Archive for the 'Low Carb' Category

The Technology that may just save this old Marine's life

As a disabled vet I am eligible for the Veteran Administrations MOVE program, a national weight management program designed by the VHA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention to help veterans lose weight, keep it off and improve their health. I am all over that!

A Partner With Your Healthcare Team

This little device here is my new friend, it greets me every morning with all kinds of cool suggestions on how to make healthy food choices. It attaches to a scale that I can send in my weight with and is connected to the nursing center at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix where I have been assigned my own personal nutritionist. I weigh in once a week but check in daily for tips, helpful suggestions and questions designed to motivate me. Check out the one here on How Do I Get Started With Changing My Eating Habits

How Does A Veteran Get Into The Move Program?

I wasn't kidding about the saving my life part. Since leaving the Marine Corps in 1972 I have struggled and fought a mostly losing battle to maintain my marine corps weight or some semblance thereof! Even accounting for my age (61) I am way over the line for any kind of healthy outlook, pre-diabetic and fed up with the way I look and feel. I have tried everything but I think this time between the support I get from the Viterion 100, my VA nutritionist, the follow up MOVE Forward programs, and the staff of the VA MOVE Program in Phoenix, I may just have a shot at becoming human again! The good news is that a low carb approach works great with the MOVE program – so stay tuned for progress reports! (more…)

Here is a tip from a former marine who gained too much weight after leaving the Marine Corps.

You don't have to dedicate yourself to any diet plan or low-carb regimen to lose weight. Just substitute what you might eat in carbs with fat instead, bacon vs donuts, cheese vs cereal, or a sandwich with mayo without the bread.  Doing this will have much less impact on insulin levels, where upswings cause weight gain.

When I was a kid I used to watch in awe as my Dad chowed down on a sandwich he made with liverwurst or other deli items  (usually a Dagwood size, if you recall what that was and if you are too young to know about a Dagwood sandwich, well, just think huge). He would rub his hands together in anticipation, open his mouth as wide as he could, and take these monster bites, rolling his eyes and moaning with pleasure. He didn't restrict his great white shark bites to just sandwiches either, just about anything he consumed was done in a manner that suggested it might be his last meal.

Of course, later on when my mouth could handle it I too started eating like my Dad,  a way that I convinced myself had me enjoying food more. I didn't just pick up this eating style during my stint in the Marine Corps, although I ate fast because I either had to or was in a hurry to get somewhere. The marines will tell you "eat all you want, but eat all you take". (more…)

Get Me OUTSIDE!

This is why I don't like treadmills in the spare bedroom, garage, working out at health clubs or other forms of indoor exercise,  other than they are boring, boring, boring, wall mounted TV or not. I don't care if Oprah has Michelle Obama, Tom Cruise, David Letterman, Ellen, Donald Trump and Tiger Woods on the same show! (wouldn't that be a show?), indoor workouts just don't work for me, even if I have a window to look out of.

If you ever wondered why your new year's resolution to exercise and lose weight lost it's momentum after only a few weeks here is a clue:

Hello! It's winter out there, cold, rainy, gloomy, etc. Your brain wants to be doing something outdoors, walking, hiking, just about anything as long as it's outside while your body cringes at the thought. Some refer to exercising outdoors as eco-therapy, or green exercise, although I think that word green is overused. Did you know for example that the color green balances the nervous system and is supposed to have a calm, soothing, effect?

When there isn't a whole lot of green around during winter where you live it can be tough to get motivated, much less stay that way until spring. But don't despair, just by seeking the natural world you can reap the benefits of re-connecting with the environment – a reduction in anger and stress levels only to mention a couple. Take the dog for a walk, bundle up and breathe the fresh air.

Join over a hundred of your fellow low-carbers on the 3rd Annual Low-Carb Cruise To The Bahamas. On an aside to Debby and Ailsa "I really need to be there" so am posting this all over Twitter to help promote. If I can get enough ad dollars together I could write about it …sweeeet

So if I go I will write about the adventures of Low-Carbers on a cruise ship. Should be interesting. Real Low-Carb Houswives of ?