Fat does not make you fat

[Amadeus]

Okay, there’s a lot to digest (pun intended) when it comes to health and weight loss so I’ll go straight for the heavy hitters and keep it focused. I’ll put the info in the order I think is most important so you can start at the top and gradually work your way down. It’s hard to do everything but it’s usually easy to take a single step. Pretty soon, after a few steps, momentum starts to really help you out and the next thing you know you are hauling ass towards your goal...
Most of the references will come from the Mercola site. He’s not my only source on these things but he really has a lot of info on his pages and he constantly references medical journals and the like...

#1 You must control your insulin levels

Why? - Read this...Lower Your Grains & Lower Your Insulin Levels! A Novel Way To Treat Hypoglycemia. ... and this ...... It’s a thorough explanation that’s hard to condense. On so many levels and for so many reasons, insulin control is your first priority.

How? - Reduce, with the ultimate goal of eliminating grains and sugars. That means that almost all your carbs ought to come from fresh fruits and vegetables. That also means that you should basically stop eating breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, wheat and especially corn. Harsh right? I know, but you can start learning how to cook and enjoy a host of other foods like quinoa, barley, squash, cabbage, etc. Eating right does take more time... Quick snacks really aren’t that hard though. I find it easy to snack all day on soaked almonds, fresh fruit and veggies. I eat pretty much constantly but that’s what I’m eating. There’s only so many apples you can eat before you’re full... Plan on grocery shopping at least once a week and getting lots of fresh stuff. Plan your daily snacks ahead of time and then eat them every day. Throw away your microwave; it isn’t necessary and it’s probably killing you. Most real food is quickly reheated in a pan on the stove with a little water. The turbo aroma oven is also a better alternative (I use this all the time). Stop eating anything that isn’t food. Processed foods are wrong on so many levels that a whole book could be dedicated to how humans are poisoning themselves. If it’s in a box or a can or a bag it probably isn’t food anymore if it ever was to begin with.

#2 Get plenty of protein

Why? - Protein Triggers Weight Loss Hormone ...
How? - Get grassfed meat. Get more grassfed meat... Cow, chicken, lamb or whatever. Eat a lot of it. No more lunch meat. No more factory grocery store meat. Sardines are usually okay. Protein shakes can be a good supplement but can’t replace good old fashioned meat. I like Jay Robb’s protein shakes...

#3 Exercise progressively

Why? - So many reasons... Where to start?

How? - Read The Doctor’s Heart Cure or at least the parts about exercise....

#4 Drink a lot of water

Supplements and such that could be helpful to you...

Krill oil - every day

Probiotics - every day

Cellfood - this is my site... I use this stuff every day and only notice it when I don’t take it for a week...

Focuthin - Mercola’s weight loss product... interesting video

More later but I’ve got a plane to catch so I’m going to cut it short... I made a template but don’t have the time right now to fill in all the blanks. I’ll finish this for you later. We’ll talk more about this later. Write down any specific questions and let me know when we talk again...

[alexinspire]

Love your tips. Thanks.

The 4 things you mention there are highly effective because I used that before. Especially cutting down carbs since most of us are working in office nowadays. There's a doctor I know who cured 3000 cancer patients claim that he didn't eat rice for 6 years. He is more energetic than any participant in his seminar. He speaks louder and move more than anyone in the room.

[CAndersonCSCS]

It's good to see the recognition of hormones and their role in weight loss. I think too many times weight loss is oversimplified as a simple math equation.

[VacMan]

Here's an interesting study on this subject...

The study (done by Washington University in St. Louis) summarized below, shows that diets extremely low in fat can actually be responsible for fat gain. Please look below for a summary of this study published by Washington University in St. Louis:

The study's name is: "New" hepatic fat activates PPAR-alpha to maintain glucose, lipid and cholesterol homeostasis

Quotes from the study:

"When we took dietary fat away from the FASKOL mice, their livers quickly filled with fat," (2)

"Their 'old' fat stores mobilized to the liver, but their livers could not initiate fat burning, and the fat just accumulated. We concluded that to regulate fat burning, the liver needs 'new' fat." (2)

"On a normal diet they were OK... We went to a very extreme low-fat diet, and these animals paradoxically accumulated an extremely large amount of fat in their livers." (2)

Quotes from Wired News Regarding this Study:

"Diets too low in fat may be responsible for stubborn bulges on bellies, thighs and butts, according to a new study." (3)

2. Chakravarthy MV, Pan Z, Zhu Y, Tordjman K, Schneider JG, Coleman T, Turk, J, Semenkovich, CF. "New" hepatic fat activates PPAR-alpha to maintain glucose, lipid and cholesterol homeostasis, Cell Metabolism; vol. 1, pp. 309-322, May. 2005. Cell Metabolism Online
3. Philipkoski, Kristen (2005, October 05). Eat Fat to Lose Fat. Wired. Retrieved August 25th, 2007, from Eat Fat to Lose Fat

[Samuel Bryson]

An interesting study Vacman. As usual we see that moderation seems to win out, suggesting that we don't eat too much fat, but also that we don't eat too little. However, it is also very important to think about the types of fats that we consume!

Studies that I looked at showed for instance that monkeys fed transfat gained more weight than those fed equal amounts of unsaturated fat. I did an article on the issue of fats over a week ago which can be found here for the curious:

Total Wellbeing: Fats: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as well as Potentially Life Threatening:

Basically stick to the unsaturated sort of fats! Also you may be interested in looking specifically at Omega-3 as new studies seem to popping up everyday stressing its importance to both our physical AND pscyhological health! Did you know that Omega-3 can help depression? Amazing stuff... Check it out:
Total Wellbeing: Omega-3: Something Smells Fishy, What’s all the Hype About?