Tag: weight loss

South Carolina to Cover Obesity Surgery?

Wallace Bishop BC-FNC, BC-HHP, INHC1 Comment
Americas Obesity Epidemic

When I heard this it really irritated me.  Instead of spending the money on education to prevent obesity, lets enable bad dietary behavior by surgically shrinking the stomach.  What has the person learned? Nothing! This is a waste of taxpayer money.  Just two weeks ago the N.Y Times released an article stating that obesity rates are still climbing.  Gastric  by-pass and lap band surgeries do not fix the problem.  An analogy might be;  run the car engine without putting oil in the motor, when it burns up lets just replace it.  Does that make sense.  Eat a poor diet, don’t exercise and when you become obese it’s OK we will just cut you open and shrink your stomach.  Maybe you will keep the weight off, maybe not. The problem has not been addressed.

Recent studies make it clear that the current approaches to obesity from western medicine aren’t working.  When I was close to 440 pounds my doctor never recommend a dietary or lifestyle change, he recommended gastric bypass surgery.   I am so glad I did not have the surgery.  I did it the healthy way and lost over 200 pounds and I have kept it off.  The problem got corrected.

It further impresses upon me the need for state or federal program to teach people how to lose weight and live healthy. To change this poor health mentality in our American culture it has to start in our schools.   At an early age we must begin to educate our children on the importance of  healthy eating, healthy lifestyles and the mechanics of how to live of life of wellness.  This has to be ingrained in the minds of our youth.

The cost of educating is cheaper than a surgical fix. We must focus on prevention. We must address the cause of the problem. Lap band surgery or even gastric bypass surgery does not fix the problem and many times there are surgical complications.  Weight is a behavior and education problem.  Less than 1% of obesity is caused by medical conditions or the side effects of drugs.

If you are obese or have weight issues I challenge you to make a stand. Take your life back the right way, the only long-term healthy way, by eating healthier foods, moving more and staying within your calorie budget.

I did it , you can do it.  Please,  for your children, for your wife, for your self, for your friends,  for your health, make a commitment today to do something about your weight.

The first step is making the commitment.

Always consult with you doctor before making dietary or lifestyle changes particularly if your have health issues.

Wally Bishop C.N.C.

Nutritionist

Why Are We So Unhealthy, Overweight and Obese in America?

Wallace Bishop BC-FNC, BC-HHP, INHC6 Comments

Why do you think we have such a high prevalence of poor health and obesity in America?  I really need your feed back.  Your voice will help frame a proposal to our  legislature to make nutrition education mandatory in our schools and available to individuals and parents through community, business and church workshops.  We must make creating health and the prevention of disease and illness a priority.  It will cost much less to teach prevention than to provide health care and disease management. It will reduce the cost of health care for individuals, families, taxpayers and Corporate America.

America 's Obesity Epidemic
Obesity is Squeezing America

In the coming months we will kickoff  a campaign “Conquering Obesity” that will bring our collective voice to the public and state and federal government agencies.   If you have a passion for health and would like to volunteer, we could certainly use your support. Unless we can bring a change to our American way of life, our children being born today will begin to develop disease and illness earlier than ever before.  Please read the information below. I hope you will take part and help make Americans healthier than ever.

You can leave your comments below , email your thoughts or select your answer in my poll at http://www.conqueringobesity.net/health-survey–why-are-we-unhealthy-.html ,  feel free to select more than one answer if you think it applies, however please be serious when participating in this poll. The website is still under development.

It is our goal that families begin to understand the need for a shift to a healthy lifestyle so they and their children can enjoy a long healthy life.  To bring about the change we are working to educate and motivate individuals, families, churches and businesses on the consequences of the current health trends and the benefits of a shift to healthier lifestyle.

According to statics from http://www.americashealthrankings.org,  in 2009 the southern states and in-particular the southeastern states made up the cellar in health rankings across all states. In fact 7 of the 10 unhealthiest,  positions 40 to 50,  make up what I would consider southeastern states.  You can view the individual state rankings here.   In addition the same health monitoring organization predicts the prevalence of obesity in the United States is estimated to increase from the current level of 31.30% obese to 42.80% obese in 2018.  I am sure you can imagine where the rates of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers  are headed.  All of these negative health conditions are preventable, even if you have a genetic history for them. Lifestyle behavior will trump genetics almost 100% of the time.  Take look at some shocking health figures.

The current health trends in this country show a decrease in health and wellness across a broad spectrum of health categories. Our health care system is seeing increasing rates of serious adult diseases and health conditions occurring in America’s youth. We have children under twelve years of age developing high cholesterol, type II diabetes and hypertension. In fact the American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated their policy to recommend that children between the ages of two and ten are screened for high cholesterol if they or their family members are overweight or have experienced high lipid profiles. This has to stop.

Young adults are developing degenerative disease earlier than ever. America’s adults, in general have higher rates of heart and cardiovascular disease than most industrialized nations. Obesity is growing and diabetes is now reaching epidemic rates.

This demands and calls for an urgent paradigm shift in our culture. We must become active in our lifestyle and involved in the process of managing dietary needs for ourselves and our families.  If your heritage is from the African-American or Hispanic culture you should be alarmed, the rates of obesity and it’s related diseases and illnesses are even higher for you.

We must change how we live. It has to start today. Every mother and father should make sure you are feeding your children healthy foods and providing  them the opportunity for an active lifestyle.  Please join us in our efforts to change the landscape of America’s health. Every journey begins with one step. Please take yours today and lets walk together on the journey to a healthy and vibrant life.

Wally’s Daily Dose

The Unhealthiest 14 States

Florida 36
North Carolina 37
Missouri 38
Texas 39
Arkansas 40
Kentucky 41
West Virginia 42
Georgia 43
Tennessee 44
Nevada 45
South Carolina 46
Louisiana 47
Alabama 48
Oklahoma 49
Mississippi 50

Do You Know Your Phytonutrients? You should!

Wallace Bishop BC-FNC, BC-HHP, INHC4 Comments
Phytonutrient Rich Foods
Phytonutrient Rich Foods

Have you seen those two guys on TV in the pond filled with cranberries promoting the antioxidant power of cranberries? We all assume they must be good for us. Most people under-estimate the power of not only antioxidants, but phytonutrients in general.

The new buzz in health news is the power of a class of phytonutrients known as antioxidants. Every time I turn on the tube or check out the web,  I see adds  about phytonutrients known as antioxidants.  Did you know that antioxidants are just one type of phytonutrient?

What are Phytonutrients?

Phytonutrients are not vitamins or minerals.  Phytonutrients are certain organic components or compounds found in plants, and these components or compounds are believed  to provide protective benefits that promote human health.

There are many different types of phytonutrients such as anthocyanidins ( a type of antioxidant found in blue and purple foods), glycoproteins, polysaccharides,  ( essential sugars that protect the myelin sheath of our nerves and promote health in our digestive and immune systems),  phytosterols (heart and arterial protecting compounds) and polyphenols ( a very powerful class of antioxidants) found in a variety of foods including brans, nuts, seeds, dried spices, fruits and vegetables .

Phytonutrients may

· serve as antioxidants  ( they protect cells from free radicals that cause aging and illness)

· enhance immune response ( they help elevate our ability to produce more immune cells such as Killer Cells and antibodies)

· enhance cell-to-cell communication

· alter estrogen metabolism

· convert beta-carotene to vitamin A

· cause cancer cells to die (apoptosis)

· repair DNA damage caused by smoking and other toxic exposures

· detoxify some carcinogens

Source USDA http://www.ars.usda.gov/Aboutus/docs.htm?docid=4142#top

So what does all of this mean to you and me?

It reinforces what our grandmothers have told us for years. Eating fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds and whole grains are good for us and can offer many health benefits.

Getting your phytonutrients from foods  has a much more powerful effect than taking isolated phytonutrient or antioxidant supplements. Our bodies are designed to get nutrients from natural unprocessed foods. Antioxidants that exist together in their natural form, for example in rice bran, blueberries or spinach, have synergies that make them much more powerful than when consumed in supplement form.

Fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds also provide vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and fiber in addition to carbohydrates, proteins and heart healthy fats and oils.

If you are not eating at least 2 servings of fruits, 3 servings of vegetables, 4 servings of whole grains and 1 ounces of nuts and seeds daily you are robbing your body of essential nutrients required for vibrant health. The SAD (Standard American Diet) has made Americans one of the least healthy populations of all industrialized nations, yet we spend over twice the money per person on health care.

Make veggies, fruits, grains, beans, nuts and seeds a part of your daily diet.  Your body will love you for it!

Healthy Wishes

Wally’s Daily Dose

Weight Loss Essentials- Understanding Your Energy Balance

Wallace Bishop BC-FNC, BC-HHP, INHC14 Comments

Have you been on a quest to lose those extra pounds? It’s fairly easy to lose weight if you are 30 or more pounds over weight.  Its not as easy as the amount you want to lose becomes smaller.  Put this information in use today to start your journey to better health!

I hated to make today’s blog so lengthy, however this information is vital for healthy, long-term weight loss.

I will be using the terms below in this blog, get familiar with them.

Glucose= carbohydrates converted into blood sugar

Glycogen=glucose that is stored in muscle cells and the liver for later energy needs

Triglycerides=excess glucose, dietary fats and unused proteins converted into body fat

BMR= basal metabolic rate

EER= estimated energy requirements

TER= total energy required

One principle many people overlook is their calories in/calories burned factor.  If you do not know how many calories you need to consume per day to maintain your weight or more importantly how many calories you should consume to lose weight, it would be like driving your car on a long trip to a place you have never been with your gas gauge and odometer broken.  The gas gauge represents your calories needed and the odometer represents how many calories you are burning.  Without these facts you are totally relying on luck and a guess to not end up stranded on the roadside. With your body it can mean unhealthy weight loss or even weight gain.

Calories are very important ( so are the type, another blog). They provide energy and valuable nutrients. Our bodies depend on nutrients to turn the fuel (food we eat) into energy. Carbohydrates, fats and to a lesser degree proteins are used as fuel. The body really loves carbohydrates and fat for fuel. Our brains will only use glucose or glycogen (glucose that is stored in the liver and muscle cells) for fuel. Most people will need approximately 100 grams of carbohydrate each day to meet the brains demands.  The blend of fuel type our cells use depends on the demands at that given moment.  Muscle cells will use primarily glucose and glycogen for anaerobic activity and primarily dietary and triglyceride fats for aerobic activity.  During both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism the muscle cells will always burn a ratio of all three fuel types.  The intensity of the physical activity dictates the ratio of  glucose, fat and protein. It is important to maintain a good dietary ratio between your carbohydrate, fat and protein intake for your particular lifestyle.  If you do not consume enough carbohydrate the body will burn the protein for brain fuel robbing your body of protein needed to make and repair tissues, enzymes, white blood cells, red blood cells, hormones, hair,  finger nails and antibodies.  If you continue to under consume carbohydrates the body will also break apart muscle and organs to convert the protein into glucose. This is highly inefficient and causes ketones ( COMPOUNDS THAT HARM THE BODY)to be released into the blood. The over consumption of protein is also harmful for the body.
To determine your protein requirements refer to the previous document.
So lets say you need to lose 30 pounds. Where do you start? I am going to assume you know that 1 pound of body weight represents 3500 calories.   If you want to lose 1 pound per week, then you would need to burn 3500 more calories than you consumed that week.  Are you still with me?  To know how many calories you body needs daily, we need to calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the amount of energy your body uses at rest.  We then apply the Harris Benedict equation to determine your estimated energy requirement (EER) based on the your daily activity level.  We then add the two together to get the estimated actual number of calories you burn per day. Thankfully there are calculators on the web that will estimate these numbers for you.  These are estimates.  I have found most of them to overstate the number of calories actually needed by approximately 10%.   I have two links for you at the end of this blog that will do the math for you.  I think you will find them helpful.
Now that you can determine the number of calories you need daily to meet your energy requirements, you need to be able to track the number of calories per day you are consuming. There are a number of web-sites that offer free food journals. For the first 90 to 120 days you should count your calories, fat grams, protein grams, sugar grams, sodium grams and fiber grams every day.
Studies have shown that people who use food journals on a daily basis lose weight and keep it off a higher percentage of the time.
You can load a tool bar calorie counter and online food journal at www.fatsecret.com it is very easy to use.  I really like it because  it is very convenient to access from my toolbar. It will also allow you to add custom foods to the data base. This means that if you like a certain food that is not in their database you can add it to the database for everyone to use as well.
I recommend, never losing more than two pounds per week unless under the supervision of an appropriate health professional.  Studies show that losing weight quicker than two pounds per week increases your chance of  is regaining the weight.  It also means you are consuming less nutrients that are present in those calories. This can cause bodily harm due to a lack of nutrients.
Guidelines
  • shoot for consuming 500 calories less per day, try eating 250 calories less and exercising away 250 extra calories.
  • never consume less that 1200 calories per day unless under the supervision of a health professional.  This will put the body in starvation mode forcing your body to conserve energy and actually store extra fat. Not only will it stop the weight loss it can cause you to gain weight.  Let’s say your BMR is 1500 calories, then you will need to exercise the extra 200 calories so you do not drop your calories under 1200 but still bank those 500 calories per day towards your 1 pound per week of weight loss. I have many clients that ask for my help that are consuming 600 to 1000 calories per day and can’t seem to lose weight.  They just don’t understand that just like you have a household budget to maintain a certain lifestyle.  Your body also has a calorie budget to meet the demands you place on it.  If your income is reduced  by 30 percent, you must start to reduce your spending by 30%. Your body’s total energy requirements (TER) represent your household budget, Your income represents your calorie intake.  When consuming fewer calories than the body needs,  the body has no choice but to reduce its internal processes. Life support functions and processes are the priority. Extra energy and fat metabolism are reduced.  Like wise if your body gets accustomed to getting plenty of calories to meet its daily calorie budget it will begin to spend those extra calories towards energy for mental and physical activity, immune and hormonal processes, the repair and building of muscle and organs etc….  Like wise, if you believed your bank account had plenty of money, you are naturally going to spend more right? By meeting your BMR you body knows it can satisfy its basic needs and does not have to conserve energy or store fat for life support when the famine arrives. Your behavior of cutting calories too much makes your body think starvation is near. Feed your body a generous amount of nutrient dense foods and your body will be happy to spend extra calories in the form of stored fat.
  • Drink plenty of water,  fat metabolism is dependent on hydrolysis, which is the breaking down of fatty acids for use in the body.
  • Exercise often, if you are just starting, begin with walking. Start slow then when you are able include resistance training to build muscle and interval training to build a stronger lungs and heart. This increases fitness.
  • make sure you are getting at least  30 or more grams of fiber per day.  Fiber is very filling, keeps our intestines clean and absorbs some fat. Refer to this list for high fiber foods.
  • limit the intake of processed and refined foods, not only are they poor sources of nutrients they actually rob our bodies of nutrients
  • eat highly nutritious foods,  check out www.whfoods.com
  • cut your salt intake, it makes your body retain fluids
  • eliminate foods with added sugars
  • eliminate refined grains and flours, use only whole grains
  • reduce your intake of saturated fats, they should provide no more than 10% of your daily calories
  • use the tools below to determine your calorie needs

Advanced BMR/EER Calculator

http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Daily-Metabolism.xml

Simple BMR/EER calculator

http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Daily-Metabolism.xml

Body Analysis Calculator

http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Full-Body-Analysis.xml

Calories Burned by Activity Type

I hope you now understand how to determine your calorie needs and the way to monitor your calorie intake and the calories you burn daily.

Wally’s Daily Dose

The information contained in this blog is not medical advice. Never stop taking prescriptions or stop following the advice and directions of your doctor. Always seek the advice of your doctor when making diet or health related changes to your lifestyle particularly if you have health challenges.When beginning a diet or exercise routine always consult with your doctor first. The information contained in this document is not intended to be and should not be considered medical advice.

Obesity, You Can Beat It

Wallace Bishop BC-FNC, BC-HHP, INHC2 Comments
obesity-epidemic rates 2004
obesity-epidemic rates 2004

I was once a morbidly obese person.  Thank you God, the bonds of my obesity were literally eaten and walked off.  If you are obese or overweight, I am urging you to take a step today to change your life.  If you don’t, I can promise you that it will shorten your life by years.  Sure 15 or 20 extra pounds  isn’t going to impact your health as much as 100 pounds of extra fat will. However, that extra 20 pounds will, if you are consuming a nutrient poor diet and not getting enough exercise.

This week, I watched Losing it with Jillian Michaels. I try to watch it every week as well as the biggest loser when it is on. I am cheering hard for their success.  Jillian’s show gets down to the dynamics of family life and the effect obesity has on everyone; spouses, children, aunts and uncles, even neighbors and friends.  I will tell you, playing with my grand children is the greatest reward I could receive.  Before the weight loss I could only sit and watch them play.  People that know me will tell you I am not the type of person to sit and watch. My weight loss has given me my life back.  Obesity is a type of imprisonment within your own body.  I f you are overweight or obese, I want to empower you with the knowledge to lose all the weight you want to lose and be healthy!

Do you know what the number one killer in America is? How about lifestyle choices which include diet and activity . This includes heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure.

If you are overweight I want you to know that you can lose that weight and keep it off. I know you are shaking your head saying I have tried and tried and tried again and I lose some weight and then life bucks me off the diet and I gain it back. I went though those thoughts too and tried a lot of diets. I literally dieted my way to almost 450 pounds. I have walked in your shoes and I have succeeded at losing over 200 pounds and kept it off.  I must tell you, I enjoy eating today more that ever.

Please listen to me, believe me,  you can lose the extra weight you are carrying. A lot of my clients use the same excuses I did.  I blamed my genes, my ex-wife,  my schedule, stress from work even bad luck.  Genetics only go so far. Science has shown repeatedly  that our lifestyle choices can trump genetics a majority of the time.  We all have people, schedules and jobs that stress us. There are no acceptable excuses to neglect our health.

There is no shortcut or pill for weight loss.  If there was, I would have found it.  Surgery should always be the last option. You will have to make huge sacrifices once you have your stomach stabled or banded. The answer is to discovery why you have gained the weight and then to correct it.  You must learn how to eat and live a healthy lifestyle.

How to get started, read this document and understand that just reading a manual or word document isn’t the answer. We must tailor the information in this document for your unique situation. I promise, you will not be hungry or deprived any foods.

It requires a warriors attitude! You must declare war on your fat! You must make slow gradual changes and understand it takes time. We want you to lose no more than 2 pounds per week.

If you want my help just ask .

Healthy Wishes

Wally’s Daily Dose