Science – Christian Vitality | Christian Weight Loss | Christian Health & Fitness

How to lose 2-3 lbs per month effortlessly and pain free?

Lose Weight by Drinking Ice Water?

Yes, it’s true. By drinking ice cold water you can lose weight. Here’s how (with a mini physics lesson):

When we drink ice water our bodies have to heat that water to maintain our normal body temperature. So, from ice water at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) our bodies have to heat it to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degress Celsius).

The formula calculate the amount of energy in calories that it takes to hea that water we need this formula:

1 calories = the amount of energy required to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius

For an applicable example to our everyday life is:

1 bottle of water (usually about 500ml or 16.9 oz) is equal to 500 grams

Let’s assume the water is a 32 F (0 deg C)

So, how many calories will it take to heat that water?

500g x 37 degrees C = 18,500 calories

A nutritional Calorie (notice the capital ‘C’) is actually a kilo-calorie so the amount of nutritional calories that it takes our body to burn to heat the water from a 500ml bottle of ice cold water is 18.5 Calories.

It doesn’t seem like a whole lot. But think about this, if you’re leading an active lifestyle it’s recommended you drink about 6 liters of water or more per day. (I usually shoot for about I usually shoot for closer to about 1.5 ounces per pound I weigh on super active days in Arizona weather).

So, for 6 liters of ice water per day we’d be using an additional (12 bottles x 18.5 Calories per bottle which equates to) 222 Calories. If you’re like me, on an active day, you have 333 more Calories used.

So, if all you do is change your drinking water to ice cold from room temperature you’d be using an extra 1,554 – 2,331 Calories per week (or 6,660 – 9,990 Calories per 30 day month).

Those Calories have to come from somewhere, right? Assuming we didn’t change anything else in our diet or exercise we’d be burning stored fat to make up the difference.

1 pound of fat equals 3,500 Calories.

So, if we drank ice water for our recommended amount of water consumption for an entire month we burn about an extra 1.9 – 2.9 lbs of fat.

How to lose 2-3 lbs per month easily doing nothing difficult, hard, or stressful?

Drink ice water all day.

Notice I said ice water, not ice cold beer, soda, diet soda, or any other beverage that has calories or artificial sweeteners. Those can all be counter-productive for your fat loss and may prevent you from losing weight.

8-minute Miracle that can revitalize your metabolism and turn you into a fat-burning machine

It was one of those mornings when I was running short on time and I knew that my day was booked solid, so it was likely I wouldn’t be able to squeeze a workout in all day & evening. I was committed to my weight loss program and didn’t want to accept defeat so easily and throw in the towel so to speak.

From my previous experience years ago reading the “Body for Life” by Bill Phillips, I remembered that a workout out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach helps burn 300% more fat than a workout later in the day after you’ve eaten. Bill also taught me about Hight Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in that book. At the time, it was a fairly new type of training that was said to supercharge your metabolism and fat-burning even more.

A short workout on an empty stomach first thing in the morning like this can be equivalent to an hour (or more) long workout late in the day on a full stomach. It stokes your metabolism (body’s furnace). It also helps keep your metabolism burning extra calories all day long and research shows that this furnace stoking can last up to 48 hours after your exercise is over.

So, I made time for a workout and jumped on my Elliptical Machine at home. I only had 10 minutes to spare and I made it happen using High Intensity Interval Training also known as High Intensity Intermittent Exercise (HIIE) or Sprint Interval Training (SIT). It’s also more popularly called (in the last two decades) as Tabata Training after the Japanese Professor who popularized it with a study in 1996

So, I jumped on the Elliptical machine for a quick 10 minute workout and burned 256 calories. I warmed up for 2 minutes at a mellow pace with the machine setting to 30% inclination grade (my normal setting) and the resistance set to 15 out of 20. The RPM on the machine was about 40-50 RPM. When I do my normal, what most would call medium intensity workouts for 20-30 minutes I use the same settings, but run/glide at about 60 RPM for the whole duration. So, the 40-50 RPM is a fairly low intensity for me.

After 2 minutes of warming up at a low intensity I then run/glide as fast as I can (about 90-100 RPM) for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of low intensity (again about 40-50). Each of these 60 second periods could be called one set, of which I do 4 of them. So, slow for 30 seconds then fast for 30 seconds for 4 minutes straight. I then do a cool down for 2 minutes at the low intensity level of 40-50 RPM.

The whole workout is 8 minutes long and if you think this sounds kind of wimpy, you’re dead wrong. I finish these workouts about to lose my breakfast (which I would have, had I eaten any) and my lungs feel like they did when I was forced to run the mile (as fast as you can) as a Freshman in High School…they hurt and I cough throughout the day from time to time as a reminder. It seems to kick up all the crud in your lungs.

Even though the Elliptical Machine display only showed 256 calories burned from these short workouts…it is likely that those calories were mostly taken from fat storage. In addition to slimming down my waist-line by a small amount, I will also burn more calories just sitting at my desk at work today from the extra metabolism boost. You might call that a double-bonus. 🙂

So, don’t ever underestimate the value of a short workout. Anyone can make time for the 8-minute Miracle.

This should also help you not ever have an excuse for not getting some exercise in. You should be able to squeeze at least a 8 minute workout in, anytime.

So, go ahead and hate me for it…I just stole the main reason people don’t work out when on a weight loss program from your list of excuses. 🙂

You can learn more about the history of the High Intensity Interval Training by visiting our Wikipedia friends here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

Setting the Record Straight About Tomatoes Once & For All!

Tomatoes are full of nutrients. Who would of thought you could turn such a simple fruit into such a complicated thing — Tomaytoe vs. Tomotoe

Well, first of all, I bet your wondering what the big controversy is. There are 2 that we’ll address today, in addition to listing some of the nutritional benefits & reasons why you should be eating these beautiful vegetables (or are they really fruits?).

Ok. The first controversy that I already hinted at, is whether or not Tomatoes are fruits or vegetables.

Scientifically they are…fruits! There you have it you can finally with confidence & conviction tell your friends you absolutely know the truth. If you are a cook and only interested in whether you are working on a savory dish or not, they are most often (by 99% of the Chefs out there) referred to as vegetables. So, if you want to be scientific, tomatoes are fruits not vegetables.

The second controversy, that has gotten press more recently, is the fact that tomatoes are in a family of fruits (or vegetables) that are called nightshades. There’s a great article written by my long-time mentor Mark Sisson here if you want his take on it, but basically nightshades are in a family of produce that can cause some minor reactions to a portion of the human population.

So, if you are not one of those people that are technically allergic to nightshades, the benefits outweigh any of the risk of minor reactions that you could have. If you are not certain whether you do or do not have an issue with them, try a 2-4 week hiatus from them to see if you notice any difference on or off of them. This is admittedly difficult to determine because how can you be certain that it’s not the tomatoes that made you feel funky that day or the Sushi you had with your friends. If you have any doubt, try a little bio experiment out.

Assuming you are not allergic to them, here are some great benefits and unknown facts about tomatoes that I think you’ll find valuable and interesting.

Tomatoes are a great source of Lycopene which may help prevent several types of cancer in humans
Fun Fact: Studies have found that tomatoes do not have to be dark-red in color to have high levels of Lycopene and researchers have also determined that paler tomatoes (orange & tangerine colored tomatoes) have a form of Lycopene that is easier for our bodies to absorb. This is definitely counter-intuitive to this certified nutrition counselor.
Tomatoes are a great source of numerous antioxidants including Lycopene which have been proven to help prevent bone loss (and osteoporosis) in post-menopausal women.
Researchers who compared conventionally grown tomatoes versus organically grown found that the growing method made a less overall difference than the actual variety of the tomatoes when looking at antioxidant capacity. While all tomatoes showed great antioxidant capacity the better varieties are: New Girl, Jet Star, Fantastic, and First Lady. Further research is needed, but these findings are interesting to say the least.
Researchers are only now starting to identify some of the phytonutrients in tomatoes. Several of the heart-health benefits that come from tomatoes are: preventing atherosclerosis, lowering total cholesterol, lowering (bad) LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. A couple of the phytonutrients in tomatoes that have these benefits are esculeoside, which is a glycoside (for you techie types) and also a flavanoid called chalconaringenin. Another one they believe to have significant health benefit is 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid a fatty acid. Needless to say, you should put tomatoes on your heart-healthy list and stay tuned as the research catches up to our belief that tomatoes are great for you.

After going through this list, I’ll stop looking at pale tomatoes as the less preferred choice. I’ll definitely keep them on my list of go-to fruits (or vegetables for you die-hard cooks) and not feel guilty about buying the hot-house (non-organic) variety.

==============================================

Excerpted from the soon to be released Christian Fatloss™ Program

==============================================

My Journey Alongside Yours: A fairly normal day along the path of weight loss for me. I hit the mountain today and completed my 11-mile out-and-back mountain bike ride, even though it’s starting to get pretty warm here in Scottsdale, AZ. It was 83 degrees F when I started my about 1 hours bike ride. I’m not complaining about the heat in any way, as some of my friends in Canada right now are seeing -1 degrees C and snow at the time of this writing. I feel blessed to live where I do and don’t even mind when it hits between 105 deg F and 115 deg F on a regular basis in the summer.

I finished out the night right on my calorie budget and am thankful to have the opportunity to share this journey with you. Thanks for joining me on your own Christian Fatloss™ Journey.

Don’t Forget: You’re an awesome Victory in Progress™!

I’m glad we are in this weight loss program together. You’re often my motivation to keep on keeping on and I hope & pray that I am the same for you. Amen!

Empty calendar days are good for the soul & weight loss!

Booked calendars are not good for the soul — Booking empty calendar days lower stress & help make weight loss gains

Running the calendar for five kids and two adults could overwhelm the average person, but my wonderful wife Diana is gifted with organizational skills & talent and runs our family’s calendar. As you might imagine our family calendar is usually filled with baseball & softball games & practices with three kids playing on teams…one of which is playing for two teams in two cities.

Well, this morning Diana let me know that we have nothing on the calendar. “Nothing?”, I asked. “Yep, nothing”, she said. I was in shock when she told me. Sadly, I can’t remember the last time we had nothing on the calendar. Are you in the same boat with me? When’s the last time you had nothing on your calendar?

What a blessing it is to have an empty calendar, eve if it is only for one day. I have to work all day, but that means that my evening has no commitments. My wife isn’t off to run to a meeting somewhere (which she often does) and I don’t have to drive across the state of Arizona to get a child to a practice or a game.

are you stressed out? Not good if you want to lose weight. — Reduce stress on purpose by scheduling empty calendar days. It may help you lose weight or prevent weight gain by keeping your hormone (cortisol) levels in check.

Discovering you have nothing on your calendar may seem an opportune time to plan something. Don’t do it. Don’t kill the blessing of an empty calendar. Instead, surrender this chunk of time to the Lord and ask him what he’d like you to do.

Get yourself in a still, quiet place away from distractions and listen for the “still small voice”.

11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper (still small voice in KJV). 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

You’ll hear the Lord speak to you ever so softly. It’s almost like a gut feeling.

Then do what he says and look for the opportunity to serve him…to fellowship with him…to worship him.

This could mean you use the time to go to your favorite coffee shop with your Bible and open up your ears to allow God to speak the word of life into your life. This could mean you surrender your time to ministering to your wife & children. Whatever it is, do it without hesitation or guilt.

Why not schedule days on your calendar that have no plans…doesn’t that sound silly. Choose a day (for me its Thursday this week) where you refuse to schedule anything and let God take the lead on what you do.

It’s my belief that having a day every week that has no scheduled commitments will reduce the stress level in your life. Surrender that time to the Lord for whatever he chooses and be obedient to his calling it will open the doors of heaven for God to pour himself into your life. As I’ve often discussed before, lowering your stress is a good way to help keep your hormone levels normal and help keep you on the path of gradual and continuous (sustainable) weight loss which is the goal of some of the readers here.

On the opposite end of the spectrum if you keep yourself stressed out all the time its the quickest way to start putting on the unwanted pounds. Unhealthy pounds at that. Combine that with not enough sleep and you have a perfectly ugly storm brewing. Don’t do it.

Be blessed today my friend in the name of Jesus Christ!

====================================================

What do you think? Will you take on my challenge to have an unscheduled day in your calendar? Share your victories and struggles in the comments below…

Dark Chocolate: God’s gift to you and me that cures what ails you!

Yes, Dark Chocolate, and more importantly chocolate with a Cacao content of 72% or higher is not only good for you it can help prevent some pretty nasty ailments.

I’ve been eating Dark Chocolate for about 2 years now. I was first turned on to it by Mark of Primal Blueprint fame, when he convinced me to give it and try it as a supplement to my diet, because it had so many benefits and was a nice replacement for this choco-holic who just quit his long-term sweet-addiction.

I started with 72% (and would recommend at least 70%), which today I’d say is a bit to sweet for me and a bit high in sugar. I slowly graduated up over time to an 86% Cacao (you can find it at Trader Joes if you have one close by) which is the highest I’ve been able to find.

I imagine if you ate cacao-nibs, you can increase the Cacao percentage, but I’ve not yet found a way to easily integrate those little guys into my diet. I’ve tried them and the experience was a little like chewing on little wood bits that had a slight chocolate flavor. I guess people who use them a lot use them in homemade shakes and smoothies. Evidently some people also throw them into savory dishes. Any way you can get them into your diet is a good thing and once you read all of the health benefits of Dark Chocolate I might have you convinced as well.

Dr Mark Hyman, in his great book Ultrametabolism recommends you eat between 1-3 ounces of dark chocolate everyday day. I’d like to add, that when you do so, make sure that it is after a meal or eaten with some other lower glycemic foods to help minimize the glycemic load of the chocolate. Even the very high cacao content chocolate has a pretty high level of sugar.

Another tip to keep in mind is that it’s very easy to go overboard on this super-food. When you are going to eat dark chocolate ration out your 1-3 ounces and put away the rest. You’ll be glad you did. I know, speaking from experience, I’ve gone overboard on more than one occasion in the name of super-food consumption.

Here are just some of the benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Dark Chocolate contains healthy fats. Mostly monounsaturated and saturated fat, with very little polyunsaturated fat. Most of the saturated fat is stearic acid widely know to have no bad effects on LDL cholesterol, so you don’t have to have any guilt to enjoy cacao fat.
Dark Chocolate is loaded with Polyphenols too. In particular flavanols. When it comes to polyphenols & antioxidant capacity, Dark Chocolate blows away any other super-food. The most studied polyphenol in cacao is epicatechin, a flavanol that is highly potent and potentially healthy for humans.
Dark Chocolate lowers your blood pressure too. Epidemiological studies consistently show that dark chocolate consumption is related with lower blood pressure readings. One study even found that eating dark chocolate for 15 days straight, lowered blood pressure and insulin sensitivity in healthy subjects.
Cacao consumption has been proven to improve arterial flow of blood in smokers.
Dark Chocolate can reduce cardiovascular disease.
Dark Chocolate lowered insulin resistance in diabetic patients (in addition to lowering blood pressure).
Dark chocolate is good for folks who have a fatty liver (some of us who have been eating sugar in high doses all of our lives are in this camp). The chocolate can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation as well.
Dark chocolate can help increase our body’s natural defense against UV exposure. In several studies recently it’s been proven that eating dark chocolate can increase our natural defense against the harmful affects of the sun by as much as double. So, you could stay out twice as long without sun-damage.

So, go eat some dark chocolate with dinner tonight. Make sure it’s high in cacao (70%+) and low in sugar. Eat it with your meal and feel good knowing you just took in some of the best tasting medicine on the planet. Thank you God for the gift of Dark Chocolate.

So, what’s your favorite dark chocolate recipe? Have you tried 86% Cacao ye? Tell me about your experiences with Dark Chocolate below in the comments.

[MUST READ] The “Metabolic Winter” Hypothesis…

Just released to me on his “Private” email list is an amazing article backed by 103 research studies & publications about metabolism, fasting, nutrition, fitness, and the rest of what’s important to you and me and our health. A must read. Warning it is very technical and some of it may be tough to get through for the non-medical types. I think the average person would find HUGE value in reading at least the ‘Putting it altogether” and “conclusion” sections. Let me know what you think in the comments…

P.S. I’ll be writing up my top take-aways from the Metabolic Winter and sharing them with you soon. What’s your biggest ah-ha moment? Please let me know in the comments

Shared with permission of Ray Cronise, BS

Download Metabolic Winter Hypothesis for FREE here:

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/met.2014.0027

Contact Ray Cronise, BS by clicking here.

Follow Ray on Twitter here

Friend him on Facebook here

Forward to a friend here

Their mailing address is:

Thermogenex

PO Box 12251

Huntsville, Alabama 35815