HOW OVERCOMING RESISTANCE HOLDS THE KEY TO WEIGHT LOSS

I had a great conversation last night with Jon Gabriel. He was my guest on my BlogTalkRadio show. Jon is the author of a new book called The Gabriel Method. It’s about a “non- diet”, diet program. Jon once weighed over 400 pounds. He is 6’2” and now weighs 185. Many people emailed me wanting to know how he lost over 200 lbs.—all without dieting. And Jon is more than willing to talk about it.

He’d been working on Wall Street in New York City and was under a tremendous amount of stress. He was supposed to travel on September 11 on Flight 93, which was the plane that crashed into the field in Pennsylvania. This near fatal experience had a profound effect on his life and he credits it with the epiphany he had about his weight.

Suddenly, Jon had the realization that he wasn’t a “fat person” and recognized that was a thin person in a fat body. When he realized this, he knew that he could lose weight without dieting because he had “reset” his belief systems. After his epiphany, everything became a lot easier for him. He knew exactly what was preventing him from losing weight and was totally clear on what he needed to do to get rid of the extra weight. The stronger his beliefs and understanding of his own, personal truth became, the faster the weight came off.

Anyone who struggles with weight loss experiences some form of resistance. The precise form it takes will vary from person to person. The ability to explore and understand one’s source of the resistance is the key to unlocking the door to weight loss. Jon’s book explores this concept in depth as well as its relationship to the power of the mind-body connection.

Maintaining high body fat is a primitive response to stress, which has been programmed in all of us since Paleolithic times, but we live in modern society. Everything we experience on a physical or emotional level will cause our “primitive” bodies to react exactly as they were programmed some 75,000 years ago. So, maintaining high body fat originally evolved as a means of protection against the cold or of some kind of bodily injury. But, this archaic message to our bodies motivates us to store extra calories. It makes perfect sense, therefore, that once the body has the protection signal removed, it will allow weight to be shed. The key here is to discover the “trigger” that informs the pituitary gland in our brain of impending danger.

If we can send the brain such a signal, then it follows that we can also send the brain a message that in order to survive, we need to be slim, fit, and agile. Obviously, this is a very different signal to the brain and one of the best ways to deliver it is by the type of exercise we do. If we are just walking for exercise at a leisurely pace, the body does not receive the reinforcement of a need to be slim and fit. One can be quite obese and be capable of walking.

However, if we do burst training where brief intense periods of high intensity exercise are performed repetitively, the body will get the message that slim and lithe suits us better for survival. This kind of exercise is what our primitive brains might perceive of as the same reflex we once occasionally used to out run a predator. Understanding how our primitive brains and genetic ancestry works is critical for weight loss and optimal health.

The hour interview with Jon flew by in what seemed like just a few minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him. He is a passionate and engaging man, who has gone far beneath the surface of weight loss resistance to find a truth that we can all share and put to great use!

MEN AND RELATIONSHIPS

I am on a men’s team. We meet every Tuesday night to support each other facing life’s challenges. Whether it’s business, financial, family or relationship issues, we are there for each other like a band of brothers in a completely safe and trusting environment. It is amazing to me how many men on my team are having continuing problems relating to the women in their lives.

Additionally, it is amazing how many men have been divorced at least once. As a result, there is a wealth of experience in this area and a huge amount of collective wisdom. It makes me wonder why it is so difficult for men and women to get along in long term, committed relationships. There is no simple answer since there are many different dynamics at work here.

Most of the men in my circle have done The Men’s Weekend with Justin Sterling of the Sterling Institute. This is a powerful weekend workshop that transforms men into the man they want to become and who their woman would cheat on them to be with. Does this make sense?

I believe we need to work hard on our relationships. They do not happen by themselves. We live in an ever-evolving, complicated society where the original laws of attraction between the sexes are distorted by work, financial pressures, family challenges, and an ever changing dynamic of male and female roles in society. It is important for the sake of good relationships to get back to the roots of what brings male and female energy together to create a lasting bond. It simply takes hard work.

There are other good workshops out there, too, that can help. One my girlfriend recommends is called, “Understanding Women, Celebrating Men.” I am planning to do this workshop later this year and will report back to you. I would strongly urge all men to do the Sterling Men’s Weekend, to help get your mojo back, and become the man both you and your woman want you to be.

BIOIDENTICAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT DONE RIGHT

I speak to many women every day who have their hormones replaced by doctors in the most random ways. Most traditional doctors treat menopause and hormone replacement based only on symptoms, and with no consideration of what is happening in women’s bodies physiologically. I’ve seen some pretty frightening things in my time.

One of the worst is when a woman starts having menopausal symptoms and the doctor never checks her hormone levels. Women tell me quite often that they’ve reported having irregular periods to their gynecologists. This usually occurs with women who are close to 50-years-old. Gynecologists are supposed to be experts in women’s health and especially with issues like menopause. I have even seen a few women in this situation being put on birth control pills to regulate their periods.

The most common scenario for replacing women’s hormones is to put them on a static dose of hormones. The only time in a woman’s life that she would have hormones continuously would be during pregnancy. And this is when women gain a lot of weight, develop high blood pressure, and insulin resistance.

Many times, menopause symptoms are treated with anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills. All of these treatments could and should be eliminated. Simply restoring a hormone balance would resolve all the problems associated with menopause—and without the use of any toxic, prescription drugs. The only hormone replacement approach that makes sense to me is to administer hormones in a dosage as close as possible to the pattern existing in a patient before menopause. This pattern should be rhythmic and suited to the individual.

I also don’t believe that women with hysterectomies should be treated with a different hormone schedule. Many doctors feel that if a woman doesn’t have a uterus, then she doesn’t need progesterone. The question to ask then is: “What about the rest of her body?”

Progesterone doesn’t just go to the uterus. It travels throughout the body where it plays an important function in balancing women’s hormones. Ultimately, I believe that putting women’s hormones back as close to the way they were before menopause has the greatest benefit for maintaining health. It can also prevent disease as well as age-related declines in health. It is vital to support normal body function as long as possible for optimal healthy aging in both women and men. Have you had any experiences like the ones I’ve described in this post? I’d like to know.

NEW YORK STEM CELL SUMMIT

Last week, I was in New York City attending a Stem Cell Summit. Also attending were over 50 Stem Cell Company CEO’s from all over the world as well as a number of venture capitalists, investors, researchers, and medical practitioners. The conference, itself, was a fascinating look into what is in store for us in the future from the world of Stem Cell Therapy. In my last post, I wrote about some of the potential for Stem Cells. What is on the horizon is truly mind-boggling.

In particular, there are major developments in the areas of Orthopedics such as regenerating joint cartilage, shortening recovery time for fractures by two-thirds, and options for herniated vertebral disc sufferers. There is a tremendous amount of work also being done for Diabetes, many forms of Cancer, congestive heart failure as well as for heart attack and stroke victims. I even heard from Veterinarians who are already using stem cells for racehorses and pets with great success.

The future potential for many more health benefits is vast. All of the CEO’s present admitted that we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of what stem cells may be able to accomplish. One area I found particularly fascinating was in the regeneration of bone and cartilage in degenerated joints and fractures. Stem cells are already being used to avoid amputations in diabetics with severe peripheral vascular disease. The stem cell procedure actually helps them to grow new blood vessels, which supply blood to extremities threatened by lack of oxygen. All of the presentations focused on the thrilling work of finding cures for conditions that are currently incurable. Still, no one is even talking yet about my interest in the potential of stem cells with respect to prevention, anti-aging and life extension.

I have been working with a company called Neostem, which is a stem cell collection service. We collect stem cells from healthy, relatively young people, and then store them in a cryobank for future use. The beauty of this unique approach is that the stem cells are available on an as-needed basis. Stem cells are generally only given to the person who donated them. This is the other reason that our approach is so powerful. These stem cells are in better shape than the individual recipient because they were collected when the person was younger.

In other words, they are not used like blood donations. So, there is no risk of rejection, and since the individual will only receive his own cells, there is also no risk of transmissible disease. In a way, it is a form of “Bio-Insurance”. You can imagine that the process can provide a great sense of security when an individual knows that his stem cells are safely stored away in a cryobank if needed at some future date.

I should know. I have already put mine away and it makes me feel really good. What we are now discussing is the possibility of re-infusing them back into the donor every year or so, as a way to help maintain the equivalent, youthful age as when the cells were originally collected. I have also spoken to researchers about using them to treat women after menopause. In theory, we would inject them into the ovaries to “wake them up” as a way to start producing female hormones again. No one knows if this is possible. But, can you imagine what kind of breakthrough it represents if the procedure works?!

STEM CELLS ARE HERE TO STAY

The future of Medicine is here now. Stem cell research and stem cell therapy is real. There are now over 2000 clinical trials in this country alone on stem cell therapy. There are even more around the world.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells in the body that have the ability to develop into any cell. They are called “multi-potential". Stem cells are derived from multiple sources including fat, peripheral blood, and bone marrow. The big distinction is between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Current research involves both.

There are moral and ethical issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells because they are often derived from aborted fetuses. These cells are more versatile as they can be used in any individual without issues about possible rejection. Concerns have also been raised that women will intentionally get pregnant to abort and sell their embryos for stem cell harvesting.

Adult stem cells are less versatile as they can only be used in the individual who donated them, and may not be as adaptable to generating new tissue as embryonic cells. There is ongoing research to develop other cell lines that approaches the frontier of cloning. Theoretically, if cells have the ability to become any cell in the body, then it is not too far fetched to create cells that can become “all” cells in the body and therefore, become an entirely new individual.

The February 9, 2009 cover story in TIME magazine reported on the FDA’s approval of stem cell therapy for the treatment of traumatic spinal cord injuries. This is an exciting breakthrough in an emerging, dynamic field of medicine that is going to create an entirely new realm of miraculous cures for previously considered untreatable conditions.

I am now at an exciting conference on Stem Cells in New York and look forward to telling you all about it in my next posting.

THE END OF SEX!

I’ve read some pretty ridiculous health claims, but this one takes the cake. I saw an article recently in the US publication, The Week, about a study done in the UK that reported a link between increased frequency of sex and masturbation and their role in causing a higher risk of prostate cancer. Now, I’ve heard old wives tales about masturbation causing mental illness, blindness—and even warts on the hands—but never that masturbation causes prostate cancer. Even worse than that, the study claims that men in their 20’s and 30’s who masturbate—or God Forbid—have sex at least 4 or 5 times per week, must have higher hormone levels.

The study then jumps to the conclusion that these highly sexed men are more prone to get prostate cancer due to their unusually high hormone levels. I think this study is ludicrous. First of all, there is no evidence anywhere that men with high hormone levels are more sexual. Secondly, there is a mountain of evidence that men with LOW testosterone are at significantly increased risk of prostate disease and cancer. Testosterone has been shown unequivocally to be health promoting in men, and in particular, lowering the incidence of prostate cancer.

Furthermore, I have never found a correlation between testosterone levels and libido. Over the years, I’ve seen many men with high testosterone levels and low libidos—and vice versa. There are, in fact, a preponderant number of studies showing that the prostate is much healthier and has reduced risk of cancer with increased frequency of ejaculations. I don’t know who did this study, but they must have had a prudish approach to health. My advice is to have as much sex as you can and masturbate as much as you want. Your prostate, among others, will thank you.

SUGAR AND HIGH GLYCEMIC FOODS

Sugar is a hidden toxin in foods and as a result, we eat way more sugar than nature ever intended for us. Sugar is actually “rated” in foods according to what is known as the Glycemic Index. In fact, all foods have been scored according to this Index. If you are interested in tracking a particular food, you can look it up on numerous web sites which feature the Glycemic Index.

Foods are ranked according to their sugar content by whether they are low, medium or high glycemic. High glycemic foods should definitely be avoided. As I mentioned in my last posting, humans evolved genetically during Paleolithic times. Foods were very low in sugars during that time. Farming, milling, and baking of wheat didn’t exist. We are, therefore, not genetically designed to eat wheat products.

In addition, they are the highest glycemic foods. The beauty of avoiding bread, cereal, grains, and rice is that—not only do we help ourselves by avoiding foods that are difficult for us to assimilate—but such a regimen also avoids a dense carbohydrate food group that contributes significantly to obesity and diabetes, two of the largest and fastest growing health problems in America.

The closer we can eat to a Paleolithic type diet, the healthier we will be. So, when you are making your food choices, just imagine if it existed in Paleolithic times. If not, best to skip it. We need to be conscious that our diets and environment have changed dramatically over the past several thousand years. The single most important thing we can do to avoid disease is to avoid sugar and high glycemic food.