How to Lose Weight Fast

 

     It is sad to say that sometimes we don’t take care of our physical fitness and need to lose inches off of our waist and pounds as fast as possible.  I’ve been pretty good over the years because I can’t bear to eat this soup, or follow this diet anymore.  The soup I’m about to present to you is really good, but after eating it as much as I have -- every time I think of it my mouth waters and I get that semi-nauseous feeling.  But one thing is for sure -- this diet is the best diet in the world for losing weight super fast.

    The last time I did it was over 15 years ago.  But I lost about 12 pounds in a week -- it works.

The bottom line of the diet is that you can eat as much cabbage soup as you like.  But you are limited as to everything else you eat.  Here is how the diet goes day by day -- and you can only eat those things listed day by day plus as much soup as you can eat:

First Day - All fruit is fine, except bananas; 

soup
Day 2 - Any and all vegetables, baked potato with butter for dinner; 

soup
Day 3 - Combine Day 1 and 2, without potato; 

soup
Day 4 - Up to six bananas, all the skim milk you want; 

soup
Day 5 - 10 to 20 ounces of beef, a can of tomatoes, 6 to 8 glasses of water; 

soup
Day 6 - All the beef and vegetables you want; 

soup 
Day 7 - Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables; 

Note: No bread, alcohol, or carbonated beverages - not even diet soda

       If you follow this seven day diet,  you will lose a lot of weight.  I understand that it was first developed for those about to undergo surgery who needed to lose weight fast.  It is really healthy for you and it works, but I warn you.  It takes determination.  The first two days the soup tastes great...but by day four....you’ll feel like an Israelite begging God for something other than manna.  

      When I first tried the diet I made it to day four and asked my wife what I could eat for day four.  She couldn’t remember -- she had only ever made it to day three!  That’s how tough it is.  Nevertheless, if you try it, you will succeed.  This one is a guarantee. 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

•               6 large green onions (1 bunch)

•               2 green bell peppers

•               1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (14.5 ounce size, diced or whole)

•               1 bunch celery, sliced

•               1/2 head cabbage, chopped

•               1 package (Lipton) onion soup mix

•               1 or 2 cubes bouillon (optional)

•               1 48 oz can V8 juice, or 6 cups water or light chicken or vegetable broth

•               Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc.*

Preparation:

Simmer or slow cook all until soup is done. *If slow cooking, add seasonings about an hour before done. Eat all the soup you want, whenever you want.

Insanity by Beachbody

    Does Insanity work?  Is it worth it?  The simple answer is yes.  I did Insanity two years ago and got great results.  I lost about 15 pounds and about 3-4 inches off of my waist.  I have been thinking about doing it again, but the only thing holding me back is the fact that I know that Insanity is incredibly intense.  You sweat like you have never sweat before.  It is truly a great workout.

     Here are the benefits of Insanity if you are considering purchasing it:

1.  It is all plyometrics and aerobic training without any weights.  In other words, you do all the exercises with only you own body-weight and no bands, bar-bells, or anything else.  This is great if you travel a lot because you can do it anywhere.  You just need a space where you can jump.

2.  It is a short but extreme workout that will make you sweat like you have never sweat before.

3.  You learn how to truly stretch.  I still use the stretch routine every time I run or do any other workout.  It is amazing how much better I feel after I use what Sean T taught me.

4.  It has a lot of variety.  Just as you get used to the first 30 days, the second 30 days crank up a notch and you are going harder and doing a different variety of exercise.

5.  You will see results.  If you do this every day, I guarantee you will lose weight.  

6.  Beachbody has a terrific support system.  If you log on to their website (www.teambeachbody.com) you will be able to interact with others doing the system and get encouragement from all sources.

7.  You’ll be motivated to eat better.  Heck, I even tried Shakeology and quite frankly -- other than the expensive price -- I really like it.

8.  Sean T is exceptionally motivating.

9.  It is hard, but fun.

10.  Believe it or not, it did help my run by helping my endurance.  Ok....I think I’ve convinced myself, time to do another round of Insanity!

What do you think?  Have you tried Insanity?  Did it work for you?

Increase Your Push-ups and Sit-ups

     Got any ideas on how to increase the number of push-ups and sit-ups you can do?  I have a few.  One that I recently started doing really works.  I have three children.  My youngest is a 9 year old son.  He is really good most of the time, but as you can imagine anytime I ask him to do his chores he is prone to complain.  My solution?  He does push-ups every time he complains.  The catch -- I have to do them with him.  In other words, I won’t make him do anything I myself am not willing to do.  He knows now that anytime he even has a negative look on his face -- we will both be doing push-ups.
     The other day I was a little upset about something and he caught me complaining.  With the wisdom of a 9-year-old, he said, “Dad -- time to do push-ups!”  Before I could even muster a defense, he was already on the floor doing his set.  I have to admit I’m doing a ton more push-ups now than I ever did.  The last time I worked out with my unit, I was able to do about 10 more total than I usually do --- so I know this system is working.
     To improve my sit-ups, we now alternate between push-ups and sit-ups every time either of us complain.  If you are serious about trying this out -- it will not only improve your attitude and that of your children, it will also improve your PT score.  We do the push-ups or sit-ups anywhere we happen to be.  So even if we are in the mall and one of us complains, we will drop immediately and start doing push-ups.  If you do this, like we do...be sure to have some hand sanitizer on you.  There are some pretty nasty floors out there!

    The key to improving your sit-ups and push-ups is repetition.  You have to do them!  So if you don’t have kids, or you don’t want to discipline them in the manner I do, try something that works for you.  I used to work in an office that had automatic lights that would go on when they sensed movement and off when a certain period of time passed without movement.  If you were at your desk working, they wouldn’t sense your movement and the lights would go out.  This was a big pain for my paralegal and I as we might be in the middle of typing out a document when the lights would go out.  The only way to turn the lights back on was to move to the middle of the room.

     We turned this movement into a game and decided that every time the lights went out -- it was time to do either push-ups or sit-ups.  This worked, but I lost my motivation when I moved offices.  If you have a similar regular event -- this might be your key.  As said before, if you just practice you will get better.  I’d be curious to hear from you -- what have you done to increase the number of push-ups on your PT test?

   

Green Coffee Extract Experiment

     Dr. Oz recently hosted a show about green coffee extract and its ability to stimulate weight loss.  We decided to put the extract to the test.  My wife has been using it for two days.  She takes 2 capsules (800 mg) and reports so far that she does not feel gittery at all.  We’ve tried other products with massive caffeine and found that it really did cause us to feel quirky.  However, green coffee extract does no such thing.
     We’ll be reporting every few days as to our progress.  I’m going to start taking them tonight.  I’ll let you know how well they work.  If you’d like to join in on this blog and track your progress here as well...be my guest.  We’d love to hear how it works for you!

UPDATE 26 Aug 12:  My wife is still taking the supplement.  I decided not to try it.  I'm just not a supplement man.  I prefer just restricting calories -- and Lose It! has been the best tool for me.  According to my wife, it still has not made her gittery...but so far it is not a magic bullet.

UPDATE 10 Sep 12:  Wife noticed a slight mood change while taking the supplement.  Almost the same as when she was on high caffeine supplements -- made her a little on edge.  She decided to stop taking it.  We didn't notice any significant impact. 

Best thing we've found -- going on regular walks and watching what we eat.  Works a lot better -- go figure!

Use It and Lose It! What a Great Ap!

        There is really only one way to lose weight.  Ignore the “fad” diets.  In the long run they don’t work.  So how do you do it?  Simple.  Eat less calories each day than needed to sustain your current weight and you WILL lose weight.

        The best “AP” on the Iphone for this purpose is called “Lose It!”  You can also check out their website at www.loseit.com.   What the application does is keep track of all the calories you eat each day.  You input how much you weigh, followed by how much you want to lose, and then how fast you want to lose the weight.  Lose It! calculates how many calories you may consume each day to achieve that result.

     The best thing about Lose It! is that it also tracks your exercise.  Whenever you input your exercise you earn more calories that you can eat each day.  If used regularly the application really encourages you to both eat right and exercise.  It is true that Lose It! calories are the same whether you eat a Krispy Kreme or an avocado, but using the application will encourage you to choose the avocado because in the end it contains much fewer calories than does a donut.

     Using Lose It! two people in my office have both lost over 15 pounds in 3-4 months.  I have lost about five pounds and have been using it for about one month.

     Let me know if you would like some tips and suggestions on the best way to use Lose It!  I love it.

     Good luck!