Don Andrew

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Don’t Drink Yourself To Death

by Don on January 5, 2010

in Other Lifestyle Factors

In a recent report compiled by the NHS Confederation and the Royal College Of Physicians, it was revealed that alcohol-related conditions cost the health service 2.7 billion pounds a year!

Youch.

Apparently that figure is double what it was five years ago and is said to be placing “an unsustainable burden” on the NHS. One of the “solutions” proposed is a 532 pound charge to anyone who ends up in hospital as a result of drinking themselves stupid.

My feelings?

Until our culture stops viewing excess drinking as a minor misdemeanor, comparable to a parking violation, not much will change.

What actually scared me most about this report was the revelation that one quarter of the UK population now drinks at levels considered “hazardous” to health.

That’s insane! It’s totally irresponsible and out of control … and the fact that we tolerate it shows just how far peoples’ values have become skewed.

If you don’t share my view that excessive drink makes people obnoxious, aggressive and a total hazard to regular, considerate people who manage their consumption responsibly … then try putting yourself in the shoes of the poor souls tasked with managing the fallout.

Paramedics and police who are abused verbally and physically. Peaceful people who are subjected to abuse and exposed to potentially dangerous violence.

And if you are forced to defend yourself because these selfish clowns won’t just disappear and leave you alone, now you’re exposed to legal recourse and potential criminal charges if you hurt them. Poor babies!

But we tolerate them and hardly blink when there is an escalation. All in a night’s work. Don’t worry mate. Sleep it off. Here’s a slap on the wrist that changes absolutely nothing. Only if you get caught behind the wheel of a car will you now face real sanction … and by then, maybe way too late.

What does this have to do with fat loss?

In my humble opinion, everything. If 25% of our population is harming themselves and exposing others to unwanted nastiness, what on earth do you think they’re doing to themselves.

Their mental health? Their livers?

Don’t kid yourself … just because we are told “healthy” limits are 2 units a day for men, doesn’t change the fact that alcohol is a protoplasmic poison that kills virtually all the living cells it comes in contact with.

Not too serious on occasion? Maybe. Assuming you are not in someone else’s face.

But over time alcohol contributes nothing but excess calories and physiological stress.

But it’s just a little social lubrication. Stop being such a party pooper. Yeah, you’re right. Hell, I drink too on occasions. But I also am under no illusions as to the damage it’s doing to my system.

I justify it by saying that I don’t become offensive because I never get drunk. I’m an adult, so please leave me alone to conduct myself responsibly. If I want to hurt myself to a “manageable” degree, that’s my business. Go harass the “real” criminals.

Fine … but when the wheels fall off who pays the bill?

Those 25% (I’d bet the number is diplomatically conservative) will get sick in later life. Heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, circulatory disease etc. And they’ll all blame it on family history, or just “getting old”. And the health care system will be expected to pick up the pieces.

Is it really worth that much to you?

I used to pride myself on the amount of alcohol I could consume with negligible visible impact.

Today I pride myself on drinking a tiny fraction of what I used to. I still have just as much fun. And I feel infinitely better for it.

Perhaps I’m just getting old?

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Svelte Over Christmas

by Don on December 21, 2009

in Insights

OK, I’m sorry, I’ve been diabolical about updating this blog … but what better way to restart, than with a post about Christmas strategy?

Let’s face, with all the best intentions in the world, very few of us are going to have (or want) the resolve not to over-eat at this time of year. It’s just going to happen and that’s the way it is.

Why?

Because, if you’ve been following a diet, even if you have succeeded in shedding a few pounds, you probably still know very little about human nutrition.

So, when confronted by roast chicken, baked potatoes, Christmas pudding and, and, and … you don’t have a prayer.

It’s called “addiction”, though we prefer to talk of “appetite”, or “cravings” if we are feeling up to confronting our demons honestly. But any way you cut you are unlikely to feel in the mood to deprive yourself over such a time of generous spirit.

So, what am I proposing?

Well, I’m a realist. I’m also a food addict, so I’m not talking at you from some loftly height. What I can tell you is what is working for me.

For the last year, I’ve slowly modified my eating habits so that I can eat fewer calories while still enjoying my food and feeling adequately satiated after meals.

During this time I’ve had mixed success. In fact some months I actually went backwards and put on weight and felt less in control.

But I have learnt some wonderful perspective … and I have successfully shifted about 28kg’s in all that time. Nothing dramatic, but eminently satisfying none-the-less.

Anyway, back to my strategy. Because I have trained myself to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables (and less animal products and cooked meals), I can enjoy a huge roast chicken dinner without holding back.

I can also over-indulge with far more alcoholic punch than “should be” permissable … and not feel bad for even a second.

What I’ve noticed is that in the days that follow, I automatically return to “normal” and I simply, painlessly and effortlessly go back to consuming less. Which means I can have fun, even go overboard … but not put on weight, or feel guilty.

Now that’s liberating!

So, gradually learn to eat according to your natural design. Then, when it comes time to let your hair down a little, you can do so by choice and have great fun to boot.

If that’s a secret, the cat’s out the bag.

I do not subscribe to the idea of depriving yourself on occasions. Once you learn how to eat correctly, this will no longer be a big factor in your life and you can enjoy yourself without any negative emotions or fallout.

For any readers who are interested in learning more about how to master your bodyweight and the art of healthy eating,  may I suggest you visit my other site here.

I would also like to tell you about a new blog I have been working on called Body Mind Freedom. Unlike “Follow Me Slim” where I will be talking specifically about fat loss, “Body Mind Freedom” will delve into any aspect of natural, holistic health.

May I wish all my readers a safe and peaceful holiday and a productive and fulfilling 2010.

Thank you for all your support.

Lose Fat, Not Hope.

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Calorie Confusion!

by Don on November 15, 2009

in Diet

In a bid to completely muddy the waters, a draft report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition now suggests that the recommendation for daily calorie intake be increased by as much as 16%!

Of course this is because if people exercised more they’d need more calories to maintain their weight. Perfect theory!

But people won’t exercise more … and people will never see beyond the precedent that has been set for the last 18 years which effectively suggests that all women should eat 2000 calories per day and all men should eat 2500 calories per day in order to fall within healthy eating guidelines.

Instead of trying to clear up the original mess, they have only succeeded in compounding the confusion of the general population.

This became patently obvious in the discussion on BBC breakfast where even the resident expert looked confused when the anchor, Charlie Stayt sought to clarify the logic behind the report.

Predictably, the question he asked was along the lines of “if there is an obesity problem, why on earth is it now being proposed that people eat more calories?”

Eventually that particular discussion was abandoned because time ran out, but it might just as well have been abandoned out of sheer exasperation. I normally enjoy seeing someone on soggy ground squirm … but this was about as sad as watching someone shoot a lion in a zoo.

I see this whole situation as painfully analogous to a team of bumbling experts trying to explain sex education to a bunch of school kids while still insisting on sticking to the whole story of the stork!

So let me attempt to at least do a little better:

First, the energy needs of adults vary according to a whole host of variables including, but not limited to, gender, lean muscle mass, activity levels, stress levels, biochemical individuality, etc, etc, etc …

To attempt to pigeon-hole every individual into 2 neat categories, then label it as “healthy” is about as far from reality as the proverbial stork!

To expect the average person to get their heads around any of these factors, let alone how they all integrate, is overly ambitious. Not because people are stupid, but because it’s actually quite complicated and even the qualified experts aren’t in agreement. This makes me think that “those-that-are-suitably-qualified” still has no clue.

If they were clear, then please show me the consensus, or at least a simple explanation. Until then, please stop blowing smoke.

People understand “simple”.

So here it is:

Drum roll please … if people eat foods that are calorie-dense, but not nutrient-dense, they will get fat and mal-nourished. This is exactly what has happened to hundreds of millions of people who battle the bulge today.

These same people are told that they are fat, not because the “food” they consume is in conflict with their design, but because they consume more calories than they expend … and who dares question the first law of thermodynamics which implies that weight loss can only happen with a calorie deficit?

But here’s the danger: the obvious solution is to go on diet and eat less. Which means temporary weight loss on the dieting yo yo … and an even greater nutritional deficit.

No wonder people are not only fat, but sick!

Whether anything concrete comes out of these recommendations remains to be seen. But who cares? It will make no difference. They are flogging a dead horse.

As the saying goes … “when you fall in a bucket of sh*t, don’t duck your head!”

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Eating Habits Changing

by Don on October 27, 2009

in Psychology

As Britain reels under the recession, interesting trends in eating habits are emerging … none of which do wonders for our waistlines.

You would think that with money tighter than ever, more and more people would be staying in and eating more frugally. This may be the case with some, but it seems that perception of value still plays a bigger role than we might think.

In fact, all-you-can-eat restaurants are now booming with some reporting four times the business of average pub restaurants!

9000-10000 guests a week, or more, is not uncommon. It seems customers are seduced by the selection and don’t want to miss out. Almost like we are camels and must stock up in the face of an irresistably good deal!

To others, quantity matters more than selection … another example of hybrid camel mentality.

But perhaps the most under-estimated pull is that of informality. People love going as an entire family, but with the option of eating like they do at home … with everyone grazing on what they want,  in the quantity they want.

So … selection, informality, value for money and the sheer delirious pleasure of being able to pig out without restriction! And all of these lead to predictable conclusions. Bloated, over-loaded stomachs and the mindless fatigue that follows.

Every available resource goes towards digestion leaving very little energy for anything else. This fans the flames of addiction but people don’t care because they’re stretching their cash resources and having a great time escaping from the reality of their everyday existences.

Of course, they will continue to put on weight. And of course they will continue to add to the stress load they already subject their bodies to.

Excessive, addictive food that costs energy and adds little nutritional benefit!

Add to this the over-the-counter and prescription medications taken to relieve the resultant symptoms of indigestion, constipation, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, sexual disfunction and depression.

All require metabolism and eventual elimination and all add appreciably to the overall stress load profile of each individual.

Why then do we expect to manage our weight effectively and remain free from disease when we are so quick to indulge without thought to consequence?

Or maybe people just accept that they will get sick and rely on the health care sytem to mitigate the damage? But … when the system runs out of money, surely tears will be shed?

Come on Britain … what example are you setting for your kids?

Fast food, alcohol and all-you-can-eat blow outs are sure-fire shortcuts to a life of dependence and preventable suffering.

Don’t you think it’s time to take stock?

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Discrimination Against Fat People

by Don on October 19, 2009

in Insights, Uncategorized

This morning on BBC there were two ladies talking about a really interesting and controversial topic … discrimination against fat people.

Legislation already exists protecting people from abuse and hate crimes connected with their religious views, sexual orientation and race.

These are overt markers of difference that share one common denominator … they are considered “beyond choice”.

Being fat is considered by many as different in that it is assumed that being fat is a result of lifestyle choices.

And this creates some more interesting cultural preconceptions.

You see, the two ladies that were being interviewed were obviously hurt by the constant barrage of disparraging comments that is such a significant part of the daily lives of morbidly obese people.

Their view was that they should enjoy similar protection to those categories already enjoying protection from hate crimes … no problem there. Abuse and violence should not be tolerated by any reasonable society, I agree.

But when questioned as to whether they believed that their condition was the result of free choice, their immediate and instinctive response was that it was a genetic condition that involved too much discipline and deprivation to be tolerable for any sustained period.

Certainly for long enough to be considered effective to lose sufficient weight to fall below the abuse radar.

Two perfectly rational, reasonable people completely mired in the destructive mentality of dieting. To these ladies, the only way to maintain a “normal” figure, was to deprive oneself of food.

The possibility that morbid obesity has anything to do with the type of food they choose to eat, did not begin to compute.

And neither of the two presenters raised the issue.

Quite clearly, fat people eat too much … and should eat less to become lighter, or smaller. So the paradigm is entrenched … with the “fat” ladies, with the presenters and with the general public who e-mailed in their comments to the show.

Not one person talked about what to eat, only how many (translation: how many calories) was eaten.

So we get back to this crude strategy of the calorie equation. You put on weight when you eat more calories than you burn. If you can create a deficit by exercise, the opposite happens. It’s all about the math.

And it is … but what no-one tells the general public is that calorie deprivation (dieting) can not be sutained on a non-nutritious diet! And that’s what most people eat.

Calorie-dense rather than nutrient-dense food.

Commercial refined grains, plus excessive meat, cooked foods, salt, sugar, flour and dairy. The stuff the ads, our doctors and all the nutrition professionals tell us we should be eating in moderation.

And we can’t tell people the truth, because those that are qualified to dispense the truth are trained within systems funded by the companies that profit from sales of calorie-dense “foods” … the refined food, meat and dairy industries. So, actually, it occurs to me they may not even know the truth themselves, so brainwashed they have become in order to keep their licenses!

And the politicians sanction all this because of … politics (tax revenues, etc). And saddest of all is that everyone keeps perpetuating the myth. All under this guise of acceptability.

That is, you can only dispense nutrition advice if you have an acceptable qualification like nutritionist or dietician.

Yet these people are the same people telling everyone to eat in moderation, eat variety, eat meat, eat cooked whole grains and consume dairy … oh and 5-a-day. Folks, that’s no where near enough. Especially if your cooking it to death or eating it out of a can!

It’s legalized insanity … and it’s why so many people are fat and screwed up.

And when they get sick as a result, they can then plug in to an even more formidable economic machine. And that is the medical machine.

Doctors trained by schools that are funded by medical companies and pharmaceutical companies to continue perpetuating the myth that people get sick because they have bad genes, habits they can’t help and because declining health is inevitable with advancing years!

And people like me who say “hold on, this is hog wash” aren’t even able to speak our minds without multiple disclaimers in place just in case people think what we have to say is anything more than “information”.

Yes, you can go to a doctor for a gastric bypass … that’s acceptable. And all men over 50 should be put on statins … we’ll take that proposal seriously!

But if some clown like me suggests eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, drinking more water, getting daily exercise, sunlight and fresh air and taking steps to reduce stress and take responsibility for your own happiness … this is now sacriligious and I must be muzzled at all costs, just in case people find out the unprofitable truth.

So people will continue to think that their health is outside their control and that they are fat because of some genetic predisposition.

And yes, my qualified and smug friends, that can indeed be the case.

But if you are really honest you’ll accept that for the vast majority of morbidly obese people, it’s mindset and choices, not genes. And while we’re being honest, won’t any of you also accept that the system currently in place is not working.

That’s why kids are getting diabetes. And why middle-aged people are showing signs of neurological damage.

Not because the gene pool has crashed in the last 20 years, but because the advice being dispensed out of professional channels is misleading and agenda-based.

Only when we can face the truth, can we begin to fix the problem. The fish stinks from the head!

We don’t need more legislation preventing people from acting like animals. (OK, maybe we do). We need a system that reinforces an unpopular truth … recovering and maintaining your health is possible if you learn to do the right things.

You can’t even find the truth easily through the search engines … because the key words people type in are rooted in the very misconceptions I am talking about.

So when you Google “healthy nutrition” you get sites with page rank that tell us to follow the food pyramid, eat more grains, meat and dairy. And show us a host of medical resources, when we should be learning about health, not patholgy management.

This stuff is killing people and they don’t know any better!

Until it stops, our precious NHS is going to get progressively less viable and people will continue to think that they must go on diet to be viewed as socially acceptable.

We have created a nation of addicts … a captive market for food manufacturers, drug manufacturers and medical equipment manufacturers.

And we grease the wheels with a team of impressively trained drones all spouting the same nonsense. All part of a politically sanctioned chain of health care robots.

And we might also need access to medical care if we have an acute condition. So fear will continue to rule the roost on every level.

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