Forgive the infractions

Forgiveness is the linchpin of my weight management practice and seminars. One of the problems of over weight is that when we overeat, we beat ourselves up. We feel guilty.

So we feel depressed.

And what do we do when we feel depressed?

We overeat.

Reminds me of the alcoholic who said, "I drink to forget."
He was asked, "And what do want to forget?"
"I fogot," he replied...

And the vicious cycle of overeating, regret, guilt, feeling down, and then overeating because you're down continues.

I recommend forgiving, and releasing to counter such guilt based eating. I also suggest to my clents to enjoy whatever they eat. If you want that desert eat it with total relish and enjoyment. That way perhaps you'll eat only half and share the other half with a loved one.

Note: When you feel guilty about food you'll not be satisfied.

The best way of forgiving yourself is to forgive someone who has harmed you first. The three position forgiveness is a great way to forgive.

Use a low glycemic index diet to lose weigh

I have always said a low glycemic index diet is the best diet for losing weight, but I did not follow it religiously until a few weeks ago one of my weight loss clients asked me to recommend a commercial diet program which was simple to follow.

Now, normally I recommend that people use some variety of my "The More Diet," which basically is a question of eating more and more good high fiber, low fat foods like fruits, vegetables, very lean meat, plain non-fat yogurt and so on, and to drink more warm or better hot water (unsweetened teas especially green or various high antioxidant herb teas are also good).

Moreover, I recommend that my clients, like me, use smaller plates and eat slowly to allow their brain's natural satisfaction mechanism to kick in and stop them eating too much.

However, this lady wanted to lose weight by summer in time for her daughter's wedding and did not have the time or inclination to follow a "loose" diet. She wanted a program which would tell her what to eat when to eat and have the food delivered to her.

I did some research and recommended the reviewed NutriSystem program because it was portion controlled, low glycemic index, and had the lowest cost. In the meanwhile I did even more research into low glycemic index diets and saw that it had excelent science behind it.

So for the last two weeks I have been following it really well and I'm happy to report my weight has gone down by three pounds, my body fat content by 0.7% and most importantly my waist size is now the same as it was forty years ago.

So now this is what I recommend: to really reduce the average glycemic index of the foods you eat. I'll write more about this later.

Six foods to avoid

I just wrote a blog on another of my blogs on six ways to have a healthy diet. So it is only fitting to write the reverse post on this blog. So here goes six food types to avoid:

1. The three white poison foods - sugar, white flour and too much salt. Note the body needs some salt and you will die if you don't get enough salt but in the modern diet there's way too much salt.
   
2. Red meat - contains saturated fats and is very bad for your heart.
   
3. Too much alcohol or caffeine (in moderation both appear to be good for you). Even if you have these in moderation remember to drink more water as they are both diuretics.
   
4. Any soda even diet. I used to say plain soda is OK - at least when added to whiskey but I discovered that even club soda leaches the calcium from your bones. As far as sugared and diet sodas are concerned these are poisonous for your body. They're just slow poisons.
5. Pesticides. Fruits and vegetables are great but some especially those grown outside of the USA or Europe have too much pesticides. If you can organic is best but otherwise wash your fruits and vegetables well in a little dish washing detergent and scrub well. Then of course wash the dish washing liquid off by rinsing real well. And even though the skin of fruits and vegetables have plenty of the goodness at times you may have to peel your apples and similar fruits.
6. Fish at top of the food chain such as sword fish or sharks. The heavy metal pollution in the oceans concentrates each time a bigger fish eats a smaller so that by the time you reach the top of the food chain there may be too much heavy metals like mercury for health.

Please use your gumption and notice I wrote avoid not to forbid. So for example my wife likes shark a lot so every now and then we eat some but we are eating way less than we did many years ago before we understood that too much was bad for you. Some though are best left alone whenever possible. Sodas are one of those. They are addictive and best left alone but if you can have a single can of Coke every six months, then that's OK too.

I just started a blog about the Jenny Craig diet

One of the pages on the Jenny Craig blog is, "How healthy is the Jenny Craig diet?"

Christmas blues or blow up

The average American gains about 25 pounds between Thanks Giving and mid January but loses 2o pounds between mid January and October so basically we end up gaining an average of five pounds a year. Now remember those are averages and some people do much better and others do much worse.

Those of us who do not gain that much weight are:

• Quite aware of our weight and weigh ourselves at least once a week and take counter measures if our weight goes up more than three pounds over our ideal weight.
• Believe in easy come easy go intentionality with weight. This relates to the above. Fast weight gain can be reduced by extra intentionality to weight reduction. For example I exercise more during this season. Yesterday (Christmas day) it was raining here in Southern California and I climbed the stairs many times.
• Today it is cold and I'm writing many posts on various blogs and sites so I went for three separate fifteen minute walks. That helped break down the day and make me rest from working on the computer non-stop and I actually walked 45 minute. Also after each blog post I do, I lift my dumbbell a few times. Every little thing helps -- look at next point.
  
• Remember weight reduction is not an all or nothing task. Last night after a large Christmas dinner we waited and had a small amount of high calorie desert. Normally we might have said, "OK we had a large dinner so we might as well give up and have all the desert."
• Now the most important thing about over eating. Do not have guilt and enjoy yourself. That way you can control what you eat much better. When you have guilt it is as though you have paid your dues (or perhaps its because you feel depressed) and you end up eating even more.
• I notice that the gym is full again. I love these "new year's resolution members." They keep the membership fees reasonable for the rest of us who go often. Remember weight management is a long term continual effort. In order to make it easy have fun.

I have recently started some new blogs you may be interested in going to:

Here are my new blogs:

Life Focus Center Blog - psychology and self improvement

Cosmetic Surgery Blog - all about plastic surgery

Transpersonal Illumination Blog - about divination, I Ching and the Tarot

Javadis Blog - more edgy, psychology, spirituality, philosophy etc but out there.

Postscript: My weight is back to its normal and more importantly my body fat content is in its normal range. According to my body fat content (most important measurement of your weight issues and health) I'm very fit but not in the arrange of top athletes and that's perfect for me. As I mentioned, awareness is a most important aspect of weight management. And the best judge is not your weight but how well you fit in your "slim" clothes.

I just started a blog on the Jenny Craig program. In this I'm examining the Jenny Criag diet and program with out any specific biase but letting you be the judge.

10 ways to cut down on bread

Most breads are very fattening and it is best to avoid eating them. Here are a few ways to cut down on bread. One place where it is difficult to resist bread is in the restaurant. So many of these tips relate to eating out.

1. 
   At restaurant ask waiter to bring bread with the meal.
   


2. 
   At restaurant chew sugarless gum while waiting.
   


3. 
   Eat it only if it's warm and even them sparingly.
   


4. 
   Delay eating bread as long as possible. Once you start, it is difficult to stop.
   


5. 
   Drink a large glass of water instead. Good for all weight management.
   


6. 
   When eating sandwiches make them into open face by throwing away half the bread - same with hamburgers and the bun.
   


7. 
   When buying breads read the label.


8. 
   Remember to avoid it, if it is white.
   


9. 
   Don't eat more than two ounces of bread at a time.
   


10. 
    Eat whole grain breads. They have lower glycemic index and are therefor more healthy and less fattening.
    

You can use the above tactics at Mexican restaurants to avoid eating too much taco chips as well.

Come to my seminar In Hacienda Heights

On Aug 16, 2008 I'll be giving a weight management seminar in Hacienda Heights, California. This is part of the announcement which went out:

We are pleased to let you know that thanks to your requests, Dr. Jay will return with his outstanding Michelangelo Weight and Life Management Workshop. This interesting and fun workshop uses hypnosis or guided imagery, combined with teaching stories from various cultures.
Join us, even if you are skinny! (Weight management works both ways, doesn’t it?)
When: Saturday, August 16, 2008
Time: 9:30 - 1:30
Place: Marie Callender's Restaurant , 1560 Albatross Rd., City of Industry, CA
Fee: $50, includes lunch --minus dessert! (Fee after Aug 10= $75)
Speaker: Dr. Javad Hashtroudian (“Dr. Jay”) Dr. Jay is an international speaker and creator of the Michelanelo Weight Management Seminar & the WishPower Seminar & others.

I have used the methods in this seminar myself and here is the way I used to look:


And this is after three month:

My weight went down by more than 10% and my body fat content went down by more than seventeen percent from 28.9% body fat to 24.7% body fat.

To learn more about this seminar and then register go to:

http://doctorjay-hypnosis.com/maaug1608.html

Eat slower

It takes at least twenty minutes for the nutrition in the food we eat to get absorbed into our blood stream and reach our brain so that we feel satiated. In reality our brain gets many different clues to feel full and satisfied and the increase of blood sugar and other nutrients in the blood is only one of these clues.

Eating slowly allows you to know when you are full and you can stop eating in time so you do not over eat. This slow eating is one of the many reasons most French do not get (at least did not used to get) obese. I'll write more about the wonderful eating habits of the French later.

Now, on the other hand, when you eat fast food (it is called fast not because it is the favorite food of NASCAR but because it arrives fast and you gobble it down fast) you can eat way too many calories before your brain knows that you have overdone it.

Go to http://realdoctorjay.com/blog/ for more weight reduction tips and other health tips.