On this blog I regularly discuss the importance of mind-set in achieving a long term weight loss result.

Frankly, when attempting to achieve anything, your mind-set will be the foundation element in determining whether you will reach said goal or not. When this is a solo effort, without any external motivation, it is even more important.

Now, as th great Napoleon Hill, author of ‘Think and Grow Rich’ said…

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it an achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed wih definiteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches.

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Statistics make it fairly clear to me that most people turn to healthy diets and start exercise routines for weight loss reasons above all. This is far from ground-breaking insight, but it got me thinking….

Wouldn’t it be better to reframe things around health instead?

Weight loss is more tangible than health, and this creates inherent problems in itself. When people fail to lose the weight that they hoped, they give up. Without seeing results, people begin to think ‘what’s the point?’ and often throw their middle fingers up to their new diet and weight loss plan, and inevitably regress.

People are so consumed by the hunt for instant gratification in what they do, that putting too much pressure on things is often a real cause of failure. So…how about taking that pressure off by changing the way we look at weight loss?

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I love marketing. But I hate it as well.

When marketing brings people to a buying decision, and helps to overcome some of their concerns, then its great….as long as the product itself is of high quality. When the product is a load of rubbish, however, marketing really should be ashamed of itself.

One triumph of marketing in the food industry is canola oil. Sounds healthy doesn’t it? Well, its not.

Canola oil is actually derived from rapeseed oil, but for obvious reasons the name was changed.  Its pretty disgusting stuff to be honest with you – its a horrible greeny colour when in its natural form, and contains high quantities of erucic acid, which can contribute to heart disease.

In order to make it marketable and sellable, the manufacturers remove this erucic acid. Then they bleach it, they deodorise it, and regum it using a variety of nasty chemicals such a hexane, which is a chemical solvent.

Fred Pescatore, MD, author of “The Hamptons Diet” and former medical director of the Atkins Center,  says “The canola oil found on supermarket shelves has been refined, heated, and damaged beyond repair”. Refining and processing this oil leads to the creation of harmful trans fatty acids, which can be metabolically damaging in a number of different ways.

These fats increase the risk of heart disease, mental disorders, depression, and cause weight gain, which is commonly the biggest problem that people have with them.

So, the next time you think about picking up some canola oil, think again. Its not worth it, and there are some awesome healthy alternatives out there such as extra virgin olive oil. This oil contains pretty much the perfect balance of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids, so is ideal when used for salads and dressings. When cooking with oil, however, go with coconut oil.

So, do you use canola oil? Are there any foods out there that you think are marketed as being healthy, when they aren’t?

Comment below, and let me know…

According to doctors, fizzy drinks should be taxed and adverts for junk food should be eliminated after the watershed. This is all part of a call to action over the growing obesity epidemic, but is it a good idea?

Well, looking at it purely from a nutritional standpoint, of course. Anything that is likely to cut down on our consumption of unhealthy foods is going to be a good thing. However, this is much more than purely a nutrition recommendation or guideline – it is a tax, and this makes it both a social, policatial, and economic issue.

Cutting back on sugar is probably the number one recommendation anyone could make with regards to losing weight. If someone has a weight issue, sugar is likely to be the cause. Not fat. Sugar.

This sugar, of course, isn’t only from food like soft drinks, cakes, sweets, and other such foods. White, refined good like bread and pasta will also be broken down into sugar quickly in the bloodstream. When putting a tax on sugary goods, therefore, how far do we go?

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I haven’t posted for a little while because I’ve been pretty busy with a couple of other projects. Poor excuse, I know, so I’ll not be missing a beat again for a while.

Today, I wanted to ask a simple question – does exercise really matter for long term weight loss?

Now, we all know that to lose weight you need to eat right and get plenty of exercise. But do you? Do you really NEED to do both?

A common phrase in the health industry is that ‘abs are made in the kitchen’. This is basically a way of saying that to lose weight your best efforts will be done through the food you put into your body, not the exercise that you get. Most will agree that 80%, or more, of the battle is done with nutrition, while the rest is made up from other factors, primarily exercise.

This isn’t right at all.

There’s another layer to this that people neglect to mention – mindset. Sure, if you actually eat the right food, then nutrition counts for about 80%. But what it is that is making you eat the right food consistently, in order to achieve a long term weight loss result? You guessed it – its your mindset.

However, that’s not what I wanted to chat about today. I’ve rambled on about this many times before, and I’m sure I’ll do so again, but for now I’m gonna get back on exercise…

Frankly, if you change your diet, you’ll lose weight. There’s no doubting that. It doesn’t matter if you get any exercise whatsoever – you will still shed some serious baggage if you alter your diet significantly. You will lose weight, and as long as you keep eating right, you’ll keep it off.

So, in these terms, yes, you probably can lose weight for good without exercise.

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For the last 4 weeks I have been on my own weight loss system.

Now, when I go on a new diet, or I try out a new method of losing weight, I stick with it. I don’t give up after a few days…that’s just not me.

However…..everyone is prone to the odd slip-up, myself included.

The question I wanted to pose today is ‘do slip-ups matter?’

My major slip up happened nearly two weeks ago now. Let me tell you the story…

I was coming up to day 20 of the diet, with all of the previous 19 being alcohol free. Now, as part of my system, I was meant to banish the booze for the entirety of the month….but this didn’t happen.

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So, I’ve just been doing my daily check of the health headlines and came across a pretty phenomenal transformation story from the Daily Mail….

The story goes like this:

Jeremy White is a morbidly obese IT consultant living in Barry, South Wales. He is about 20 stone and, as a result, is refused life insurance by his insurance company. In response to this, he immediately switches takeaways for natural foods and adopts an exercise regime that mimics the behaviours of our cavemen ancestors – climbing rope, throwing hammers, and pushing tyres.

The result?

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There is a great deal of debate among health and fitness professionals about whether you can lose weight fast, and heathily, or not.

Many people seem to think that the faster you lose weight, the faster you put it back on again. Frankly, this just isn’t true. Speed has nothing to do with….it is the manner in which you lose weight that will determine whether you will lose it quickly and keep it off, or pile it back on again.

There are 2 simple elements that we need to look at here:

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Today is a special day.

It is the day that the great Arnold Schwarzenegger makes his long awaited film comeback.

Ok, so that’s not entirely true. He actually had a small part in ‘The Expendables 2′ last summer and his latest major outing has already been released Stateside. For us here in London, however, its the start of the newest adventure in this icon’s extraordinary life.

Arnie has long been a great hero of mine. In fact, he is THE hero of mine. Despite what some may say about his acting ability or his credentials as a politician, Arnie’s is the ultimate success story.

To have excelled in such diverse fields as bodybuilding, acting, politics, and business, Arnie has proven that with desire, determination, and belief, anything is possible.

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