Slow down to lose weight!

Want A Simple Way To Lose Weight- Eat Slowly!

Over my many years of studies in both traditional Easter medicine and traditional Japanese martial arts, the idea of eating your food slowly has been a recurring theme for weight control and optimal health. I think everyone is familiar with how often children are admonished to chew their foods slowly, and now thanks to recent research we know that this age old health tip does indeed have merit.

In a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, seventeen healthy male adult volunteers were observed to see whether eating the same meal at different speeds would bring about  any differences in hormonal response. For the study, volunteers were given a serving of ice cream and made to eat the same amount at different speeds. Blood samples were taken to measure both insulin and gut hormones and what they found was that the volunteers released more hormones that made them feel full when they ate the ice cream in 30 minutes as opposed to five minutes. The two particular hormones released glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY are key components to signaling feelings of perceived satiety and fullness and thus leads to eating less.

Several Studies Confirm That Eating Slowly Decreases Caloric Intake & Risk Of Being Overweight

Several other studies back this claim, including a very large scale survey published in the British Medical Journal. For this survey 3287 adults (1122 men, 2165 women) ages ranging from 3 to 69 years old participated in reports on cardiovascular risk from 2003 to 2006. The results found that those who self reported consuming their foods quickly and eating until they were full had three times the likelihood of being overweight when compared with others that ate at slower paces. Another randomized study of 30 women published in the American Dietetic Association found that participants reported greater feelings of satisfaction and consumed less calories when they ate at a slower pace compared to when they ate quickly.

Our Fast Food Mentality May Be Doing Us More Harm Than We Know

The ancient wisdom of eating slowly and enjoying your foods can indeed help you eat less and thus should be considered a simple and effective method of weight control but it also raises some questions about common practices that might be contributing factors to our obesity epidemic. Given the ever increasing numbers of children that are overweight in the United States and the small alotment of time given to children for lunch breaks in public schools one cannot help but wonder just detrimental this practice is to the health of our children. For adults the idea of eating on the run and for that matter the whole idea of fast food and rapid eating may be more of a problem than we think. So eat slowly and enjoy your meals!

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Best Way To Lose Weight- Eat A Healthy Breakfast!

NYC Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson is the most sought after personal trainers in New York City, a lifetime drug free bodybuilding champion and the founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™. His high intensity 10 minute workouts have been helping people get better results in less time for the past 19 years! Get a copy of his free weight loss e-book here!

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Not eating a healthy breakfast is a overlooked contributing factor to obesity.

Best Way To Lose Weight? Eat A Healthy Breakfast

If you were to ask for my professional opinion of what is the single most effective strategy for long term weight loss I would say with no hesitation that it would be to always eat a healthy breakfast. We have all heard since we were kids that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, however despite studies showing its importance in ensuring a longer lifespan and its role in appetite control and optimal performance; it is still the meal most often neglected. A survey of 1000 adults conducted  by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) found that while 90% of Americans are aware that having breakfast is important for health and peak function, a little less than half of them admitted to eating breakfast every day. We can also see from the many studies done on the significant decrease in academic performance by schoolchildren that do not eat breakfast that not only is a good breakfast vital for ideal brain function, but sadly that many adults here in the United States simply don’t appreciate the importance of breakfast for their families.

Want To Stop Your Cravings- Eat A Healthy Breakfast

In the grip of today’s hectic lifestyles, breakfast in general has been relegated to an ‘on-the-run’ meal in the best of cases and a skipped meal in the worst of them. It’s my belief that this trend is an overlooked contributing factor to the pandemic of obesity in this country. Over the past two decades working as personal trainer helping people lose weight and get into shape, I have always found that people who skip breakfast or have a cursory meal consisting of a quick donut or a bagel with some coffee, tended to be the ones who had a very difficult time not consuming large amounts of junk food in the later part of the day. Going over my training notes over the past 5 years, I can also point out that 100% of those who reported their junk food urges as being uncontrollable did not eat a proper breakfast- this from a sampling of well over 200 individuals of varying ages and fitness levels.

A Healthy Breakfast Is An Easy And Inexpensive Way To Control Your Weight

As simple as it may seem, one of the easiest ways to really take control not only your midsection, but also your appetite is to simply eat a healthy breakfast, and then follow through by eating balanced meals throughout the day. The better your breakfast is, the easier it will be for you to continue eating well throughout the day. It has never been my practice to stand idly by while others struggle and so about two years ago I wrote and published a free e-book on my website, The Naturally Intense™ Breakfast Guide- Keys To Long Term Weight Management. It took me just about a night to put it together, and having seen how much of an impact it has had, I don’t regret a minute of sleep that I lost that night. With almost three thousand copies downloaded from people all over the world, I constantly get emails saying how much better they feel and how much weight they have lost after following the guidelines outlined in the book. It’s a quick read and there are no supplements to buy or specialized meals to purchase- just rudimentary information that I have gleaned over the years that you can use to lose weight and keep it off.  

Get A Free Copy Of The Naturally Intense Breakfast Guide- Keys To Long Term Weight Loss

I invite you to download a free copy and share it with your friends, and please feel free to write me if it helps you in your own quest for a better quality of health and fitness. I am always happy to hear from everyone.

Download your copy here

Kevin Richardson is the founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ and one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City. Learn more about Kevin and his revolutionary high intensity 10 minute workouts at his official website at www.naturallyintense.net

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The end of the year is upon us, and I thought, what better way to recap all the great health and fitness related articles covered in the blog this year than by having a bit of a quiz. I invite everyone to take the fitness test and see just how much you know about health and fitness.

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Guilt over eating the wrong foods only makes you more likely to keep eating them!

Is It Beneficial To Beat Yourself Up After Eating Junk Foods?

Guilt \ˈgilt\: noun
1 : the fact of having committed a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penalty; broadly : guilty conduct
2 a : the state of one who has committed an offense especially consciously b : feelings of culpability especially for imagined offenses, sin or from a sense of inadequacy : self-reproach
3 : a feeling of culpability for offenses

Guilt. In many ways food has become the new sin the Western world, one that justifies self torment and lowers self esteem everyday. You have that extra slice of chocolate cake, the glass of wine at the company party or the applepie at the family holiday dinner and in the moment there is no mistake that you do enjoy it. Sometimes rich and fatty foods can be almost sinful for lack of a better word, but you feel absolutelyterrible afterwards, and you really wish that you had not eaten the foods that you had. The guilt for some can be overwhelming, but the question remains, are these feelings of guilt really helpful? The answer is a resounding no! In fact what we know of human behavious is that the more you beat yourself up about eating something that you feel that you shouldn’t have the more likely you are to keep eating it! Interesting cycle, and one that has helped most of us stay locked in a constant and unsuccessful struggle to improve our eating habits.

Understanding Our Patterns Of Food Consumption

The first step to understanding the harm that guilt inflicts upon us when we associate it with food is to understand our patterns with regard to food consumption. Know thy enemy and know thyself and in a thousand battles you will never be in peril. These words written by a Chinese sage thousands of years ago apply just as much to war as it does to behavior modification as it is only through an intimate understanding of ourselves that change can be effected. Most simply make the resolution one day that they will no longer eat unhealthy foods and as valiant as this may be it is almost always unsuccessful. If it were that easy then weight management would not even be an issue and as most can attest this simply isn’t the case.

It Is A Mistake To Believe That Our Slips Are Caused By Lack of Willpower

To change the way we eat requires something far more than a resolution or diet, there must instead be an unrelenting commitment to a very real change in lifestyle. For this to happen we have to divorce ourselves from the destructive perspective that somehow there must be some form of atonement for any failures that occur while we are on the path of change . It is human nature to believe that when a ‘wrong’ is committed, that some form of guilt is required, usually  followed by some form of penance as well. The problem is that when the ‘wrongdoing’ comes from eating something that we believe we shouldn’t nothing positive comes from it and it can be the starting point for lifelong eating disorders as one of our most basic acts as human beings is defiled by what we perceive as a lack of willpower.

Over the course of my career as a personal trainer I have seen so many men and women suffer tremendously from this way of thinking and the sad part is that society itself plays a large part in reinforcing feelings of guilt and failure in those that are struggling to control their weight. When people stray from their perceived perfect eating plan by eating something that falls into the category of forbidden, they tend to fall into a downward spiral of self hatred and disgust. This self inflicted form of  flagellation is followed by a resolve to either exercise more, diet harder or employ some extreme method to compensate for the ‘damage’ done by their indulgence. Sadly this is an all too familiar refrain for most people today.

 
Guilt Has No Place In A Healthy Mind and a Healthy Body

 
Physiologically speaking, there isn’t anything that can be done to compensate for a slip in one’s diet. Nothing at all. What is done is done and any attempts to try to undo the past are wasted exercises in magical thinking.  You eat something and there is nothing that you can do to reverse the fact- the universe does not have a rewind button and so we must simply move on. By wallowing in guilt we only bring ourselves closer to the likelihood of developing an eating disorders or at the very least lose some of our self respect. None of this has anything to do with the intended goal of living better and healthier lives in healthier bodies. Instead the slips must be looked upon as what they are; learning experiences that teach us more about ourselves since every slip holds the information necessary to help avoid their continued reoccurrence. With this attitude in mind, guilt no longer has a place in our relationship with food.

Guilt Makes You More Likely To Keep Eating The Wrong Foods 

If you decide that you are no longer going to eat unhealthy foods, your new attitude only serves to supplement your original behavior where eating unhealthy foods were acceptable. Behavioral psychology reinforces what  many of us have learned through objective observations;. namely that the very habits that we seek to change resurface because they are not fully forgotten. New and old ways of thinking co-exist as opposing impulses that will always be in competition unless steps are taken to disarm undesirable attitudes. Simply put, the more you beat yourself over the head about eating that piece of cheesecake, the more you help yourself recall the image of you eating it and the harder you are making it for yourself to forget about eating cheesecake.

What needs to happen is a gradual shift in eating patterns over time where new foods replace old foods. In time the new foods stay at our primary level of consciousness and the desire for the old ones simply fades away. This leads to a true definition of health; one where we want the foods that are good for us as opposed to avoiding bad foods because we know they are bad for us. Disarming those attitudes requires a fundamental change in perspective, a change that comes only with time and patience. It is only when you are able to enjoy foods that are good for you that you will be able to break the cycle. In the meantime, do your best not to eat the wrong foods, but if you do just keep going and don’t look back! Have a wonderful and guilt free holiday season!

NYC Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson is the most sought after personal trainers in New York City, a lifetime drug free bodybuilding champion and the founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™. His high intensity 10 minute workouts have been helping people get better results in less time for the past 19 years! Get a copy of his free weight loss e-book here!

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I think one of the main concerns of people with kids is how do you eat healthy in a household where the kids eat all sorts of unspeakable junk foods. The answer is simple- you cook for them, and work at it long enough and hard enough that they don’t feel a need to have a can of soda or stop by McDonalds. The key is to start young and lead by example. It’s a lot of work, but in the end the rewards of having a healthy household where the kids eat well and don’t feel like they are missing out on anything is priceless. By popular demand, here is a repost of one of our most popular blog posts on the subject: A morning in our household with the kids. Enjoy! Kevin Richardson, Founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise.

Making Breakfast & Getting 5 Kids to School

It’s Monday, the end of the weekend and the beginning of the mad hundred meter dash that is the work week. I wake up promptly at 6 am, amidst the snoring of a sleeping household. The kids are still asleep and my (far) better half is still in dream world as well after a long night with the newest member of the Richardson family. Lucien is 8 weeks old, so we are still in the red-eyed stage and stumbling over ourselves as his highness wakes up every two to three hours to feed, (which is not too different from how his dear old dad eats, although I prefer to do so during conventional waking hours.) Seeing as everyone is asleep, I take the time to enjoy the silence and as I begin my morning routine.

With five kids in the house these moment are few and far between so I always try to make the most of it whenever I can. I start getting breakfast ready. Many have asked me if my family eats the way that I prescribe as the founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise and the answer is a resounding ‘Yes!” This is indeed a Naturally Intense household and I have always ensured that the kids eat as healthy as possible. I am also blessed in that my significant other has been eating in accordance with the Naturally Intense guidelines for over 5 years before were even dating-so everyone is very much onboard! That being said, I don’t believe in prescribing to others what they should and should not eat as I think that with so many couples it ends up being a source of discord and I think it a bit disrespectful. Stephanie was originally a Naturally Intense personal training client many, many moons ago in addition to being a senior member of the martial arts school that I run, and she has always adhered to the eating principles on her own (which is how the dietary component is supposed to work in the first place). Thus it always made eating at home and eating out really easy for both of us. (Yes, we do eat out and you can check out the Healthy NYC Restaurant Guides if you don’t believe me).  I call breakfast time at the Richardson residence punch in time for my first shift as a short order cook, as each of my little ones have their own particular tastes and preferences. So it isn’t uncommon that I end up cooking 4 different meals for each of them, in addition to what Steph and I will eat as well.

The Munchkins Wake Up

By 6:30 am the munchkins are waking up, bleary eyed and hungry, and I take the orders as they file into the living room to watch Nickelodeon Junior, much to the chagrin of my 14 year old who protests that he never gets to see the BBC News in the morning. I remind him that life isn’t fair and that the 4 year old, the 5 year old and the 6 year old outnumber him, and have been showing signs of feral pack activity recently so he’d better endure a few minutes of Sponge Bob if he knows what’s good for him. He has been humbled by the horde before so he sheepishly submits. So here are the orders for today, Indi, my daughter and future president of a yet undisclosed developing country wants 6 boiled eggs some oatmeal and some strawberries, and I fire up the stove to start it up. (She might be small- but she eats a big breakfast just like Daddy!) My step-son, Paolo (the intellectual) wants white rice and scrambled eggs, while Reid (the muscle of the group) wants rice as well, but with tuna fish (he isn’t too big on eggs these days) . My 14 year old wants oatmeal, with raisins an orange and some eggs. He likes his scrambled whereas boychild number 3 prefers his in omelet form. Thank goodness the youngest of the bunch is breast fed! But he’ll have his orders in soon as well. While juggling all this in the kitchen, I am also getting lunch ready for the little ones as I don’t put much faith in the school lunches and they really like it when they have a home cooked meal at school.

Making Lunch For The Kids As Well

 Today is their lucky day, as I am cooking up a dish of rice, peas and beef, a universal favorite with all of the kids! I have always done my best to cook great tasting meals not just for me, (I am quite the connoisseur if I do say so myself) but for the kids. It only takes a bit of imagination and a small investment of time, but having kids that not only eat well but prefer to eat well as a rule is a priceless return on that investment. Anyway, on to breakfast, which for me is a large bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal, (Steph likes adding some raisins to hers, but I prefer mine plain or with some coconut tossed in). Since I was already cooking in the kitchen I am also having some mahi-mahi that I cooked with a teaspoon of olive oil. I always have some fruit for breakfast, (I try to eat them as they come into season as opposed to eating the same thing day in day out.) The oranges were especially good so I am having one from the bunch.

A small omelette with thyme, onions and a touch of black pepper tops off the feast. The Naturally Intense mantra has always been, ‘Breakfast like a king’ and I certainly follow my own advice! The television is turned off (with some groans, of course!) as we all sit around the table for our breakfast. It is important for us that eating be an activity in and of itself, not something we do while watching TV as the conversations and interaction are an important part of being a family. After breakfast comes the mad rush to wash dirty faces, have teeth brushed, put on clothes, pack lunches and get the kids in the car for the drop offs. The oldest goes by school bus, but it is quite a challenge getting the others all to school on time. After the customary fight over who gets to use the Spiderman toothbrush, and the mandatory wardrobe changes that the little ones go through before selecting an ensemble suitable for them to be seen in public wearing, we are off!

 Continued in A Day In Our Naturally Intense Life Part 2

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Visionary NYC personal trainer, internationally renowned natural bodybuilder and fitness expert, Kevin Richardson lives in Brooklyn with his wonderful family and 2 cats! Get a copy of Kevin’s free award winning weight loss ebook here!

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