Don't want to be a fat man,
people would think that I was
just good fun.

Roll us both down a mountain
and I'm sure the fat man would win.

Fat Man by Jethro Tull

Check out this list of fitness gadgets John is Fit readers have been buying this quarter.

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Fat Man by Jethro Tull

In his book I'm With Fatty, Edward Ugel sets out to answer questions like "Can a foodie get thin again?" and "Can you continue to love food while changing your relationship with it?" His mission is the subtitle of the book – Losing Fifty Pounds in Fifty Miserable Weeks.

I was drawn to Ed's story because of the simple fact that the author is a man. Just as there aren't enough male inspirations in the weight loss blogger community there aren't enough in the world of weight loss publishing either. So when I was offered the opportunity to review this book by the publisher (disclaimer: all opinions are my own), I snapped up the chance. Once I started reading the book I realized we had more in common than just our biology – we also both love to cook (and to eat!). So I knew then this would be a great book for me.

What caused Ed to go on this mission? A diagnosis of sleep apnea. His wife secretly recorded his snoring and used that as the impetus to get him to have a sleep study which ultimately led to Ed having to wear a CPAP mask. It was this indignity that was his driving force. Being a CPAP user myself I can understand this being a wake-up call, I only wish my own diagnosis had inspired a similar response.

Inspired to begin it nonetheless takes Ed a little bit to get going. "The diet will start whenever it does" seemed to be his response in the early days of what he called "The Fatty Project." Those of us struggling with our weight have certainly been there before. And this is one of the things I really liked about the book, the personal stories that I could relate to.

One such story sparked a totally embarrassing memory of my own behavior. In describing the shame he has felt about weight Ed mentions that he once asked for two place settings from room service so the person on the other end didn't think all of the food was for him. I can take that to a higher level – not only have I done that to mask my shame to the person taking my order, but I also tried to deceive the person delivering my order by closing the bathroom door as if to indicate the presence of another person that would explain all of the food on my tray. All readers will share similar stories.

I thought the book would be a sequential history of the 50 weeks, perhaps even a small chapter for each week, but that was not the style chosen and I think the book is better for it. The only time the reader gets a glimpse into the details of how a week went was when Ed described his experience cleansing. Other than that he focused on telling a story that only loosely corresponded to the 50 weeks project. Certainly it would have been easier to follow along with his weight loss if he had laid out the narration a week at a time but I think that probably would have read too much like a blog even, and wouldn't have allowed the author to narrate the kind of interesting story that he did. Still, I would have like to have seen in the addendum some sort of brief synopsis of his ups and downs over the weeks, perhaps by offering even a simple week by week weight loss chart.

Despite this minor quibble, I enjoyed the book and devoured it relatively quickly, over a short airplane ride and then in a hotel room where I am happy to say I did not order room service.

Did Ed achieve his mission of losing fifty pounds in fifty weeks? You'll have to read the book to find out! Perhaps his recent showing on the Today Show will offer a hint.

I highly recommend you check out the definitive guide to guest posting, Chris Garrett's Guest Posting Workbook.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Book Review – I'm with Fatty by Edward Ugel

This is a guest post by Louise Baker.

With the recent release of the iPhone 4 software, fitness nuts have even more reasons to keep their phones with them while pumping iron or hitting the trail. Now that iPhones can multitask, health gurus can simultaneously track calories, as they count their daily steps and plan their next cycling route.

Here’s a list of 5 must-have iPhone apps for fitness lovers.

1. iFitness

Considered the #1 fitness app for the iPhone, iFitness is packed with the information exercise enthusiasts need when working out. It comes with full color photos and step-by-step instructions for hundreds of different exercises, and it allows users to follow its preset fitness routines or create their own. After completing an exercise, users can input the amount of weight lifted and reps completed, so the app can track the user’s progress over time.

2. Tap & Track-Calorie, Weight, and Exercise Tracker

Health conscious people are always watching what they eat, and counting calories has never been easier with the help of Tap & Track. This app has logged the menus of over 700 popular restaurants and has nutritional information on more than 250,000 different food items. Whether eating out or cooking at home, tracking calories, fat, protein, and carbs are only a few taps away. The app even works offline, if the iPhone were to lose service, which has happened from time to time.

3. All-in Pedometer

To a fitness nut, a walk in the mall or a day on the job simply means another opportunity to burn calories and stay fit. The All-in Pedometer app works while you work: counting steps, tracking distance, and calculating calories burned. Its smart technology recognizes when the user is running, jogging, or walking and records the most accurate step-count when compared to similar apps. An added bonus allows users to listen to and edit iPod playlists, right from the app.

4. iMapMyRide

Cycling and mountain bike lovers will go gaga when they see what iMapMyRide can do. This must-have app gives riders instant access to important stats throughout their ride. Bikers get trip times, current and average speeds, distance, and elevation changes, all while they can track their route in real-time on an interactive map. iMapMyRide also automatically records the results of previous trips, and can upload personal records and trip information to an online training log on the MapMyRide website.

5. Couch to 5k

Novice athletes have to start somewhere. Often, people get burnt out too quickly when beginning a fitness routine because they do not know how to pace themselves. The Couch to 5k app is designed for individuals who are serious about getting in shape by preparing them to run 5km without having to stop or walk. Using carefully planned 30 minute workouts over the course of 9 weeks, Couch to 5k prepares amateur athletes to run like an all-star.

Check out this list of fitness gadgets John is Fit readers have been buying this quarter.

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5 iPhone Apps for Fitness Nuts

This is a guest post by Tory McBroom.

Working out is boring. And trying to cook “healthy” isn’t fun either.

We’ve all heard these excuses and are probably even guilty of using them once or twice (or more) as a way to get out of exercising and eating right.

The “getting fit isn’t fun” complaint is a popular one. It’s right up there with “I don’t have time”. But, this excuse doesn’t have to be true.

In fact, if those looking to get fit would spice up their workouts and make them fun, it would be a lot easier to stick with their exercise program for the long run.

That means not only losing the weight and improving their health, but most importantly keeping the weight off and living a healthy life.

So, disregard everything you think you know about exercise and how boring it is, and let’s look at a few ways we can spice up your workouts and make them fun again.

Pick An Activity

Instead of putting yourself through the same boring exercise routine day after day, pick a fun activity that yields the same results. There’s plenty of options like hiking, biking, nature walks, swimming or playing basketball, for example. If you don’t look at it as exercise, but rather a fun activity then you are more likely to stick with it.

Play Some Tunes

Listening to music is a great way to add a little entertainment value to your workout’s. A study in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found that listening to music increased the comfort level of doing the exercise. It doesn’t matter what type of music it is just as long as it’s something you like.

Find A Friend

Exercising with a friend, family member or group can be a fun way to get fit. It also increases accountability, making it less likely that you will skip workouts because you don’t want to let the other person down. Find a friend or family member with similar goals in mind and make an oath to workout with each other. If you prefer groups then sign-up for a fitness class or join a mall walking club.

Choose The Right Intensity

Just because your workout DVD says you have to keep up an intense pace doesn’t mean it’s right for you. When starting out, exercise at a pace that you are comfortable with. Then slowly set goals to elevate that pace as you progress. You will find that your workouts are less emotionally stressful and you will be more apt to continue with your workout plan.

TV

The TV is typically thought of as one of the main reasons many American’s are overweight. And this can be true to an extent. But, watching television while working out at the gym can help keep you from staring at the clock and take your mind off the task at hand. Most gyms have at least one TV going at all times and some treadmills even have them built in. Try planning your workout around your favorite show and you’ll notice your workout is over before you know it.

Wii Fit by Nintendo is another popular way to use your TV to get healthy. This game allows you to take part in 40+ activities, set goals, etc and it’s perfect for both adults and children.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

5 Ways To Get Fit And Have Fun Doing It

If you were paying attention to my Twitter feed last night you'll know that I participated in the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Better for You BBQ Taste & Tweet event. I was asked to participate in the event a few weeks ago and was sent a really cool grilling pack from the company that included BBQ tongs, a corn buttering dish, corn holders, a coupon for a free I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! product and a $25 American Express gift card to purchase food for the grill. Pretty cool!

As you can see, I put the grill pack to good use:

I started off by using my chimney stack charcoal starter. Two pieces of newspaper and a match is all that is needed to get perfect coals. If you are still using lighter fluid then stop right now and buy a Weber Chimney Starter.

I would say that I bought all the food courtesy of the $25 gift card but alas my grocery store wouldn't take it so I'll have to spend that elsewhere. But on the menu for evening was grilled lamb (by request of my son and I'm glad he did – boy I love grilled lamb), grilled chicken breasts (I don't know why I insist on doing chicken breasts on the grill as I never like the outcome), grilled corn on the cob, a mushroom kabob (I used butter instead of olive oil like I normally would, it turned out fine) and for dessert, grilled pineapple.

I ended up eating a grilled lamb steak, 2 pieces of corn on the cob (sprayed with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! spray) and the mushroom kabob. Oh, and grilled pineapple:

I started by making a glaze with one and a half cups of orange juice, a half a cup of dark rum and a cup of brown sugar. Put over heat and reduced until I had about a third of the total starting liquid. Boy was it yummy. Chopped up a pineapple giving myself some nice slabs (with plenty leftover for snacking later), and skewered three of them for dessert kabobs. I glazed two and left one dry. Once I had all the food off the grill I scraped it clean and put on the kabobs, they ended up taking a lot longer to cook than I thought but of course by then the coals had died down a bit too. Added more glaze when I pulled them off.

Didn't have any ice cream but I think that would have gone well with the glazed pineapple. This doesn't come as a surprise but I much preferred the glazed pineapple to the plain grilled pineapple, although it was still quite good. I'm definitely doing this one again and hopefully staying clear of too much glaze.

All in all a good grilling, thanks to I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!

Check out this list of fitness gadgets John is Fit readers have been buying this quarter.

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A Little Grilling

I went into Monday of this week with the goal of taking a picture of everything I ate for the week. I have noticed that when I do that (ala my Rate my Meals posts) that I tend to eat much better than if I don't. I guess it's all about accountability. In doing this for a week I noticed a couple of trends that I am going to have to get a handle on:

1) It's harder to maintain a plan as the week goes on. I did pretty well up until Friday, at which point everything fell apart.
2) It's harder to maintain a plan as the day goes on. Through Thursday I did pretty well for breakfast, lunch and snacks. But then came dinner. This has always been my struggle.

Here are my breakfasts and lunches for Monday – Thursday of this past week:

Overall I think I did really well.

Breakfast 1: Bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, small dish with half a banana (I normally eat a whole one but half was too ripe) and some watermelon pieces, a slice of toast with peanut butter.

Breakfast 2 & 3: 2 egg omelet with mushrooms, spring onion and just a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese, a few strawberries and a slice of dry toast. I liked this one so much I made it twice. I cooked up the mushrooms in a little sherry. Delicious. Really happy with myself that I stuck with 2 eggs rather than 3 too – when I am not paying attention I can easily go to 3 or even 4 eggs.

Breakfast 4: oatmeal with blueberries, watermelon pieces and a banana. Guess I didn't feel like I needed toast that day.

I'm really happy with my breakfast choices.

Lunch 1: Big bowl of salad greens with a few spritzes of a balsalmic vinegar dressing, some deli ham and a few pieces of orange and red peppers.

Lunch 2: Salad bar with some proteins like fake crab, ham and egg, a few pieces of pickled beets and blue cheese dressing. Chicken chili and a yogurt.

Lunch 3: Salad bar with some proteins like fake crab, ham and egg, a few pieces of pickled beets and thousand island dressing. Beef chili with cheese, a couple of crackers and a yogurt.

Lunch 4: Foot long subway at Subway, Turkey (no cheese), with spicy mustard, extra lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, black olives and vinegar. Yogurt instead of chips.

Moderately happy with lunch. Salad bars choices need to be better as I need to stop having the chili or soup and also need to go with better dressing.

I did well with snacks each day as well, however come dinner time I just didn't make good choices. And then on Friday I got lazy and did fast food for breakfast and lunch.

Going to try it again this week. Here's to a better run at it.

I highly recommend you check out the definitive guide to guest posting, Chris Garrett's Guest Posting Workbook.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

A Week of Meals

This weekend I had to stop at a gas station with my son to get him a drink for his soccer game* and I managed to convince myself that I needed something to munch on while watching from the sidelines. I chose what at first glance appeared to be a fairly innocent snack, a small bag (3.5oz) of Snyder's of Hanover Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzel Pieces.

*They won their district championship but lost their regional final tonight that would have earned them entry to State, so the season is over. Except for the pool party at our house. And yes, I've been reading too much Joe Posnanski.

But as it turned out these things are pretty darned bad. Well, they taste great, but bad for you. Just how bad? Well when you read the nutrition label you will quickly see that there are 140 calories and 3g of saturated fat per serving. "But John," you say, "that doesn't sound too bad." Well, let me finish. There are almost 4 servings in this small bag (I HATE when they do that). So instead of 140 calories and 3g of saturated fat I'm really consuming about 560 calories and 12g of saturated fat, which is 28% and 60% respectively of a 2,000 calories a day diet. For one small bag of pretzel pieces! I thought pretzels were ok to eat?

I did a little research at the Snyder's of Hanover website and found that they offer seven different varieties of this product: Southern Style Barbecue, Hot Buffalo Wing, Buttermilk Ranch, Cheddar Cheese, Honey Mustard & Onion, Jalapeno and Garlic Bread. Interestingly enough they all contain 140 calories per ounce serving, except for Cheddar Cheese which has 130. Regrettably I can't find that they actually sell their product in 1 ounce bags so the 1 ounce serving size is a myth. The smallest bag is the 3.5oz bag that I bought and nobody that I know* would look at that little bag and say, "Let's share."

*Of course, that could be my problem. And did you know that Joe is Tony's brother?

Now in Snyder's defense I should point out one thing. Unlike most products I have seen where "about 4 servings" really means 4.1, making the math even worse, in this case the simple math of taking 140 calories and multiplying by "about 4 servings" to get 560 calories isn't exactly right. Actually the product is 5 calories per gram for a total of 496 calories. So kudos for that.

But still the Bad Snack of the Day.

Check out this list of fitness gadgets John is Fit readers have been buying this quarter.

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Bad Snack of the Day: Snyder's Pretzel Pieces

As I'm trying to get back into the swing of things on my weight loss journey I thought this challenge posted by Darren Rowse at ProBlogger was appropriately timed.

I am fat, not fit was my first post. Given the title of my blog it seemed appropriate to make sure everyone knew I really didn't consider myself fit. That post was almost three years ago and I am more out of shape today than I was then. Not good.

It's a hard one to pin down but I think the post I enjoyed writing the most was In Which I Tell My Wife About My Weight Loss Blog. Up until this point I had been a closet weight loss blogger.

I don't get as many comments as I used to, which is no surprise given what a miserable failure I currently am and that I don't write on here as much as I should, but back in the day I used to be able to get some good feedback from the blogging community. One post that had great discussion was 9 Tips For Kick-Starting Your Dormant Weight Loss Blog, and I am currently utilizing some of those very same techniques.

I've been reading the Anti-Jared ever since my Tony Posnanski Interview, and the guy has written tons of posts that I wish I had written, but none more so than his recent Gaining weight never felt so good. Tony is the man.

It's hard to define a post that has helped people since I haven't been the role model around here that I had hoped to be, but I hope I helped June from The Path to Health when she won my biggest blog contest prize to date, a Fuji Bike.

I'm not sure people really got it, but my favorite post title was I am a Boiled Frog. Time to start turning up the heat.

Finally, the post I wish more people had read was Reducing the Clutter of Life. Personally I think it is well-written and carries an important message.

This was a fun trip down memory lane, thanks to Darren for the idea. If any of my readers take, or already have taken, the challenge let me know and I will link up your entry here.

I highly recommend you check out the definitive guide to guest posting, Chris Garrett's Guest Posting Workbook.

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7 Link Challenge Post

I've really done little right this year when it comes to the topic of this blog – my weight loss journey. It's been more like Gulliver's Travels; who the heck knows what I'm going to see or do next. But there is one thing that I have consistently done well that is positively effecting my health and that is sleeping at night with a CPAP machine.

A year ago I wrote about my experience of attending a sleep study in My Visit to a Sleep Clinic. I'm sure the experience varies at each location but I found the sleep study to be a positive experience similar to staying at a nice hotel. A hotel with someone watching your vital signs all night, but a hotel nonetheless. I am sure there are people who could benefit from attending a sleep clinic but who do not because they are afraid for some reason and I would tell them to not worry about a thing.

The results of my sleep study showed that I had severe sleep apnea, having almost 50 apnea episodes an hour, with my blood oxygen levels dipping down to 80%. I was immediately fitted for a CPAP machine.

The first few weeks of using the machine was difficult as I struggled to adjust with this new experience. Over the first few months I probably missed about 20-25 nights for one reason or another. But even in those early days one thing had become apparent very quickly – the machine was allowing me to sleep in my own bed without keeping my wife awake because of snoring like I had been doing and I was no longer tired during the day. It was clear the machine was working and I focused on finding the secret sauce to making it work on a nightly basis.

I completed one year on the CPAP machine today with the following results as measured by my ResMed CPAP machine: 339 our of 365 days for a total of 1902 hours of sleep – an average of 5.60 hours per night. So over the year I did miss 26 days but almost all of those were in the first few months as I adjusted to this new experience. Since then I have been a fervent user. Less than 6 hours of sleep a night probably doesn't sound like much and maybe it isn't even enough, but it is more than I had been getting and more importantly, that is all quality sleep.

I used to be a tosser and turner in bed (if your body is waking you up every minute you would be too) and you could never count on where the sheets and blankets would end up. Now when I get up everything has remained in the same place and I literally just flip back the corner of the blanket and it's like the bed is made again. It's a pretty awesome sign of success.

I'm not going to re-write these tips here but if you are interested in some of the things that have worked for me as I adjusted to using the machine check out the article I wrote called 5 Tips to a Great Night’s Sleep with a CPAP Machine.

I've been able to have this success despite traveling a little bit this year. My CPAP machine has ridden with me on short one night trips to Wisconsin, long vacations to Tokyo and many trips in between both over the road and in the air. 4 Things I Learned While Flying with my CPAP Machine summarizes the tips I've learned along the way.

You can bet I would prefer to lose a ton of weight along with the need for a CPAP machine to treat my sleep apnea but in the interim between now and when I finally figure out what it is going to take to actually lose that weight, I'll be happily sleeping away thanks to a little modern science.

I highly recommend you check out the definitive guide to guest posting, Chris Garrett's Guest Posting Workbook.

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One Year Using CPAP

This is a guest post by Andrew Salmon.

Money may make the world go round but it will also kill you if you’re not careful. Bills, mortgages, debts… these are the things money protects us against and our pursuit of the all-mighty dollar can keep us healthy and active. However, when fate or bad luck steps in and money doesn’t seem quite so readily available, we can become obsessed with the fear of never having enough to get by. This fear can take a terrible toll on our bodies.

Here are six health problems associated with money:

1. Stress

   No surprise here. In fact, one could make the claim that the word ‘money’ could easily be replaced with the word ‘stress’ as the two often go hand-in-hand. Money worries cause stress. Stress affects us mentally and physically, putting us on edge while planting the seed for heart and cardiovascular problems down the road.

2. Addiction

   Robin Williams once said: “cocaine is God's way of telling you, you're making too much money” and truer words were never spoken. I don’t have to go into the dangers of the multitude of narcotics only money can buy and everyone knows these addictions could cost you your life. If you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket, give it to charity and forego the conspicuous consumption.

3. Depression

   Often born out of feelings of helplessness, being broke or living below the poverty line can make us depressed. In the case of the latter, helpful drugs are beyond one’s monetary grasp which can lead to hopelessness. Keeping money in its proper perspective is essential in keeping balance in our lives.

4. Obesity

   The other side of the coin here, having too much money often means living large – sometimes too large. Rich, fattening food at the finest restaurants over time can have us carrying our wealth around on our waists and not in a money belt. Like addiction, this can become a form of conspicuous consumption where we wear that spare tire like a badge of honor to show the world that we never go hungry.

5. Exhaustion

   The hunt for money can become an obsession in itself. Whether it is out of necessity, greed or some psychological fear, chasing a dollar at the expense of proper rest and recreation can burn us out. Exhaustion, both mental and physical, can be debilitating and tough to bounce back from.

   It’s important to remember that money doesn’t buy happiness.

6. Shorter Lifespan

   Fixating on money can make you a workaholic and you’ll miss out on the restorative benefits of a vacation or indulging in hobbies. These are components of a healthy, well-balanced life. Turning away from these essential ingredients to our well-being will shave years off our lives. Chase a buck to the exclusion of all else and you won’t be chasing long. Just make sure you’ve set aside enough to cover your funeral expenses.

I highly recommend you check out the definitive guide to guest posting, Chris Garrett's Guest Posting Workbook.

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

6 Health Problems Associated With Money

I'm writing this on my trusty Dell Mini 9 while sitting in the car waiting for my son's soccer game to start. When I was a kid playing soccer I loved playing in the rain but as a parent I'm happy to watch their warmup from the dry comfort of the front seat.

Once the game gets going I'll head out there although I'm really bummed I forgot my umbrella (I was able to borrow one thankfully!). With my wife taking my daughter to her game we were scrambling after work as you'll see in my dinner. I think I made some good decisions today, at least so far. I still will have time later after the game to go astray.

Breakfast was a bowl of instant oatmeal with added blueberries, crushed walnuts and a splash of skim milk. I segmented an orange, although I had a hard time with this brand of navel oranges and it didn't come out as clean as normal. I wanted to get a little fat so I added an avocado. You can probably tell I went grocery shopping last night.

No snacks at work as I forgot to bring anything, so I ended up having lunch a little earlier than normal. I think I did a good job building the salad at the salad bar – lettuce, a few pieces of tomato, a few spoonfuls of peas, a little chopped ham, a few pieces of fake crab leg, a hard boiled egg, 3 slices of pickled beets, 2 slices of sweet pickles, with a lite balsamic vinaigrette. No heavy blue cheese, shredded cheese, croutons, or anything else too bad for me. I did have a cup of chili (figured it was better for me than the corn chowder, not sure if I am right there) plus I did get a cup instead of a bowl so that was a win in my book. A couple of crackers and a yogurt rounded out the meal.

As I mentioned, dinner was on the run. My wife threw together a simple pasta dish and I had a bowl of that and some left over low fat Thai cucumber salad. then I had a small handful of Paul Newman organic dried apricots. Yes those black things are apricots. I guess that's how you know they really are organic. I had an apple in the car that I didn't get a picture of.

Later when I got home I did eat a half of a left-over patty melt my wife had brought home yesterday. Drat!

So how do you think I did? Click a star!

Check out this list of fitness gadgets John is Fit readers have been buying this quarter.

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Rate My Meals – 2010-05-10

Disclaimer: Sony sent me this product sample to review, however I am under no obligation to do so nor to make the review positive. This review reflects my personal opinion about this product.

I don't listen to music like I used to when I was younger but I have found that doing so when I'm on the treadmill or running outdoors (as little as that happens lately) really helps me forget about the time – something I find really helps when I am doing something as boring to me as running. The problem is that I've never been comfortable with the devices I have had. I've been really happy with the Sansa Clip I've been using for over a year, and I use that both when I travel (I plug it into my Bose headphones) or when I am on the treadmill. But I don't use it when running outside.

Why?

Because I'm not an ear bud guy. I can never get those little things to fit properly in my ear and they always fall out. So when I run on the treadmill I have these really ugly headphones that I think came from the late eighties, but they are light and don't get in my way. But they aren't to be seen out in the public. I did use the Music Infused Headband by i360 for a little while, but while it worked great in the winter when it got warm out there was just no way it was going to work.

So when a representative from Sony contacted me about the Sony W250 Series Walkman MP3 Player and told me it integrated the MP3 player directly into the ear buds, with a small flexible wire to keep everything in place, I knew I had to try it out for myself.

And I am glad that I did, because now I've got an MP3 player I will be happy to be seen in public with.

Sony designed this unit with the runner in mind. Key features include:

• Design – its lightweight, water-resistant frame ensures proper functionality during extended periods of activity inside or outside – even in the rain.
• 2GB of maximum capacity – holds approximately 470 songs.
• Quick Charge Option – for on-the-go or those who have forgotten to charge, charge 3 minutes for up to 90 minutes of play time. Full battery life is approximately 11 hours.
• Easy Music Transfer – Content Transfer software allows users to move music files and playlists straight from a PC/iTunes library.

I installed the software as well and can attest to how easy it is to transfer files. Simple drag and drop. They unit also has this feature called Zappin Playback which enables sequential playback of song clips at a preset duration, and it grabs a short recognizable clip of each song such as the most melodic or rhythmical section. I can't see a good use for this but I'm sure someone must like it!

Suggested retail price is $60, available at www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style retail stores & other authorized retailers nationwide.

One thing I miss having in this unit is a radio. My Clip has a radio and that's really great for a change of pace. If I could offer one improvement that would be it – give it a radio.

Overall, a great little device that hopefully will help encourage me to get out and run more this year.

CONTEST: But don't just take my word on it, if you have read down this far you deserve a little something yourself. I'll be randomly selecting one of the commenters on this post between today and May 13th (US only, sorry) to receive your very own Sony W250 Series Walkman MP3 Player, courtesy of Sony!

Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Sony W250 Series Walkman MP3 Player

Another one of the days where I make it just fine until I get home about 7:15. I went to bed at 10, and in between those hours I let the diet go to hell and a hand basket. I've really got to figure out how to control myself at night better. No, the dinner meals aren't in the picture:

I thought breakfast was really good, particularly since I was mentally convincing myself how good a McDonalds sausage McMuffin would taste. How much better for you is an orange, a banana, a yogurt and a small handful of raw nuts and craisins? I have to think a lot better! And a little surprisingly to me but after a snack of a banana mid-morning I had no problem getting to lunch without any hunger pangs. No, I didn't segment the orange for breakfast, and it would have tasted better if I had, but it still was pretty good. Segmenting an orange is for a special treat.

I did so-so at lunch. Good news is I had a salad bar, didn't get any pasta salad or anything like that, but I did go a little heavy on the dressing. The low-fat Ranch would have been a better choice. Probably the worst decision is that I also got a bowl of chicken with wild rice soup. Creamy soup, wouldn't surprise me if the bowl alone was 500 calories. And I felt full after lunch so clearly the salad and yogurt would have been enough. I need to remember that today when I will probably have lunch at the same place, hopefully I can make a better decision. Drivetime snack was a protein bar.

I picked up my son from soccer on the way home from work and got home to some leftover spaghetti that my wife had made. But before I ate that I had a leftover half of a patty melt with some tater tots and then I had the spaghetti. About the only saving grace is that I didn't eat it all, I heated up about two thirds of what was left and ate all that, but I easily could have reheated everything. So I guess there is that. But I really should have taken pictures, I have to remember that is keeping me honest. Or mostly so.

Of course we are going to a Twins game tonight (will we see the first snow at Target Field?) so dinner choices will be tough again. I'll do my best.

So how do you think I did? Click a star!

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Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Rate My Meals – 2010-05-06

There are many secrets to losing weight. One of these secrets is discovering fat burning foods. So what exactly are fat burning foods? These foods help tame your appetite and help to slim your torso. Now that you know this information, you probably want to know what they are, don’t you? The good news is I am going to tell you what they are. The best news is that they are all easily available to you at your favorite store.

Food that Burns Fat #1: Essential Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids, also known as EFA’s, are derived from foods like fish. Here is what is interesting about this acid; studies have shown that women who eat fish on a regular basis have lower levels of a protein hormone.

This protein hormone is called leptin and it is linked to obesity and a sluggish metabolism. One way you can supply your body with EFA’s is through supplements. The best supplements include fresh tuna and wild salmon. You can also eat fresh fish a few times a week.

Food that Burns Fat #2: Spices and Food Flavorings

The USDA discovered that ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon helps the body metabolize sugar up to 20 times faster. It also helps to lower blood sugar levels.

Cayenne pepper can really help to speed up your metabolism. This same philosophy can be applied to chili pepper. Recent studies have shown by sprinkling your food with chili pepper can help you lose up to 5 lbs every four weeks!

Garlic also helps with thermogenic energy within the body, which raises metabolism. It helps lower insulin levels, which helps with burning fat.

Ginger helps to increase body heat by expanding blood vessels. It has actually been shown to help boost metabolism by 20%. It is also seen as an excellent all natural ingredient, which helps cleanse body toxins and helps increase blood circulation.

Foods that Burns fat #3: Fat Burning Fruits

Berries and apples both contain pectin, which is known for its water binding properties, which helps to prevent fat from being absorbed within the body.

Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits have high amounts of vitamin C. Vitamin C is important in weight loss because it helps to dilute fat within the body. When fat is diluted, it is much easier to be excreted from the body. Vitamin C also has been shown to boost the metabolism.

Foods that Burn Fat #4: Calcium Rich Foods

A study in 2005, published in the International Journal of Obesity concluded that both calcium and protein when combined in low fat foods actually help promote weight loss. Both of these components also help with maintaining muscle mass. So try eating at least three servings a day in order to get the full benefits of low fat calcium and protein-enriched foods.

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Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Foods That Really Help to Burn Fat

It's probably never occurred to you to eat an orange any other way other than cutting it into pieces with the skin on and sucking on each piece or peeling it and eating each segment. 99% of the time when I eat an orange that's what I do too. But every once in awhile I like to get a little fancy and yesterday was one of those days. I never posted this picture of my breakfast because I didn't get a full day of pictures in, but as you can see I ate a segmented orange for breakfast yesterday:

Why is segmenting an orange a great way to eat an orange? No skin, no pith, no membrane, just pure orange goodness. Sure it takes a little work but once you have done a few you'll be able to get one done very quickly.

Here are the steps to segment an orange:

Using a sharp knife and a sure hand,

1. Slice off one end of the orange at the stem end, being sure to expose a good amount of inside orange.
2. Turn the orange over and take a slice off of the other end of the orange.
3. Set the orange on a cutting board flat side down.
4. Now take your knife and follow the contour of the orange to slice off the skin and pith.
5. Continue around the orange until all the skin and pith is gone.
6. Hold the orange in your hand, over a bowl to catch the juice, and carefully run the blade of your knife down one side of the orange segment and then down the other side (either side of the membrane) – the clean segment should almost pop right out.
7. Continue until you have completed segmenting the orange.
8. Enjoy.

Still not sure what the heck I am talking about? Watch this video:

What do you think, too much work or totally worth it?

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Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

How to Segment an Orange

This is a guest post by Matthew Dinnos.

Nuts Are High In Fat
Ummm… It's hard to stop eating nuts once you begin munching on them! Those crunchy and scrumptious little morsels of nature have been wrongly accused of adding pounds to your body. It's not their fault! But, it's not your fault either – nuts do contain lots of calories. It's only natural for people with a weight problem to shun nuts and tag them as fattening foods.

But Wait…
Don't all food articles contain calories? Should you then completely stop eating food!? The trick to effective weight loss is eating everything in moderation, and that includes nuts. Yes! You cannot expect to remain healthy by banishing entire food categories from your menu. You may face nutritional deficiencies by doing that. Anyway, once you learn about the health benefits of nuts, you will go crazy over them! Do you know that fat is essential for your body? So, even while you're trying to shed pounds, you cannot ban fat completely from your diet. Fat keeps hunger pangs at bay, which is important for losing weight. Nuts like peanuts, cashew nuts and Brazil nuts are not actually nuts; they are seeds. And they are high in fat. Yet, we can safely call them fat-fighting foods. You might be wondering if we've gone nuts talking about nuts! Well, let's see what science says.

Won't Nuts Make Me Fat?
Studies have shown that people who include nuts in their daily diet have a lower BMI compared to those who do not eat nuts. In addition, people who want to lose weight are more likely to adhere to a moderate-fat, nut-containing diet, than a low fat, nut-free diet. Back in 1992, when Fraser and his research group first examined the protective effect of nuts on the risk of heart disease, they were surprised to find a negative association between consumption of nuts and obesity. They reported: "the higher nut consumers in this population were less obese" [1].

Since then, many studies have confirmed that nut eaters have a lower BMI than non-nut eaters. And that's without any other change in diet or physical activity. For example, in one trial, healthy adults received 15% of their daily energy needs from almonds, for a period of 6 months. Given the high calorie content of almonds, it was expected that the participants' weight would increase by 14lb. Instead, the measured change was less than 1.5lb for men and 0.3lb for women [2].

In a more recent 10-week trial, 20 women were required to consume almonds without any advice on how to include them in their diet. The researchers noted that the daily almond consumption did not cause any change in body weight and concluded that "a daily 60g (344 calories) serving of almonds, sufficient to provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, may be included in the diet with limited risk of weight gain" [3].

Can Nuts Be Part of a Weight Loss Diet?

Here is the question: Nuts can be consumed without fearing weight gain, but can they be used in a diet that is designed to promote weight loss? To put it in a different way, which diet is more effective; one that includes nuts or one that is nut-free? Numerous studies have compared the effectiveness of nut-containing versus nut-free weight reduction programs. In a 2003 study, 65 obese adults participated in a 24-week weight loss program that featured either an almond enriched low calorie diet (84g/day) or a carbohydrate enriched low calorie diet. Both diets contained the same amount of calories. Yet, the almond diet brought about 62% greater reductions in weight, 50% greater reduction in waist circumference and 56% greater reduction in fat mass. Total body water and systolic blood pressure were lower as well. [4]

In addition to losing more weight, almost 3 times more dieters were able to follow a moderate-fat diet that included nuts than a low-fat diet without nuts, as revealed in a study published in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders [5].

These data demonstrate that at least that "nuts can be included in a weight loss diet without compromising efficacy", notes Dr Mattes R.D., professor in the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue.

3 Reasons To Include Nuts In A Weight Loss Diet

Why is it that daily intake of a high energy density food like nuts does not lead to weight gain and can even increase the effectiveness of a weight loss program? The following 3 reasons have been proposed:

• Nuts promote satiety. The consumption of a fixed amount of nuts, including chestnuts, peanuts and almonds, leads to a drastic reduction in hunger pangs. The calorie load of nuts is counter balanced by the less food consumed in subsequent meals.
• Chronic nut consumption, particularly of peanuts and almonds, increases resting energy expenditure (REE) or basal metabolic rate (BMR). This means that you burn more calories while resting and can easily "eat" those calories without worrying about gaining extra weight. An increased BMR leads to weight loss, providing that you do not compensate by increasing your calorie intake.
• The calories contained in nuts are not readily absorbed in the small intestine. Studies show that about 18% of the fat content is lost in the stool following the consumption of whole nuts.

The Nut Diet For Weight Loss

Here is a nut diet a learned from a friend. Unlike crash diets or other forms of diets, the nut diet is balanced. But, the condition is: each meal portion should be less than nine ounces. This diet is for ten days, and I was told I may lose about seven pounds. During the diet, you must avoid sugar and sweets completely.

BREAKFAST (Choose One Of The Three Menus)

• A salad of tomatoes and chopped almonds, topped with olive oil + black coffee
• Small slice of pizza loaded with tomatoes, goat cheese, green peppers, and crushed cashew nuts as toppings.
• A casserole of cottage cheese with sauce from orange juice, topped with almond bits + tea

LUNCH (Choose One Of The Three Menus)

• An apple with a handful of nuts
• A handful of raisins and nuts
• A handful of dates and nuts

DINNER (Choose One Of The Three Menus)

• Tomato soup containing basil, roasted potato salad with a green vegetable, a cup of yogurt (sugar-free)
• Broccoli and white mushroom soup with sour low-fat cream, a handful of prunes or raisins and walnuts, a glass of strawberry or cherry or currant juice
• Potato and fennel soup, chopped nuts with lettuce leaves and olive oil, a glass of carrot or tomato or pumpkin juice

SUPPER (Choose One Of The Three Menus)

• Scalded spinach topped with olive oil and a veggie salad sprinkled with cheese
• Grated carrot salad with low-fat cream, dried apricots, stewed prunes
• Herbal tea – lemon tea, mint tea, chamomile tea

So, the next time you are tempted to grab a handful of nuts from the bowl at a party, DO IT! You're on a weight loss program, guys; you need nuts to get thin!

References

1. A possible protective effect of nut consumption on risk of coronary heart disease. The Adventist Health Study. Fraser GE, Sabaté J, Beeson WL, Strahan TM. Arch Intern Med. 1992 Jul;152(7):1416-24.
2. Effect on body weight of a free 76 Kilojoule (320 calorie) daily supplement of almonds for six months. Fraser GE, Bennett HW, Jaceldo KB, Sabaté J. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002 Jun;21(3):275-83.
3. Effect of chronic consumption of almonds on body weight in healthy humans. Hollis J, Mattes R. Br J Nutr. 2007 Sep;98(3):651-6. Epub 2007 Apr 20.
4. Almonds vs complex carbohydrates in a weight reduction program. Wien MA, Sabaté JM, Iklé DN, Cole SE, Kandeel FR. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Nov;27(11):1365-72. Erratum in: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004
   Mar;28(3):459.
5. A randomized controlled trial of a moderate-fat, low-energy diet compared with a low fat, low-energy diet for weight loss in overweight adults. McManus K, Antinoro L, Sacks F. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001 Oct;25(10):1503-11.

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Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Nuts and Weight Loss: Can These Two Go Together?

I can't believe how fast time has flown this spring. I knew I had taken a little break with taking pictures of my meals and writing about what I eat, but now I see it has been almost two months since my last such post. Crazy! What I have discovered is that I certainly eat more when I don't take the discipline to document what I eat. Fast food becomes so much easier to justify, as do seconds and even thirds.

So I'm trying to get back into the habit of pulling the cell phone camera out whenever I eat.

I think I did really well for breakfast, although I did need to snack on my banana a little earlier in the day than normal so I think I may not have eaten enough at breakfast, which was a bowl of oatmeal with some blueberries and crushed walnuts added to it, along with a splash of milk. Also had a yogurt and an orange, although because the orange was a little old I only ended up sucking some juice out of each piece rather than eating the whole thing.

Lunch was a Subway sub made with good decisions like mustard instead of mayo, no cheese and no oil. Foot long turkey on whole wheat, spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato, black olives, jalapenos, vinegar and lots of salt and pepper. I was planning to try to get by on only a 6 inch sub but I really was hungry so I went for the foot long. Next time I'll try to force myself to go for the smaller sandwich, I think that would be better although I am not to worried about the bigger sandwich when I make it well. Instead of chips I had yogurt and that's a diet coke.

For dinner I made a turkey sandwich with mustard and english cucumber, a bowl of light maryland style crab soup (out of a can) and a handful of triscuits. More crackers than I should have. The roll I used for the sandwich was small but a little bigger than shown in the picture – I took a few bites before remembering I needed to get out the camera. Should have drunk more water throughout the day although it wasn't bad.

So how do you think I did? Click a star!

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Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Rate My Meals – 2010-05-03

This is a guest post by Genevieve.

When I weighed over 300 lbs, I didn’t want to swim.

Not because I didn’t know how, I used to be on a swim team.

Not because it wasn’t good exercise, it is.

But because I was embarrassed.

Thankfully, I changed my mind. Working out in an exercise pool became a wonderful and soothing part of my weekly regime and helped me to lose over 120 lbs. I’m sure there are many overweight people like me who do not want to be seen in a bathing suit or take the long walk (regardless of actual length) from the locker room to the swimming pool. I’m here to tell you that it’s worth it. The truth is that people will look at you as you move around the gym. Some may even be critical. But they are only critical because they are trying to make themselves feel better about their own bodies.

And the benefits of working out in water, especially if you are obese or infirm, are enormous.

• Take Off the Pressure – The support and buoyancy of the water helps to support your body, taking the pressure off of muscles, bones and joints. Water will support up to 80% of your weight seriously reducing strain.
• Cardiovascular Conditioning – Your heart rate will stay in the fat burning zone longer. Every cardio machine shows you that optimal fat burning zone. Exercising in the water often leads to prolonged exercise in that target zone, which improves your fat burning potential and your cardiovascular fitness.
• Keep Cool – I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of feeling hot and sticky. Especially in the summer time. Exercising in water is a great way to get in your exercise and keep cool. Just getting into a pool on a hot, muggy day can be a great motivator.
• Resistance Training – Working out in water increases the resistance of each move. That dragging feeling you get when you walk in water? That is increased resistance! This will help you build up your strength and work on your balance.

There are many different ways in which you can enjoy working out in water, either by yourself or with others. If your local gym or recreation center has a pool, they may offer water aerobics or dance if you would like to work out with others. These same pools are generally blocked off for parts of the day for swimming and exercise. There are even places where you can walk on an underwater treadmill!

Particularly when trying to lose weight, working out in water is something that should be included in your weekly regimen. Forget about your embarrassment and others around you. You are doing something to change your life! Be proud of that and hold on to anything that helps to get you to your goals.

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Post from: John Is Fit - Personal Weight Loss Blog

Swimming to Fitness

This is a guest post by Sarah Harris.

The fact that you are reading this article implies that you already have the motivation to get fit – or fitter – but the way in which you approach developing and maintaining your fitness routine is the key to kindling this initial spark of enthusiasm into a roaring success. Planning is all important, and in order to prepare yourself for what may be a significant lifestyle change, you need to consider “What, Why, When, Where and How”.

What are you trying to achieve? Define to yourself what aspect of being fitter appeals to you. It may be weight loss, cardiovascular health, body toning or to build strength and stamina. If you select the area of your fitness that you want to improve, then you can build your fitness routine around it. As well as your ultimate aim, set yourself mini goals at various stages throughout your intended program, as these will break up a long term discipline, and give you cause for celebrating when you achieve them.

Why do you want to get fit? This is your main motivation and ought to be considered carefully to determine the driving force behind your desire to develop a fitness routine. Investigate the reasons that you want to get fit. It could be that you have an event to attend that you want to look your best for. Possibly you have just noticed that you cannot see your toes because of the large gut you have acquired. It may be that your objective is to play a sport at a higher level or even just play a sport at all!

When are you going to do your routine? A big part of accomplishing your fitness target is having the time to regularly participate in your routine. If you have to make time for a program, which part of the day are you allocating to it? What will you have to sacrifice in order to clear the time you require, and is it going to be available in the future? Good time management is essential and vowing to get out of bed 30 minutes earlier each day will probably not be good enough!

Where are you going to do it? Are you the sort of person that needs to go out to a pool, gym or running track in order to make sure that you maintain your routine? If you are planning on exercising at home, do you have the space and the right equipment to enable you to perform your fitness regime? If you intend to jog your way to fitness, you may have to consider the neighborhood – not just whether it is a safe area, but also how many hills there are and what volume of traffic is there at the time that you have allocated for your run.

How are you going to get fit? Now you have the answers to all the previous questions, you are in a better place to take your first steps. You have your targets and motivation, know what time you have available to follow your program and where you are going to do it. There are a few “Do's and Don'ts” you should consider as well – Take care that you are not starting your fitness routine at too strenuous a level, take it easy in the early stages and build up as you get stronger and fitter. Make sure that you “warm up” and “cool down” either side of your exercises and wear suitable clothing. Finally, don’t procrastinate! The sooner you get started, the sooner you will feel more vibrant, healthier and fitter!

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How to Develop a Fitness Routine

This is a guest post by Jack Straw.

Most people are aware that losing weight is all about getting fit. If you increase the amount of exercise you do as well as cut out junk food from your diet then you should start to see results relatively quickly. There’s definitely a right and wrong way to try and get fit though. Here are some fitness tips for losing weight.

1. Losing weight is largely about your mindset. Try not to think of exercising as a way to get skinny because you may not see results straight away. Instead you should be exercising to get healthy and consider weight loss as a bonus. It might sound like a strange tip for someone that wants to lose weight but it’s a very important one.




2. Recent studies have shown that you need to be doing around 150 minutes of exercise a week to stay healthy and 250 minutes to lose weight. From these figures you can immediately see why a lot of people find it hard to lose weight. You shouldn’t feel you have to go from no exercise to 250 minutes a week straight away but that should be your goal.




3. Choosing exercises that you enjoy is vital for your long term success. A great way to have more fun at the gym or while exercising is to find a partner to do it with. You could also help each other to stay motivated. The best thing about exercise is that once you start doing it regularly you’ll begin to find it fun. Exercise releases endorphins into the body which make us feel happy and hence it can become addictive to a certain extent.




4. Keeping track of everything you’re doing to get fit is also important because you need some way of tracking your progress other than how much weight you’ve lost. If you keep a journal a quick glance will tell you how far you’ve progressed and how far you have to go to meet your targets.

At its most basic level losing weight isn’t difficult – just don’t eat as much and exercise more. The hard part is keeping an exercise program going for long enough to see real weight loss results. Finding something you enjoy that burns calories is key for this reason. You could even consider joining an online support group where people give each other advice and encouragement as this can help you to stay focused. If you have to report your exercise achievements each week it’s a lot more difficult to skip a session.

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4 Fitness Tips for Losing Weight