Nutrition
101
The First Step
By
Julia Griggs Havey
Best-selling Author and Motivational Speaker
One
would assume you are here because you are interested in
nutrition and moreover in weight loss. Nutrition and weight
loss are certainly important things and ones that you would
love to learn all that you can about and then jump in and
start on your diet so that you can lose the weight you desire.
However, I sincerely believe that dieting is not the best
approach to losing weight nor is knowing everything about
proper nutrition going to help you DO what is necessary
to lose weight.
I
promise over the coming months to educate you about nutrition
as it relates to weight loss as well as inspire, motivate
and empower you to make changes in your life that will help
you not only lose weight but change your lifestyle so that
the weight stays off!
The
first obstacle to overcome when wanting to lose weight is
hunger! Therefore let me share with you the BEST appetite
suppressant in the world—learn what it is and how to
get enough of it to solve your weight loss woes!
To
find out more about this incredible appetite suppressant---this
virtual MIRACLE weight loss aid, you are going to have to
do some visualization with me for a moment, OK!?
First
off, I would like for you to picture the ickiest, muckiest
and smelliest pond that you have ever seen in your life.
Picture the gook sitting on the top of the water’s
surface, the murky greenish color that attached itself to
every nearby vine and tree limb and became slimy and gross.
Got a visual in your mind?
Now,
picture a beautiful fresh water flowing river. (I like the
added visual of Brad Pitt fishing in it in “A River
Runs Through it”!) Picture the water flowing over rocks,
carrying healthy fish downstream, the sounds of the river—ah;
it is so refreshing and pure!
Got
both of those pictures in your mind? Good!
Which
of these two bodies of water would you rather jump into
for a swim? Which of them would you rather take a drink
of?
I
am going to assume that you chose the fresh water river,
correct!? That is the correct answer.
Water.
It is such an important and integral part of our weight
loss journey, yet it is the least discussed and most overlooked.
Not any more!
I
had the pleasure of speaking with the renowned Dr. Batmanghelidj
(Dr B for short!), author of “The Bodies Many Cries
for Water” and “You Aren’t Sick, You Are
Thirsty!” and he really opened my eyes about not only
the importance of adequate water consumption but also as
to the reasons WHY we must drink so much of it.
On
his website, www.WaterCure.com
you can find many testimonials about people whose health
conditions were virtually improved through the consumption
of adequate water. Let’s start with the basics, what
is ‘adequate’ when it comes to how much we should
consume?
Dr.
B told me that you should drink ½ your body weight
in fluid ounces of water, therefore for my 150 pound body,
I should be consuming 75 ounces of water a day (jeez, and
I thought 64 was plenty!). I asked him if there was such
a thing as drinking too much water and he said certainly
there is, but that would 3-4 gallons of water a day and
not many people could or would want to consume that much,
but that you don’t want to drink so much that you feel
light headed.
I
asked him what to tell the person who says they “hate”
water. He laughed and said, “ask them if they hate
themselves!” I was confused and asked why that would
help, he replied that our bodies are made up of 75% water
and our brains are 85% water, therefore if you hate water,
you hate just about everything about yourself. He advises
that someone take a look in the mirror, see who he or she
is and realize that water nourishes and serves him or her
and that they must drink it, no matter what.
It
is funny that we take for granted other things that we do
just because they are good for us, such as brushing our
teeth, bathing, paying taxes, etc…but too often when
it comes to our weight we have to be dragged kicking and
screaming to do that which is good for us.
Dr.
B went on to explain (most of which was way over my head!)
that water is the main source of energy for human function
and that without water food has NO value! That water increases
the energy content of everything it breaks down (food with
no water in it doesn’t give us energy apparently—like
Twinkies?!) And, there is also a way to tell if you are
getting enough water or are dehydrated. If your urine is
dark or orangish in color—you are dehydrated. If it
is lighter yellow you are slightly dehydrated and if it
is almost clear—you are hydrated and that is a good
thing!
He
believes that education about water will change a person’s
mind and therefore get them to drink the amount that their
body requires. He stresses that he has no commercial gain
from telling people to drink more water; you can merely
turn on your tap and drink from it! He said it is purely
personal preference whether one drinks tap, bottled, mineral
or designer water.
Best
news about water? Consuming the correct amount can attribute
to weight loss of up to 4 pounds a week (sadly, not every
week, but some!).
And,
about that appetite suppressant I promised to tell you about?
You guessed it; WATER! Dr. B recommends drinking 2 8-ounce
glasses of water 20-30 minutes before a meal. Wait for the
water to settle and you will realize a much-decreased appetite!
Talk about good news! He states that while water isn’t
really an appetite suppressant that it replaces the energy
in the food we eat and is a much cleaner source of energy.
He
explained it to my very unscientific mind this way, water
is like hydro or clean fuel and food is like fossil fuel
that leaves pollution in its path. More simply put, “Obesity
is the pollution of relying on food for energy”.
All
this talk has made me thirsty! Go get a bottle of water
and drink it, it will do you more good than you realize!
For
more information, please visit me at www.JuliaHavey.com
or for my recommended nutritional supplement, www.JPSupplement.com.
Listen
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