Michael James The Health Nut

Ten Reasons You Can’t Seem To Lose Weight

You’re not pushing yourself enough:

When you are working out you want to reach for a level 7 on a scale from 1-10.  A lot of people under do it by just walking and never increasing the intensity as the activity gets easier.  If you usually walk and now it is extremely easy, graduate to a light jog, you will see the difference in your weight. 

 

You’re Not Getting A Good Nights Sleep:

Most people recommend 8 hours a sleep per night.  Personally I believe that this is a little too much and all you need is anywhere from 6-7.5 hours of sleep per night.  The problem is people aren’t getting quality sleep.  Some people are interrupted by phone calls, or just toss and turn thinking about the stresses of the day.  Make sure your sleep is distraction free. 

 

You’re Too Stressed Out:

This is true for too many of us.  We are two stressed out about money, relationships and even our own weight problems, although we have set a goal to fix them.  Relax, life is truly not that serious!

 

You’re Nutrition:

Believe it or not, changing only your exercise patterns will not help you reach your goals of weight loss.  Nutrition is 90% of where your gains come from if not more!  This doesn’t mean stop exercising.   Exercising has its place in your weight loss and your health. 

 

You’re Not Being Consistent With Your Exercise and Eating:

You know who you are.  Those of you that exercise one day then the next you are too busy.  By the end of the week you realize you only exercised twice that week and you were too busy so you ate healthy when possible.  Make sure to be consistent in your methods and the weight loss will show! 

 

You Blow It On The Weekends:

I know this one all too well.  I used to do this all the time!!  Eat right and exercise all week then drink alcohol, eat everything in sight, and cease to exercise.  The problem with this is on Monday you hop on that scale and you are back to square one!  Avoid this mistake at all costs!

 

You Haven’t Given Enough Time To See Results:

If you aren’t losing weight as fast as you’d like you may want to re-evaluate your goals.  Are they reasonable?  Are you giving yourself more than a week to measure those results?  Make sure you give yourself enough time to lose the weight set out to lose.  Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight. 

 

Your Calorie Counting and Not Focusing on Eating Quality Foods:

With a lot of the calorie counters out there it is easy to get caught up in all the fun of calorie counting and still eat crappy food.  1,000 calories from ice cream does not equal the same nutritional value of 1,000 calories from Fruit and Vegetables.  Make sure you don’t get sucked into only calorie counting! 

 

You’re Exercising Too Much: 

Just like exercising too little, there is a chance you are pushing yourself too hard.  If you are at the beginning of your training it is easy to want and dive right in and lose all the weight super fast.  I like the drive, but in the end you will probably become over trained and find it hard to get out of bed in the morning and repeat the same workout that is making it hard for you to walk right now.  Stay in the intensity range of 7-8 on a scale from 1-10 to make sure you aren’t over doing it. 

 

You Don’t Have A Big Enough Why:

If you find yourself falling off, chances are you don’t have a big enough why or you just need to be reminded why you started in the first place.  Make sure you know why you are losing the weight and also make sure that it gives you enough motivation to stay on track!

 

P.S… How you can finally commit and get the body you have always wanted in as little as 90 days==> Programs Here!

On the Shortness Of Life

Photo Credit: [Scott Garner]

Life is too Short!  And as a tribute to Life I am going to keep this blog post short.

When you really think about it, life is extremely short relatively to how long the world has been around.  So what I want to share with you right now is the hope that you will be able to set out and accomplish everything you want to in life.  The hope that you touch as many people’s lives as you can.  For there is no greater happiness in this world than seeing a smile you put on another’s face or having someone say “thank you” when you know you have just changed their life and there is no way they could ever repay you.  

We all have gifts that we will never tap into.  We can accomplish anything we want, but some of us are waiting for tomorrow to accomplish them.  How about today!  Because are we really ever promised tomorrow?  No, so live right now and find happiness in what you do.  The seconds are counting down, the minutes, they are going and you will never get them back. 

Are you living the life you want to be living?  If not I suggest you start today.  Right Now!  Life is too short to be afraid because in the end it won’t matter, what will matter are the things you have done for others and the impressions you have left on their hearts.  So play, have fun, smile, laugh, you have the ability to do anything and if you don’t believe so, I truly feel bad for you…..

“Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

-Howard Thurman

If you are interested in leading a life you deserve here are some books that I recommend you get and read immediately! Michael's Personal Recommendations  Enjoy!

Six Pack Ab Exercises : Side Touches and Reach Throughs!

I felt silly with some of the comments I made! :) Hope you guys enjoy and remember live healthy..... and happy!!

Awaken The Giant Within: A Tony Robbins Review

  Alright everyone, so I just finished reading Tony Robbins Best Selling book Awaken The Giant Within. 

There is a lot to say about this book seeing how it is 500 plus pages of pure motivation and life changing strategies!  I will try and keep it short and to the point!

Tony combines his story with those of others and convinces you that you can do the same!  Tony talks about how he was broke in every sense of the word, living in a 400 sq foot bachelor apartment, he had shut himself out emotionally from everyone and the biggest event in his life was waiting for a new Srubs to come on every week.  He had to wash his dishes in his bath tub because he had no sink.  This man was down, but he was not out. 

He then goes on to describe how he changed every part of his life and he lays out a blueprint for you to do the same.  I mean this man is a financial, emotional, health, and relationship master!  

The people’s stories he includes with nearly every chapter really put your life into perspective.  These people have made it through adversities much harder than you and I ever face!  From Oprah Whinfrey being beaten and raped as a child to a lady with multiple personalities who he helped realize the real her and take control of her life!  These are real stories and they are very inspiring! 

If I had to rate this book I would give it a 5/5 star rating!  This is a book you need to pick up and devour!  There is so much information on living a happier life and it really hit home for me.  I learned a lot from this book and I know it will change your life and how you look at it! 

Here’s a link for it so go check it out! 

Tony Robbins: Awaken The Giant Within  

Thanks everyone and remember to live healthy!

Forever Healthy: Creating Lasting Change In Your Life!

Hey everyone!  I just finished my first book and I wanted to make it available to all of you!  

Forever Healthy: Creating Lasting Change In Your Life

I put a lot into this book and I am extremely excited to be sharing with you all the information and research I have been doing over the past few years!  

It is essentially a blueprint for you to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle!  If you follow the strategies I have laid forth that have worked for hundreds, even thousands of people, you will lose that fat and you will become extremely healthy!  That is a promise!

The book includes:

• Workout Plans
• Nutritional Guidelines
• Cardio Guidelines
• Motivational Tools
• Recipes
• And much more!

I am so confident that by the end of the book you will be an expert in transforming your health and you will, in turn, be able to help others do the same! 

I have put my heart and soul into this book in order to give you guys the opportunity to share the lifestyle I lead and be as healthy as you can be!   

Whether you just want to lose a couple pounds, get a workout from an expert or even gain some muscle, this is the right book for you.  You will learn all these things and I have put in place a simple system so you can then create your own healthy meals and your own exercise routines!  Imagine that! 

So click on the link below or the navigation bar on top!  Read the book, and create an even healthier life for yourself today!

Forever Healthy: Creating Lasting Change In Your Life 

And Remember Everyone, Live Healthy!

Six Pack Ab Exercise : The Bicycle

Hey Guys I am continuing My Ab exercise section for those of you that want to get a flat stomach and six pack abs like me :)  Remember your nutrition has to be clean!  Now go out there and get those six pack abs!

Identity: It can change your life FOREVER!

“I think, therefore I am.” –Rene Descartes

People have tried for years to change some of their bad habits, such as overeating, smoking, drug addictions, alcohol addiction, ect.  In studying people that have successfully made lifelong changes in replacing their bad habits with newer empowering ones, there is one thing that changed them all in an instant…. 

In a moment people can change their bad habits into empowering habits for the rest of their lives!  Wouldn’t you like to know how you could do this?  Well I am going to show you what these people have done and what you can do today to change your entire life around!  The key to making a split second change is by changing your……

Identity

I remembered the day I stopped eating unhealthy food all together.  I made a decision that I was not that type of person.  One day I was someone who exercised regularly and ate clean “most” of the time and in a split second I was an extremely healthy individual who ate to refuel and energize his body with healthy food choices!  For me it was that simple and for many people that have overcome weight problems it has been the same formula. 

If you ask someone who has quit smoking if they want a cigarette you can usually tell if that person is going to go back to the dark side.  When they respond with something like “no thank you, it’s been 10 days now and it sucks, but I’m going to get through it this time” they are most likely going to jump right back to smoking rather quickly.   On the other hand if someone responds with “No thank you, I’m not a smoker” that is a complete identity shift!  One person is a smoker that is trying to quit and the other person is “not a smoker.”

Our identity of ourselves can be changed in an instant and the cool thing about it is you can be whoever you want to be!  Most people don’t realize this.  They make the excuse that they are this type of person or that type of person.  That is a load of BS!  You can be whoever you want to be!

Decide today to make a lasting change in your identity.  If you are overweight and you want to be healthy, tell yourself that you are a healthy individual that doesn’t make poor food choices, and remind yourself everyday that you are this person until it is conditioned into your identity! 

This goes for everything!  If you want to be successful, decide today that you are successful.  If you want to be an entrepreneur, say to yourself “I am an entrepreneur and I deliver great value to people! 

Remember you can be whoever you want to be!  You just need to consciously decide! 

Ab Exercise : The Rope Climb

ENJOY!!! If you want me to explain a specific exercise leave a comment in the section below :) Live Healthy!

Why you can’t seem to get yourself to lose weight and How to fix it!

“The human body is the best picture of the human soul.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein

There are many reasons why you haven’t started to lose weight.  It could be that you don’t have enough time or that your t.v show is on that you need to watch! :)  Putting all the excuses aside, I have come to the conclusion there is one main reason why you are not losing weight right now!  The reason is your set of…….

Rules

Now, in life we each have our own set of rules about what we “must not do” what we “should not do” what we “must do” and what we “should do.”  The problem with most people is that they have all these should not’s and should’s and they need to make them into musts. 

When you talk to someone who is fit, healthy and has no problem controlling their weight you will find out that they have a lot of must’s and minimal should’s about their health.  Here are some examples of my must’s and must not’s:

Must Not do

•        I must not overeat
•          I must not miss more than one day of exercise
•          I must not eat junk food
•          I must not drink alcohol

Must do

•       I must exercise for at least 30 minutes each day
•       I must eat raw fruits and vegetables rich in water
•       I must drink a gallon of water each day
•       I must run at least three times a week

On the other hand I have about one should: I should exercise more…..

Okay let us take a look at the other side.  Examples of someone who hasn’t lost the weight they know they “should.”  An example of their Must’s and should’s look like this:

Should not do

• I shouldn’t eat chocolate and ice cream
• I shouldn’t overeat to the point where I feel sick and sluggish
• I shouldn’t drink alcohol
• I shouldn’t sit down on the couch and watch t.v while I haven’t exercised

Should do

• I should eat more fruits and vegetables
• I should exercise more
• I should go for a 30 minute jog in the morning
• I should lose weight

Most people’s must list’s for staying healthy look like this: In order to be healthy I must get enough sleep and eat.  That is it!  Does this sound all too familiar to you?  Well if it does, then it is time to make a change!  You must lose weight now!  You must start eating right today!  You must, you must, you must!  This is your health that you are putting at risk!  You must change it now!

How To Change Your Rules Now

1. Write down what your current rules are.  What your “should do’s” what your “should not do’s” what your “must do’s” and what your “must not do’s” are. 
2. Simply change the ones that are disempowering you!  If there are some shoulds that you need to make must’s make them a must on the paper.  It will soon translate into your subconscious mind
3. Remind yourself everyday what your musts are to be healthy and make sure you meet them.
4. It becomes a habit!  Once you have conditioned your new rules in your mind for 30 days they have become a habit and it will be hard to break them now! 

Vegetarian Recipes : Banana Strawberry Frozen Desert

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-30 minutes in the freezer

1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple with the juice        3 cups frozen strawberries (1 pound bag)

3 Frozen Bananas 

Put all of the crushed pineapple and juice in a blender and add the frozen strawberries and bananas slowly, blending well with each addition.  Put 1/2 cup servings into serving dishes and place in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes.

To freeze the bananas wrap them in plastic rap and place them in the freezer for at least 12 hours