with monitoring by a skilled doctor or nurse practitioner.

But the evidence shows that added to the first set of things it can reverse type 2 diabetes.  It has done so!

My Monthly Fatloss Report September 2017.....

Today's post:  Monday, 9-18-2017

A.  Here's the key news:

1.  Fat Loss Report, measured on Saturday, 9-16-2017

Gained 1.9 pounds from 167.1 last month to 169.0.

(Lost 0.9 pounds from 169.9 two months ago.)

My chest measured the same, 38 and a half.  This is still an inch bigger than 4 months ago when I was 37 & a half inches.

No change on my waist to a quarter of an inch increase at about 41 & a half to 42 and a quarter.

My hips measured the same, 38 and a half.   That’s still an inch and half more than 37 not long ago.

(My upgraded strength training seems to have added muscle; but I’ve not lost the fat off my waist, I’d hoped to lose.)

The first three weeks I only gained a bit and was on a short vacation for part of it.

 I ate well for 3 weeks but was able to NOT gain much since I exercised well & still focused on protein foods, health OK fats & oils, and organic vegetables and fruit.  (I gained a pound the first week & nothing the second two.  They were exactly the same weight!)

The last week, was the surprise.  I cut back on carbs & expected a loss of a pound or two as I did lose 2.6 pounds by eating that way a few weeks back.  Instead I gained about a pound.

I WAS under extra stress AND stressed by our hot bedroom and slept less well.  And, I got slightly less exercise due to the heat.  Between the stress and a bit less exercise and possibly adding some calories even if protein, I added weight instead of removing it.

This week is cooler.  So my hope is that I’ll lose a bit on my low carb plan by next Saturday.

2.  My chest and hips were still bigger and more muscular than they were four months -- -- and measured the same as last month.

I may not yet be eating quite enough protein each week.  But although I am still getting stronger and added to the pushups I can do, my intense 

concentration on my muscular effort was a bit less due to stress than it was three months before.  

Also, I'm at the point I need to get a heavier dumbbell and add a session once week at a gym with access to more weight

My waist was about the same – way too big! 

But my better strength training did keep most of my gains to my chest measure AND my hip measurement.

Since I also got stronger and my muscles look bigger and my wife says they are harder, it’s clear my new strength training technique is adding muscle!

Mike Matthews says that it’s typical to add 5 pounds of fat when you eat enough protein & carbs and strength train well enough to add 5 pounds of muscle.

(Just one example:  Not long ago I was pleased if I could do 40 to 44 pushups the one day a week I test that each week each Monday.  

Today, I did 77 up from 68 last month & 59 two months ago -- and after catching my breath a bit I did 12 more for a total of 89 in about 60 seconds.  That’s up from 80 last month.

The extra effort to exert extra strong tension in the muscles doing the work on the last few repetitions and between each set was a bit less this last month

due to stress and needing a heavier weight.  But I have kept doing it on each set.  

And, by doing so and keeping up my protein intake I seem to have kept the muscle I gained or most of it.

This last month I also continued the 20 mg of Synephrine and a bioflavonoid supplement with 100 mg of rutin three times a day which is thought to boost metabolism.

That plus my slightly bigger and more exercised muscles likely did boost my metabolism over the last few weeks.

So, if the inches I gained where I exercised my muscles better are muscle, my weight gain was maybe close to all muscle.

If so, very little or none of my gain in pounds was fat. 

Maybe the 20 mg of Synephrine and a bioflavonoid supplement with 100 mg of rutin three times a day boosted my metabolism enough to prevent the typical fat gain to almost zero.

(After last week, I decided to cut back to once a day.  During the last week, it seemed less effective.)

 3.  My food intake was very close to the same as last month for the first three weeks -- and was supposed to be less last week.  Either it wasn’t as much less as last month or the heat and less exercise and more stress last week caused less calorie burning.

My cardio exercises were about the same too.

4. My stress level jumped quite a bit the last few weeks for several reasons.  

*For me, as for many people, having enough money for at least a minimum OK lifestyle with zero chances of severe money problems reduces stress.  I was under that threat far more the three weeks just before I measured for this month.

*For me, even more than other people who also have it but at a lower level, having an ally who is unusually supportive and of some help sharply lowers my stress level.

5.  I'm currently making an extra effort to overcome this recent stress. Emulating the Seal way of using my training and keeping on no matter what IS helping.  

6.  I believe my continued persistence and continuing to both follow up on successful efforts and finding new and promising things to check on AND doing so, 

WILL enable me to lose my excess fat remaining and keep it off.

7.  I’m continuing to find new ways to boost my metabolism and add bone and muscle that I’m beginning to use.

I’m less sure how effective my new supplements are in helping me lose fat as I gain muscle – so I am cutting from three times a day to once.

But as my new strength training method helps me get stronger; I get better at it; and I can get to the heavier weights to use it on, it DOES begin to look like I’m adding enough muscle that by eating about the same – or eating about the same and continuing to get better at the lower carb effort I did this time and while using the new supplements a few times, I’ll finally get back to weighing 161 pounds with far less fat than I have had.

Conclusion:

 I’ll achieve the financial leverage I need.

I’ll get the active allies I need.

 AND I’ll begin to use all of the metabolism boosters I’ve found to add to the ones I’ve been using.

(That includes adding a weekly workout at a gym with heavy barbells and adding these new techniques and trying the BulletProof Vibe.

I HAVE added a special set of exercises once a week that I'm already doing standing in the space the BulletProof Vibe allows.  That way, I'll be ready to go when I get one to try!

The last bit of good news this month is that I’m getting stronger in the two key exercises in this special set of exercises.)     

More info on fatloss customized to you.....

Today's post:  Thursday, 9-14-2017

I got a comment on one of my longer fatloss posts saying that the commenter thought I should add more information for beginners!

Often beginners need to have LESS information to focus on actually doing one or two key things to start doing the things that will help them lose fat.

The ones that see or try to read dozens or hundreds of pages of information do that instead of what they need to do to actually lose the fat.

Or they think of the time to read all that and feel overwhelmed and pass on the whole thing – including beginning to do one or two things to start the fatloss process.

At the same time, some people do need more information but about a key roadblock they need to remove. 

Others need a way to ensure they get the results they want most so they want information to enable them to make an effective start that will get them those results as soon as possible.

Knowing this I wrote this comment in reply:

“Two ways to see more info on fatloss from my posts:

I post a summary of my fatloss posts on my Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/FatLossSupportThatWorks/ There are already many there!

Second, we are working to create a membership site with coaching to help people start well or give them the ongoing support they need to lose all their excess fat and keep it off. That membership site will also have much more on each part of fat loss.

So, you can read more now. And, later you'll be able to read much more.

Research shows beginners need small starter actions on the fat loss actions they most need to take they aren't already doing -- and, the actions that lead to the fatloss benefits they want most. 

Our coaching for beginners will help them identify those starter actions and then actually take them! “

So, if you are ready to lose fat or lose it more effectively, you can go our existing Facebook page and read the full posts that address those questions and give you answers that you want.

And, keep reading that page once a week or read our fatloss posts that are usually on Thursday. 

That way when we open our membership site and announce it you can get a lot more information customized to you!  

Ways to REVERSE hearing loss!….

Today's post:  Wednesday, 9-13-2017

*Most people are not aware of it.  But some cases of hearing loss can be fixed –totally reversed! 

Usually when reversal is not achievable, considerable improvement and better health

  -- IS achievable.

Plus if there is at least some hearing or better hearing after taking these steps, there is a new way to get back normal hearing even in loud locations with a new high tech hearing aid!

This means that people who cannot hear well now—

   ---CAN restore their ability to hear and converse even in loud locations!

* According to something I read once, the US military found that ensuring that soldiers subject to loud noises in training with guns or in combat had relatively high normal blood levels of magnesium tended to prevent permanent hearing loss and to allow for better and faster recovery from temporary hearing loss after such exposure to loud noises.

Soft drinks and high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners and excess sugar and fructose and fruit juice or its concentrate and excess real sugar and ANY hybrid wheat ALL cause high blood sugar levels. AND high blood levels of these and blood sugar DEPLETES magnesium.

So, to reverse this cause of hearing loss and maybe restore hearing -- STOP all that totally –

AND take 400 to 600 mg a day of magnesium from supplements.

(These actions also turn off migraines for some people and are heart and brain protective.  For some people, they cause effortless fatloss because each of these foods and food like ingredients are fattening!)

*Similar results have been reported for maintaining high blood levels of alpha carotene & multiple carotenes.

Organic broccoli and Brussels sprouts and kale and collard greens are nonstarchy cruciferous vegetables AND in these vegetables, the dark green hides the hundreds of carotenes they contain. 

Because some parts of your eye  and ear and inner ear and their connecting nerves and the paths to them are so tiny, research has found that taking the tiny carotene astaxanthin can help create this effect for them also!

(AND, eating organic cruciferous vegetable often also slashes your risk of heart attack more than anything else yet found. 

It tends to cause fat loss and makes it easier and makes it possible to keep off fat you lose. 

Besides the carotenes, cruciferous vegetables have several cancer preventing micronutrients. 

Lastly, the indoles and folate they contain directly slow or slightly reverse aging!)

Organic tomatoes, carrots and yellow and red squash—including pumpkin puree; and yams and sweet potatoes have more carbs but eating them occasionally heated and mashed and combined with extra virgin olive oil makes their carotenes unusually bioavailable.)

Researchers believe such amounts of many carotenes enable your cells to prevent or fix damage to your DNA.

Avocados, particularly those from California, are very high in multiple carotenes; so eating them or Guacamole not high in salt, can help.

*Since some cases of hearing loss are due to auditory nerve damage from the processes that cause Alzheimer’s disease, turning off the causes of Alzheimer’s disease can reduce hearing loss or restore it.

Besides slashing the sugars, cutting inflammation and the foods that cause it can help. 

Eliminating tobacco smoke and tobacco products cuts your risk of Alzheimer’s in half! 

AND a supplement and component of foods called beta sitosterol has been found to clean out the beta amyloid tangles that cause Alzheimer’s.  In fact, this has been used to restore the sense of smell to people with early Alzheimer’s disease.  Combined with these other methods it may well restore a good bit of hearing loss in exactly the same way!

Natrol makes a “Cholesterol Balance” supplement that has the beta sitosterol and the stigma sterol that plants that have beta sitosterol also contain.   Research shows these sterols DO remove beta amyloid tangles. 

Taking curcumin or eating turmeric with black pepper and taking 10,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 + vitamin K2 has dozens of health benefits.  Preventing or cleaning up tau and beta amyloid tangles is one of them!

AND, Avocados, particularly those from California, are very high in beta sitosterol too!; so eating them or Guacamole not high in salt, can help.

*Similarly we now know how to grow new nerves and brain cells.  Doing those things can also help restore the auditory nerve and its connection to the small sound detection fibers in the inner ear.

Regular exercise from brief 7 minute brisk walks to strength training to brief but intense cardio that you work up to release BDNF that grows or replaces new brain cells and nerves. 

Doing one or more of these most days of every week grows new brain cells and even has been shown to sharply slow aging!

This kind of exercise also restores blood circulation to the brain and auditory nerves.

If you also take DHA and bacopa and an antioxidant so tiny it can access the eye and auditory nerves, astaxanthin, you can maximize this effect.  If you both do this AND cut sugars you multiply this effect! 

By using all these you can reverse or slow hearing loss!

*Second, people with hearing loss often can hear; but they lose their hearing for some higher frequencies and can have trouble hearing the higher frequencies that enable clear understanding of speech, particularly when there is loud background noise.

A directional hearing aid with some extra boost for certain frequencies can help.  Those have been out for some time.

AND, a hearing aid entrepreneur who started several hearing aid companies now has one that makes a super effective hearing aid to enable hearing someone with loud background noise.  It ALSO totally eliminates any squeal type excess feedback noise!

“EarLens Corporation  https://earlens.com/

Other hearing aids use a small speaker to amplify sounds. The Earlens Hearing Aid uses light and a small lens placed on your eardrum to directly activate your natural hearing system. 

The result is rich, complete sound that the vast majority of people find makes it easier to understand people in noisy environments and participate in group situations.*

*Clinical study data on file

EarLens Corporation 

Works with an Audiologist in Menlo Park, California

4045 Campbell Ave,

Menlo Park, CA 94025

Hours: Open Weds & most weekdays · 9AM–5PM

Phone: (650) 366-9000

*Third, another alternative is to learn sign language for you and key people in your family or at work.  This works for completely deaf people AND sign is its own language.  So the learning helps boost your nerves and your cognitive reserve. 

So, there is even a cure for NO hearing!

Extra leverage for reduced carb high protein & ketogenic eating.....

Today's post:  Thursday, 9-7-2017

Increasingly there seem to be two viable ways to lose fat you keep off:

[Both methods require stopping all the fattening foods and ingredients that also harm your health from MSG to all hybrid wheat and most grains to hydrogenated oils to high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners (which means totally eliminating ALL soft drinks) to eating no sugar during fat loss periods and never eating over 5% of your calories as sugar even when not in a fat loss period.]

One:  Cut carbs & calories but NOT protein to keep muscle and lose fat.  Combine with heavy weight but reduced reps AND periods of greater health OK carbs and increased weight or reps to add muscle without adding much fat.  Mike Matthews has successfully used this with his clients both men & women.  His clients often begin to look great!  And, that’s true of both men & women.

A safer way to eat liver can provide supernutrition and protein AND, perhaps because of this, is a protein food that is unusually effective in turning off hunger.

Cutting carbs and calories does tend to increase hunger at times.  But this happens less and is easier to overcome eating liver and lots of non-starchy, organic vegetables.

In addition to the information in this post that was in a recent Medical News Today article that liver has a remarkably high level of vitamins, the vitamins in liver from the plants the cow or lamb ate that provide it have the hundreds of versions that produce much greater nutrition effects due to their complementary effect than isolated vitamins do.

This plus the health OK fats and high protein helps explain why liver is so effective at turning off hunger.

MNT Why organ meats boost health & liver is so great!

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319229.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-us

1.  Liver is so filling because in addition to its protein it's so high in the natural forms of almost every vitamin & mineral people need.

2.  Because it has the ability to enable you to have maximum safe hemoglobin in your red blood cells it may enable you to withstand ischemic strokes and heart attacks and reduced blood flow short of that AND it tends to maximize how much exercise you can do and do safely!

3.  Because livers get rid of pollutants rather than accumulate them, it might be safe to eat liver from cows fed grains grown with pesticide more than is true for other meats!  This is the reverse of what I had thought was the case.  This is also why eating liver doesn't slash the results for people following the Wahls protocol.

[Mercifully this is not necessary because US Wellness meats sells several kinds of liver sausage made from cows fed only grass:  (I think I got this from an Al Sears  email.)]

“Buy organ sausages

This option is the easiest one. Grass-fed organ sausage tastes amazing. It’s also versatile and pairs especially well with eggs and avocado for a Bulletproof breakfast. You can use it pretty much anywhere you’d use normal sausage. 

Three good options are:

     Braunschweiger – a traditional German sausage made from beef trim and beef liver. Make sure it’s grass-fed and freshly made. 

     Headcheese – a combination of beef trim, heart, and tongue, plus a combination of bright spices. You’ll just have to get past the name.

     Liverwurst – a mix of trim, liver, heart, and kidney.

US Wellness Meats sells all three of these organ sausages, and all the meat is 100% grass-fed and grass-finished. You can munch on the sausages right out of the package or lightly pan-fry them. Either way, you’d have no idea you’re eating organs.”

uswellnessmeats.com - US Wellness Meats

www.uswellnessmeats.com/

Our animals eat well so you can too Beef, lamb, bison, chicken & dairy

4.  Heart meat is also a great source of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). This is an antioxidant and can help treat and prevent certain diseases, particularly heart disease.

CoQ10 has been shown to slow down the aging process and to improve energy levels..

5.  Tongue meat is rich in calories and fatty acids, as well as zinc, iron, choline, and vitamin B12. This meat is considered especially beneficial for those recovering from illness or for women who are pregnant.

Two:  Come as close as you can to eat zero carbs and moderate protein and use intermittent fasting & health OK foods with fats and oils and bone broth from cows fed only grass and use coconut oil and Brain Octane, two mild tasting but effective fractions of MCT oil, from Bulletproof –

-- to get into & maintain ketosis.

(At this time, you can take supplements of bilberry, elderberry, cherry, and cranberry to get their protective effects reducing both kinds of strokes and heart attacks without the carbs in fruit.

And if you aren’t taking statins or other drugs, you can eat grapefruit on occasion perhaps losing MORE fat when on a carb & calorie reduced diet & with less of an anti-ketosis effect when done intermittently.)

Eating this way can and has turned off type 2 diabetes in people who don’t take statins.

A reduced protein version of this has turned off MS and can slow or stop some cancers and turned off some cases of epilepsy.

This diet does tend to stop muscle gain; but with reduced reps and enough protein and heavy but not heavier weights and less sets, it can remove fat but little or any muscle.

I also just found a study reported by Medical News Today that not only is intermittent fasting and a ketogenic eating style effective at stopping obesity, it ALSO:

Is outstandingly brain protective and slows or partially reverses aging.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319287.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-us

"..the researchers at the Buck Institute - in collaboration with teams from other institutions - found was that the effects of the ketogenic diet on the body were very similar to those of fasting and other such dietary restrictions. For example, it impacted insulin signaling and gene expression in much the same way that fasting would.

The Buck Institute team found that a keto diet fed to mice on a cyclical basis - that is, alternated with the control diet - prevented obesity, reduced mid-life mortality, and prevented memory loss.

"The older mice on the ketogenic diet had a better memory than the younger mice. That's really remarkable," says Dr. Verdin.”

This study WAS done on mice but people have reported similar effects!

Three:

Eliminating ALL the foods and drinks that do the reverse

AND doing the regular vigorous exercise that release the brain cell and nerve growth hormone, BDNF

does this in both ketogenic eating AND reduced carb and calorie eating while eating some health OK oils and lots of health OK protein eating styles!

It also helps that the folate in organic, nonstarchy vegetables and the indoles in cruciferous ones have been shown to lengthen telomeres and slow aging significantly! 

Do NOT get Fluad! Use better methods to Prevent Flu….

Today's post:  Tuesday, 9-5-2017

* Fluad is dreadfully dangerous & can ruin your life permanently!

Thursday, 8-31, last week I got the HSI eAlert email from: Health Sciences Institute  HSIresearch@newmarkethealth.com .

As they often do, they have a health article just after their ad.

I’d already heard that the new Fluad flu vaccine used an adjuvant or booster that had already proven to have life ruining immediate side effects when used in the anthrax vaccine given to US Military personnel.

These severe and immediate autoimmune effects were extremely harsh and damaging.  One fit young man who also did strength training became unable to do more than slow walking without severe pain and weakness after getting a shot with this adjuvant.

So, if you are an older person and someone suggests you get the Fluad flu shot, the risk data suggest you refuse to do so totally and immediately! 

Do you want as early as NEXT WEEK to be sent to a care home for people who cannot do things for themselves and are wheel chair bound?

If you get a Fluad flu shot, this risk is not 100%; but it is apparently well above zero!

The flu can cause you to die.  But you can almost eliminate that risk without any need whatsoever to use Fluad!

Next we’ll quote the email from HSI from last week.

And, last, we will cover how to slash your risk of getting the flu or dying from it if you do.

Here’s the recent HSI email quote:

“Dear Reader,

This could be one of the most dangerous things to ever happen to seniors.

It's the Fluad flu vaccine, and the TV commercials are already flooding the airwaves.

You'll hear that you must have it because as you get older, your immune system doesn't work as well... and that Fluad contains a special "immune-enhancing ingredient" that's necessary for those over 65.

But there's a whole lot you won't be hearing about that special ingredient. For one, it's something that thousands of American soldiers have already tested in their own bodies.

And for another -- the results were horrific.”

“Summer's not over yet, but the flu ads have already started playing.

And the first one out of the starting gate is for Fluad, a vaccine approved by the FDA just two years ago for seniors. It's all about happy, active seniors who "don't have time" to come down with the flu.

You would never, ever suspect that one of its main ingredients has a dark past.

All the hype about why Fluad is so different is because it contains MF59, which is a chemical added to jumpstart your immune system called an "adjuvant." In this case, the adjuvant is an "oil-in-water emulsion of squalene oil."

And if you check that out on the CDC's webpage, it will sound like this MF59 is as safe as a lollipop. The agency reassures us that squalene is "a naturally occurring substance in animals and plants."

But while that may be true, it doesn't make it any safer.

You see, it's well documented in animal experiments that when squalene is injected it can set off a reaction that causes the immune system to go on the attack, triggering autoimmune diseases such as RA, MS and lupus, as well as horrific injuries to the nervous system and brain.

Squalene-laced shots, in fact, are what many experts believe destroyed the health of thousands of vets who served in the first Gulf War. That was the secret (and unapproved) ingredient added to the experimental anthrax vaccine, which is now thought to be the real reason behind Gulf War Syndrome.

But even before that in 1999, dozens of pilots at Dover Air Force Base were reporting adverse reactions from shots that contained the adjuvant. As reported by Stars and Stripes, rather than be forced to take vaccines that contained squalene, many airmen left, and one senior officer resigned.

And for years the Pentagon refused to admit that the shots even contained squalene! Finally, some testing was done proving they did, and the powers that be could no longer deny it.

At that time, Dover Commander Colonel Felix Grieder went so far as to suspend the vaccine program at the base after hearing reports of aviators with severe joint pain, blackouts, dizzy spells, vertigo and rashes. Many developed debilitating arthritis.

And once armed with all this information about how young and healthy men and women in the military reacted to this adjuvant, what did the FDA do?

Why, it went ahead and gave MF59 the okay to be injected into seniors!

So, what was once a secret ingredient that caused a colonel to put the brakes on vaccinations to protect the health of his pilots is now one of the contents of the latest and greatest flu shot being advertised for older Americans.

Now, what could possibly go wrong with that?!”

Here’s my answer to that!

In older people, blackouts, dizzy spells, and vertigo can each cause fatal or impairing falls or car accidents.  Severe joint pain and debilitating arthritis can ruin the quality of life for older people and force them into assisted living or low quality nursing homes.

These effects are much worse than the flu for most older people!

BUT you can ALSO  avoid the flu most of the time.  You can minimize its effects if you get it.  And, you can slash its chances of killing you.

Why take Fluad to avoid the flu when you can do ALL those things without it!

Here’s how to protect yourself in these ways!:

1.  Vitamin D3 in the tens of thousands of iu is generated in your body with several hours a day of summer sun exposure.  So taking 10,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 in the summer and 20,000 a day during the winter or any flu season or epidemic is safe.

You can make it build bones and reduce bone minerals in your blood vessels by also taking vitamin K2.

In a major epidemic of a virulent flu when many died, it was found that the people who died were severely deficient in vitamin D3.  And those who had even modest vitamin D3 levels all survived it.

It’s also true that people who take ten to twenty thousand iu a day of vitamin D3 tend NOT to get the flu at all.

Vitamin D3 boosts your immune system’s killer cells substantially.  Best of all, it also boosts your levels of regulatory T cells. 

This means it ONLY kills harmful viruses and bacteria.

2.  Taking that much vitamin D3 also tends to help your immune system remember the viruses that attacked it before and maintain targeted killer cells.

And, THAT means if you get on ordinary flu shot while taking this much D3, the flu shot is more likely to protect you.

This means you can boost your flu shot’s effectiveness with something that benefits you, vitamin D3.

3.  A study found that people who take NAC, n-acetyl cysteine, year round have cells that are much LESS harmed if you get the flu.  That results in milder cases and far faster recovery of energy after you have the flu!

4.  If you get a flu or cold with a fever, drink LOTS of water!  You are hotter and distracted so you sweat and breathe out more water BUT are LESS thirsty.

That causes dehydration which can cause confusion and weakness and even death.

BUT, if you drink extra water and replace it each time you go to the bathroom, all that changes!

You still feel horrible.  BUT you can think straight and avoid being that weak.  It’s a HUGE difference! 

Doctors SAY to drink lots of water; but too few of them teach what an enormous difference it makes!

5.  For people who take enough vitamin D3 and drink enough water, the flu very seldom kills.

BUT, it uses up enough of your immune system’s capacity, it can enable pneumonia to harm and kill you.

Most deaths during the flu season are from this cause.

But you can prevent this too!

If you take enough D3 and drink enough water, your immune system may have enough strength to beat pneumonia also.

AND if you get the two pneumonia vaccines before you get the flu and take enough vitamin D3 when you do so, there are 36 kinds of pneumonia you won’t get!

(The first pneumonia vaccine has 13 strains it protects you against and; the new one, Prevnar 23 has 23 more.  Initially I thought the total was less from overlap and found out these shots DO prevent 36 separate strains of pneumonia.)