There are many products on the market that promote weight and fat loss. From diet books, diet pills, diet food, diet products and gizmos… We are buying them up and have turned this into a multi-billion dollar market. This industry never existed 70-80 years ago.  And there was no obesity health crisis like there is today.

We look back at what has changed:

• We are more stressed
• We sleep less
• There are more fast food restaurants
• More packaged and processed foods
• Cars
• Computers and Televisions
• More chemicals and pollution
• We drink less water and more sugary drinks
• We see less sun (and vitamin D)
• Pasteurization of milk and egg products
• Pushing of a low fat, high carb diets
• Factory Farming (and animals being sick and fed an unnatural diet)
• We eat much more sugar
• Our grains are refined and then refortified with vitamins!
• Toxic drugs that wreak havoc on our bodies.

In the news this week President Obama made it illegal to put downer cows into the food system. How horrible that such a thing even exists.

So is it any wonder why we are so much sicker and fatter?

Did you know that corn fed beef can make you fatter but grass fed beef contains CLA which has been shown in studies to make you thinner? You can buy CLA in a pill form but that really does not solve the problem that corn is not the healthy food for a cow (or for you). Not only that but grass fed beef contains omega 3 EFA’s and that is the same kind of omega 3 EFA’s found in fish and considered a brain food. We don’t need to be raping our oceans to get the health benefits of these essential fatty acids. We need to raise our animals they way were meant to be raised.

We are living longer but definitely not healthier. Our quality of life has certainly plunged.

If we reverse the above list our health would get better and our weight will drop. The focus should not be fat loss but health gains! Environmental health, animal health and our health are all related.

The first step is gaining knowledge. With the right knowledge good decisions can be made.

To your health and wellness,

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A new Canadian Medical Association Journal Editorial says that the weight loss industry should be regulated. This would affect all those diet pills, herbal supplements, programs on the market as well as weight loss nutrition clinics. Since one out of three Canadians are overweight and one out of five are medically obese there are bound to be some unscrupulous products and programs.

Should the government really be getting involved in regulating this kind of business? To tell you the truth, I am not sure. It is the government who imposed the Canadian Food Guide which promotes the low fat, high carb approach, as well as the use of vegetable oils which oxidise and go rancid and create an omega 6:3 imbalance.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial claims that it would educate and regulate health and weight loss professionals on diet advice based on scientific study.

The Low Carb diet does have solid science behind it. And it is proven to be healthier. So why are governments not promoting it as the diet of choice?

This Study that was published by the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2008. In this study the low carb dieters lost more weight and they had better reductions in total cholesterol/ HDL ratio and had greater triglyceride decreases than the Mediterranean dieters and the low fat dieters.

There is also this Stanford University Study that I had written about previously  were the Atkins diet followers beat out all the other diets in better cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides and of course fat loss.

So here is my opinion on regulating the weight loss industry…. The government should first start with following scientific research when dishing out their own diet advice! Knowledge is the first step to personal empowerment and healthy choices. There are so many people who think that the Atkins and Low Carb diets are unsafe and unhealthy when clearly this is not the case.

Rather than regulating weight loss products it would be awesome for the government regulators to go after the cause of weight gain! They should ban all the nasty food ingredients that contribute to food addiction and obesity such as MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, artificial flavours, artificial sweeteners, food preservatives and setting limits on sugars as well as making schools sugar free.

Governments are going after trans-fats and have banned them in restaurant food and grocery shelf food products all in the name for heart disease prevention… why not do the same for obesity and health.

Weight loss would not be a multi-billion industry if it wasn’t such a huge epidemic.

Diet and exercise… Can it really be that simple?

We are all responsible for our own health.

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My husband Jonas joined me for the first time for a workout. We had so much fun together. It was kinda weird bonding for the first time in this way but overall a great experience. He has decided to join me in a commitment for 2009 to get fit/healthy and get sexy six pack abs. I am very happy to have an exercise partner.

You see since starting low carb cooking I personally have been able to lose 23lbs. But since my cooking was high fat my husband has gained 20lbs. He is not restricting his carbs so the extra fat is adding to extra pounds around his waist. He does love my food that I cook!

When we met in college he was doing weight training but nothing like High Intensity Interval Training. Back then he had six pack abs so it will be no time till he gets them back. Our goal will be a sixteen week challenge. On April 25th we will show his before and after pictures (he is a bit shy about them). I will post mine as soon as I get them done.

Benefits of Exercising with a Partner

• It is motivating and encouraging.
• It holds both participants accountable.
• You can spot problems with exercise form.
• It is more fun (the more fun it is the better chance you are going to stick with it).
• It pushes you harder because it creates a slightly competitive mood.

Posting this publicly encourages accountability. I am excited for the results. I welcome everyone to join in this six pack abs journey. I will be adding some exercise videos of exercises that we have been doing.

Many Blessings,

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