Lose Fat, Not Faith e-Zine Volume II Issue 2 February 11, 2005

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Table of Contents

1. In this Issue
2. Quotes
3. Editorial: Cupid's Arrow
4. What's New
   Valentine's Day Bonus: V Day Games
5. Training: Winter Exercise Tips
   
6. Nutrition: Figuring Your Calories
7. Health News
8. Motivation: Fatal Crash Transforms Lives
9. Business Development: Creating Opportunity
10. Closing Thoughts
11. Subscription Information

1. In this Issue

Welcome to the second issue in 2005 of the monthly Natural Physiques™ Newsletter! As always, I welcome you to contact me with your comments, suggestions, and constructive feedback. Click here to share your testimonial.

I am humbled by how blessed this year is turning out to be, so I am sharing some quotes on humility with this issue. In my editorial, I decided to take a different angle on the meaning of Cupid's Arrow. Learn all about the new free interviews, articles, and features on our site in our What's New section. We have a bonus article for those of you with children, called V Day Games. It may be February, but in most areas in the Northern Hemisphere, it's still cold. For those of you who turn on your electric blankets before falling asleep, we have some Winter Exercise Tips. No matter where you are in the world, it is often a challenge Figuring Your Calories out, so we included an article to help you take on that daunting task. Our Health News continues to bring you hope for the incredible health benefits of pursuing a balanced diet with the right supplementation. We have a very powerful and moving story to share with you about how a Fatal Crash Transforms Lives. Our favorite business philosopher, Jim Rohn, writes about Creating Opportunity, followed by my Closing Thoughts.

2. Quotes

The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem. - Charles Hadden Spurgeon

I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. - Helen Keller

By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. - Proverbs 22:4

Click here to learn more about Christ

3. Editorial: Cupid's Arrow

If you met me in 1996 and asked, "What's up?" chances are I would have given you a cynical sneer followed by a trite retort, "The sky." Not funny, I know. But that's exactly where I was.

You see, 1996 appeared to be a dead-end year for me. I had a steady job that was "comfortable" and interesting ... in fact, I would have enjoyed it if I didn't despise my boss, the hours I had to work, and the industry I was working in. Without getting into too many details, I was in an industry where politics played a large role in the success of the company, and some of the laundry didn't look too clean. I was also working for someone at the time who would walk up to you and say, "How's it going?" and then turn away to present his back before you even had time to reply. That's okay, however, because I am sure many people had a good reason to turn their back on me.

I was diagnosed as a bipolar manic depressive, and chose to lay the responsibility on the world for my woes, rather than being man enough to own my emotions. I was one of those people who would try to feel good by bringing others down — I delighted in finding and exploiting flaws. I was what you would call a "button-pusher" only I was always pushing the wrong buttons.

To illustrate just how selfish this period of my life was, imagine this - when I blew out my right anterior cruciat ligament (part of the knee joint) by slipping on a puddle of beer in a night club and having my leg fold underneath me, I was too stubborn to see a doctor. A few days later, boldly charging the net at a local basketball court and landing on that leg after planting a lay-up, my leg collapsed again. The next morning, it was swollen nearly the size of a basketball (I'm sure it gets larger every time I share this story) and I could barely move. To make a short story boring, I had surgery and had to completely replace the ligament. They cut a strip of a tendon in my leg (the patella tendon), drilled holes in the bone, then strung it through and bolted it in. Tada! A reconstructed leg.

While I was recovering, my friends did everything for me. They would come over to entertain me. They would bring videos. They would do my shopping for me. They would help ease my pain, because at that time, I was not making good choices. I was using drugs and alcohol as a way to ease my emotional pain, so it was an easy excuse to resort to those same crutches for my physical pain as well.

Despite all of this, I still believed I had no friends! I told myself constantly they didn't care for me. Can you imagine that? They practically waited on me hand and foot, and I returned their friendship by pushing them away because they "didn't care for me." So I'd end up alone in my garage apartment (the one with the windows spray-painted black because it was a former photography studio, with bars over the windows so the only circulation came in through the front door) feeling sorry for myself.

Somehow, near the end of the year, I decided that I needed to change things. I accepted a job in another state without knowing a soul there (around the same time, one of my former bosses — this one, a good friend of mine — would move to the same area) and promptly quit smoking and even managed to stop feeling sorry for myself.

As fate would have it, the first week I was in Atlanta, I was struck by Cupid's arrow. My soon-to-be wife stepped into a restaurant and our eyes locked. It was like an electric shock flowing through my body. Little did I know my life would change forever ... but this story is about more than finding love for someone else. It's about self-love.

You see, when I started dating my wife, I was a jealous man. Jealous because I loathed who I had become, and assumed other people were simply not to be trusted. I would get ill when I was away from her, and my possessive attitude almost broke the relationship. Then, something amazing happened.

I wish I could explain just how this was triggered, but I can't. I only know I was sitting down one day thinking about my wife, and realized how ridiculous jealously was. I had always been a possessive man because I lacked self-esteem. I had to have the attention because it was the only way I knew to feel good about myself. During that moment, however, I realized that I am that I am - no more, no less. If she loved me, there was nothing to worry about. If she didn't, then why get jealous? Let her move on, because there is no point in pursuing a relationship that isn't balanced on both ends.

That lesson set me free, and was the first step to a new love I was not familiar with — love for myself. It was only a few years later, in 1999, that I truly learned how powerful self-love can be. You see, self-love isn't about vanity — it isn't long hours spent in front of the mirror admiring the reflection. It is about confidence, faith, and believing in you. It is about loving yourself so that you have more love to give. And it is exactly what was required for me to successfully lose 65 pounds of fat.

In 1999, I began the journey to live healthier. And for 9 months, I could not break through the plateaus that were stopping me because I did not believe in myself. I wouldn't allow myself to deserve the breakthrough. Then, I met an extraordinary champion — EAS Physique Transformation Champion Jeff Seidman — and learned that it was not only possible to transform my life, but that the transformation was certain if I loved myself enough to allow it to happen. I became a believer in me, and the rest, as they say, was history.

This Valentine's Day, celebrate the love in your life. If you don't have a spouse or significant other, then celebrate it with your family, your parents, and your friends. But most importantly, while it is traditional to give tokens of love on this special day, remember that it's okay to receive love as well. After all, if we didn't accept the gifts given us, we would put the givers out of business! So tap into that most powerful love that creates energy you can give away — love thyself. Life is a gift, so receive it. Perhaps you've forgotten a few of your New Year's Resolutions or stumbled a few times on the road to your goals. It's okay. It's still early in the year. And with love, the most powerful emotion of all, you can overcome any obstacle and achieve those goals before the year is out!

Wishing your continued health, abundance, and success,

Jeremy Likness

4. What's New

Jeremy's BLOG

Keep up to date with my almost daily entries by visiting http://naturalphysiques.blogspot.com/.

New Audios

Interview with trainer and bodybuilder Tony Kehl

Jeremy Likness discusses Juice Fasting

Interview with Stella's Kitchen author Stella Juarez

Interview with Mike Mahler

Featured Calculator:

Use our Energy Burned During Activity calculator for estimates of what you would expend performing various activities (listed are some of the top activities, according to government surveys). The key is estimated as there are many factors that can influence the actual amount of calories burned.

Featured Articles

• We recently did a knockout interview with former fat guy Rob Cooper who lost almost 300 pounds! Learn more about Rob in our amazing success story, From Wide As High to Former Fat Guy
• Another interview guest, Rasheed Ali, shared with us an awesome article that asks, Do You Trust Your Mentors?
• Read our press release about Jeremy's selection as head trainer for the Christian Music Makeover
• Our regularly contributing author Jesse Cannone brings us the first in a series of articles with "Bodybuilding Sins" That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts
• Christina Chapan knows children. She has a great article in this issue about V Day Games and has also written the eye-opening Fat Facts, Future, Fiction, Fantasy, and Fables
• Kyle Battis makes his debut with, So You Want to Build a Home Gym?
• Greg Molis gives us an idea of what to expect from a chiropractor with his article on Chiropractic Treatment

Valentine's Day Bonus: V Day Games (by Christina Chapan)

Valentine's Day is coming up and often the focus is on sweets. The following games do not focus on sweets focus on but students working together and learning how to be better friends with one another. It's a fun way to celebrate this special day!

Warm ups

Heart of the Matter

Materials: Music, CD player, and ball or heart shaped object

The children take a ball or heart shaped object and throw it to each other in a circle. When the music stops, whoever has the object must go into the center of the circle and perform an aerobic activity such as running, jumping, etc. The rest of the class follows suit outside of the circle, and the object is passed around again until after the music stops.

Healthy Heart Hop

Materials: Valentines with various exercises on them

As the students enter the activity area tell them you have special Valentines for them from you. Hand the Valentines out to the students. Students read the card, perform the fitness activity safely in the activity area, and then they give another student the card. Continue as long as you like.

Medium Activities

Sweetheart Throw

Materials: Hearts with various point values, small balls or sponges to hit various heart targets, tape Take three hearts and have the kids each throw a ball or sponge. Add the point values to each heart hit. The student with the most points wins.

HS vs. VH

Materials: Valentine heart

Have all the children hide their eyes while you "hide" a valentine in the room. Tell the children to find the Valentine, but not touch it. Once they spot it they should sit back down in their spot. The first one to sit down again will get to hide the valentine.

Heart Felt Greetings

Materials: chute, heart-shaped name card for each child, and overhead marker with each child's name

Lift the chute over their heads. Have several children put the heart shaped name cards, face-up under the chute. Lower the chute. Name two or three children and a movement. Everyone else raises the chute. The children you named go under the chute doing the movement, as they look for their hearts. Everyone else chants. After each child finds his heart, he picks up and does the movement back to his place. Continue until everyone has his heart.

High Energy Activities

Race for the Heart

Cut out a bunch of different-colored hearts, write different actions on them (e.g., hop, clap, crawl, skip, etc.), and place the hearts in a decorated box.

Divide the kids into 2 teams and designate who goes first.

The leader of each team would run up to a box and pull out a heart. Each child must do that particular action, then run back to his team. The next child in the line is given the heart, and they must do that action back to the heart box. The games continue until every child has a turn.

Partner Project

Materials Needed: Laminated hearts, Cut the hearts down the middle in one of three pathways; straight, curved, or zigzag, balloons, music

Students choose one-half of a heart and a balloon at random. Students then spread out in the general space. They begin traveling on the teacher's signal or music beginning with their balloon in the pathway given on edge of their heart.. On the teachers' signal students move and safely find someone else who shares the same pathway by matching connecting edges, and finding their heart partner.When students have found a partner, they will throw the balloon back and forth five times.

Operation Valentine's Day

Materials:

• Four bases
• Ten beanbags
• Two necklaces for the taggers
• Two boxes to hold the beanbags
• Three Hula Hoops

Spread the bases out throughout the playing area. On one sideline, place 2 hula-hoops (this is the empty chocolate box). On the opposite sideline, place one hula-hoop (this is Cupid's base). At one end of the gym (in the middle), place the beanbags (known as the valentines/chocolates) in a box on the end line. At the other end of the gym, place an empty box on the end line, (this box is where the students place the rescued valentines (beanbags).

Select two students who will be the taggers. Have each one wear a necklace. They are named the "Huggers" and the "Kissers" (one student is "hugs" the other is "kisses" - as in Hershey's chocolate kisses). The two taggers stand in the center circle of the gym to start the game. Then select one student to be "Cupid," and have him/her stand in the one hula-hoop (Cupid's safety zone) on the sideline. The rest of the class is lined up on the end line, opposite the box of valentines (beanbags).The object of the game is to see how fast the class can rescue the valentines (beanbags) by avoiding the taggers (Hugs & Kisses). Start the game by having the students WALK first, and then add various locomotor movements later. Running is not a good choice for safety reasons for this game. If a student is tagged by a hugger or kisser, they must go to the empty chocolate box (the 2 hula-hoops on the sideline) and if they had a valentine (beanbag), they must return it to the box. The student may rejoin the game once they are tagged back in by Cupid. The only "safe" zones in this game are the bases. The student may only be on a base for 10 seconds or less, and may only use one base for each trip (down and back). Therefore, students may not base hop (go from one base to another and so on). Only one student per base is allowed. Also, the taggers cannot "guard" the bases and Cupid may not use the bases as a safety zone.The game continues until: 1) all of the valentines (beanbags) are rescued or 2) Cupid is tagged outside of the safety zone (hula-hoop) . When the game is over pick new huggers and kissers, and a new Cupid.

Heart Felt Feelings

Materials needed: 2-4 Small Foam balls (preferably red), Valentine's Day cards, basket to place cards in

Establish clear boundaries for the game and set up a basket outside the boundaries that contains various Valentine's Day cards Then select two students to hold the red foam balls - they are the taggers. Ask students to walk first, and then incorporate different locomotor skills. If a student is tagged by a person with a red foam ball, he/she must assume the shape of a valentine with hands held in a heart shape over their head, feet together. To get back in the game a student who is free runs to the person and says something nice about them. The frozen person is now free to get back in the game.

Cool Down

It is a great idea to have some finger plays to share with your students. It is a great way to cool them down and get them ready for their next class.

Valentines, valentines
Red, white and blue
I will make a nice one
And send it to you.

Valentine's Day
If I could be the mail carrier
For just one single time,
I would choose to carry Valentines
So lovely and so fine.
I would not mind the heavy load,
Or mind my tired feet.
If I could scatter happiness,
All up and down the street.

Counting Valentines
Valentines, valentines, how many do I see?
Valentines, valentines, count them with me.
I have red ones, orange ones, yellow ones, too.
I have green ones, purple ones, and some that are blue.
Valentines, valentines, how many do I see?
Count them with me! 1-2-3-4-5.....

5 Little Valentines
Five little valentines were having a race
The first little valentine was frilly with lace.
The second little valentine had a funny face.
The third little valentine said, "I love you."
The fourth little valentine said, "I do too."
The fifth little valentine was sly as a fox.
He ran the fastest to the valentine box.

Children sit in a circle and send a imaginary valentine to one of their friends.

Valentine's Day Song
(can be sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)
You're a special friend of mine,
Friend of mine, friend of mine,
You're a special friend of mine,
Be my Valentine.

HEART
(can be sung to the tune of BINGO)
To show you like your special friend,
Just give them each a heart,
H. E. A. R. T, H. E. A. R. T, H. E. A. R. T, Each heart says I like you.

Three Valentines
(to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb")
Three valentines I have for you
Have for you; have for you,
Three valentines I have for you,
Pink and red and blue.
I will put them in the mail for you,
Mail for you, mail for you,
I will put them in the mail for you,
Pink and red and blue.

Love is a Circle
Love is a circle, ( children walk or another aerobic activity in a circle)
Round and round,
Love goes up, (children wave hands up)
And love comes down, ( children wave hands down)
Love is on the inside, ( children move into the inside)
Trying to get out, ( children move out of the close circle)
Love is whirling and twirling about! ( whirl and twirl in the circle)

So if you are looking for games for your next day Valentine's party look no further but in V-Day Games!

References

Party Game Ideas
Valentine Volley
Valentine's Day for the Heart
Valentine Rescue
Valentine's Tag
Wnek, Barbara. Holiday Games, and Activities, Champaign, IL Human Kinetics, 1992
A Collection of Valentine's Day Games
Wilmes, Liz and Dick. Parachute Play. Elgin, Illinois: Building Blocks, 2000

For more information about Christina Chapan, click here.

5. Training: Winter Exercise Tips (by Lynn Bode, CFT)

With the temperatures plummeting this time of year, many of us tend to hibernate inside our homes. But, hibernating is for bears. As humans it's important to stay active through all four seasons. Yet, a poll of 5,000 people found that 30 percent get no exercise at all during the winter months.

Just because it is cold outside doesn't make it open season for an excuse not to exercise. There are multiple exercise options one can choose to participate in regardless of what the outdoor thermometer reads. Depending on your location and likes, you can choose to workout inside or outside.

All that is required for Winter-time workouts is some planning and employing all safety precautions. If you prefer to workout outside, keep the following tips in mind.

• Get warm first. A proper warm-up is critical. Cold temperatures can make your muscles tight and therefore they are more prone to injuries. So, it's important to get them warmed-up prior to engaging in intense physical activity.
• Insulate your body. The best approach to dressing for outdoor exercise is with layers. Layering provides the most effective heating method, plus it allows you to remove the top layer if you get too hot. The layer closest to your skin should allow moisture to be wicked away. The top layer should be both wind and water resistant.
• No sweat. Don't assume that you have to sweat in order to get a good workout. You should avoid sweating that causes the clothing layer closest to your skin to get wet and cause you to be chilled. Instead monitor your intensity through a heart rate monitor or the Rating of Perceived Exertion.
• Don't strip when you get inside. While you may be tempted to immediately remove your layers when returning inside, give your body time to adjust. Post exercise hypothermia is possible. This happens when your body rapidly loses its heating stores.
• Drink up. It's just as important to stay hydrated when exercising in winter as it is in summer, even though you might not feel as thirsty.
• Lighten up. If possible, it's best to exercise outdoors during daylight areas. But, with shorten days that can be difficult to do. If you exercise outdoors when it is dark, wear reflective materials to ensure that you can be seen.

If the thought of getting outside to exercise makes you dive under the covers, instead choose one of the many indoor workout options. Below are just a few of the many choices.

• Walk at an indoor location, like a mall. If you need extra motivation to get yourself to the mall, join a walking group. This will help you stay accountable to someone other than yourself.
• Join a health club. This will allow you a large variety of physical activities to choose from every week.
• Create a home gym. This doesn't have to be expensive. You can easily set-up a great workout routine with just a set of dumbbells, an exercise ball and a jump rope. Get all of this for around $50.
• If you have stairs where you live or close by, spend as little as 20 minutes at a time climbing up and down the stairs for a very intense and efficient workout.
• Get wet. Find a local indoor pool you can use. Try swimming, water aerobics, or even just walking or running laps in the water.
• Visit a library. Usually local libraries offer exercise videos you can check-out for free. Pick-up a new one to try out every time you return the previous video.

By staying fit during winter you'll be able to avoid gaining weight, have a head start on swimsuit season, and avoid losing strength and stamina caused from inactivity. Just as tulips need winter nourishment from the Earth to strongly bloom in spring, humans need to continue to nourish their bodies during winter so they too can bloom come spring.

Lynn Bode is a certified personal trainer specializing in Internet-based fitness programs. She founded Workouts For You, which provides affordable online exercise programs that are custom designed for each individual. Visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com for a free sample workout. Fitness professionals take your business online, visit: http://www.trainerforce.com.

6. Nutrition: Figuring Your Calories (by Rob Siders from www.the-fat-burn-book.com)

There's been much ado about calories, and with good reason.

What, with all the competing popular diets out there, it's hard to really know what exact role the calorie has.

Flipping through Body-for-Life, Atkins, and South Beach Diet books—the three most popular diet plans-the word, or the concept, is hardly mentioned . except to say that counting them isn't necessary to find success on their plans.

Yeah, right.

But what we really know about calories is that the human body's ability to gain and lose fat is completely dependent on these little units of energy. Tossing out counting them, at least for a time during our fitness journeys, is a little shortsighted.

Actually, it's a lot shortsighted.

It's Energy, Baby

But this misunderstood fat loss component isn't as mysterious as we've been led to believe. In fact, the proven "secret" to fat loss is fairly simple: Use more calories than you eat and you burn fat; eat more than you use and your body stores the excess as fat.

Granted, there are variables that effect how much you weigh (not to be confused with how much fat you have). For example, when you consume foods high in sodium, your body may retain an extra amount of water. That water has weight and your scale weight will show it.

Imperceptible hormonal changes, especially those that women experience, may sometimes result in wide variations in weight from one part of the day to another.

Even in men, the variations can be significant. Just the other day, I weighed 231 pounds in the morning after my workout and with an empty stomach (the day before I had weighed 227 pounds). When I arrived home from work later that day, I stepped on the scale and it read 226.5 pounds.

In the span of 36 hours I had spiked up four pounds and settled back four and one-half pounds. Clearly there were other factors at work than just the weight of my lean tissue and fat.

Looking at my calorie intake for the day before, I noticed that I was under my maintenance level of about 3,600 calories. So it couldn't be that I had consumed more calories that I used and certainly not 14,000 EXTRA calories. (It takes 3,500 extra calories to gain one pound of fat; therefore, 3,500 times four extra pounds equals 14,000.)

On the other side of that, I didn't do anything so strenuous that I burned that same 14,000 calories off—plus and additional 1,750 calories—the day after. What gives? The only answer I have is, "I dunno." I marked both numbers in my progress chart and I moved on.

I don't really want to get into the scientific ins-and-outs of calories. That could be another newsletter in its entirety. I just want to stick with teaching how to figure out how many calories you should consume to ensure consistent fat loss . combined, of course, with vigorous exercise via resistance and cardio training.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about how calories work, chapter six of Tom Venuto's book—Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle—has an excellent explanation of exactly what a calorie is, as well as a deeper exploration of the science behind caloric intake and fat loss. I highly recommend it.

Methodology and Terminology

Plug the words "calorie calculator" into your favorite search engine and you'll probably get a lot of results. Probably more than you could visit in the span of a month.

It almost seems that there at least that many methodologies and terms associated with calorie calculation. Complex formulas. BMI. BMR. Activity Factors. Calorie deficits. What does it all mean?

Good questions. Some I will explain as we go. Some other things I'll just cross off the list.

The first is BMI, or Body Mass Index.

Frankly, you can jettison that bunko measurement from your brain. The Body Mass Index takes a person's weight and height and calculates some arbitrary number that somehow corresponds to that person's level of obesity. Right away you can see how flawed it is.

I'm 5-feet 10-inches tall and 226 pounds, so my BMI number (a monstrous 32) falls well into the obese portion of the index. My body fat is at about 16 percent right now, a mere 36 pounds of fat and 190 pounds of lean tissue. Clearly, I'm not obese.

Because the BMI never considers a person's body composition, the index itself is faulty. Sadly, it's widely used by diet, nutrition, and other health professionals as a tool to determine whether a person is at risk for disease associated with obesity.

Next is BMR. This is actually a good term to know. It stands for Basal Metabolic Rate, or Base Metabolic Rate. In essence, it is the rate at which you body burns calories simply to exist: nothing more, nothing less.

This number is the foundation upon which we'll determine fat loss, weight gain, and weight maintenance calorie levels. Once the BMR is determined, you'll need to add a basic activity factor to account for the general activities that make up your day: work, dealing with kids, running errands, and so on. To estimate this, take your BMR number and multiply it by .25.

Consume more calories than your BMR plus the activity factor and you gain weight (either as all fat, or some mixture of muscle and fat). Consume fewer calories than your BMR plus the activity factor and you lose weight (either as all fat, or some mixture of muscle and fat). Consume the same number of calories as your BMR plus the activity factor and your weight should stay roughly the same.

Last is caloric deficit. It is just what it says it is: consuming fewer calories than your body uses. If your BMR plus your activity factor is 2,500 and you consume just 2,000 calories, then you're in a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day.

That should do it for starters. Let's move on to the methods for figuring your daily caloric intake.

Technology

There are a couple of technological methods you could use to calculate your BMR . and I'm not talking about plugging your vital stats into a Web site and clicking the button to generate some number. I'm talking about some pretty complex machines.

You may have seen documentaries or health-related shows where a runner is on a treadmill with a bunch of electrodes pasted to his body and a tube shoved in his mouth.

It's likely that what they're measuring is the runner's VO2 max and energy output, both of which are necessary components in figuring a person's actual caloric needs. Well, it just isn't practical or convenient for a person to go through such tests to find out this information on a regular basis.

For this reason, a company called HealtheTech has developed a handheld device, called BodyGem, which can deliver results just about as good. The BodyGem test measures VO2 max in a person as they sit still in a chair.

The portable device was borne from a need measure the caloric needs of severe burn victims as they lie in recovery beds. You see, because of the severity of the trauma, burn patients expend a lot of energy—or calories—as their bodies try to heal the injuries.

Many burn victims have died, not from the burns themselves, but from wasting away because they couldn't get enough calories to continue fighting infection and generating new cells. Using the BodyGem test, professionals who care for burn victims can determine proper caloric intake without asking them to hop on a treadmill with electrodes attached their skin.

Enter the emergence of this device into other arenas. Most commercial health club chains offer BodyGem testing for a nominal fee, usually between $25 and $50. Even places where fitness equipment is sold sometimes offer the test. (Be sure to visit HealtheTech's Web site to find out where in your area you can take the test.)

I last took one at my gym more than a year ago. I blew a 2,100.

That number represented my BMR . the number of calories my body needed just to breathe, blink my eyes, pump blood and be very, very still. After adding in my activity factor and my maintenance calories were at 2,625 (2,100 times .25 equals an activity factor of 525 calories . 2,100 plus 525 equals 2,625).

To burn fat, my caloric intake needed to be moderately less than my BMR plus my activity factor.

In fact, by dropping my calories to about 2,100 calories per day, I was on pace to lose about one pound of fat per week (500 calories times seven days equals 3,500 calories, which equals one pound of fat). Had I dropped it much more than that, say to an aggressive 1,600 calories for a two pound loss per week, I may have been in danger of triggering a starvation response.

At the time, I was 248 pounds, only moderately and inconsistently active, and about 30 percent fat.

Considering these factors, consuming just 1,600 calories each day would not have been a wise move, because the closer one gets to zero the more likely the body will compensate by holding onto fat already in the body and converting new calories to fat as a means of short term survival.

That's millions of years of human evolution at work, folks. Like the old margarine ads used to say, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." No, it's not nice because, frankly, she's a real bitch when she needs to be.

I've since improved my conditioning and body composition by leaps and bounds, so it would be wise for me to take another reading, if for no other reason than to satisfy my own curiosity.

Figuring it the Old Fashioned Way: Pencil, Paper and Calculator

There are various and sundry methods for calculating your BMR that do not include a breathing apparatus and treadmill. Some are so patently simple that they're no more useful than the Body Mass Index. Others are simple and extremely useful. Some you just plain need a slide rule . or so it would seem when you look at the formulas.

I'm going to stick to just a couple. I've tried quite a few calculations and I have found a couple to be relatively reliable, as they put my own BMR into a ballpark that seems reasonable, given my weight, body fat, and activity level at the time of the calculation.

The first of these methods is the Harris-Benedict Formula. The beauty of this one is that uses a person's height, weight and activity factor to determine maintenance calorie levels. Plus, it makes allowances for both men and women.

On the other side, the calculation makes no regard to the amount of lean tissue, so the resulting figures may not be very accurate for people with lower body fat percentages. Besides, if your body fat is already quite low, you probably don't need me to explain how to figure your caloric needs for fat loss!

Harris Benedict Formula for Women

First, figure your BMR by completing the following equation:

655 + (9.6 X weight in kilos) + (1.8 X height in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

(1 inch equals 2.54 centimeter; 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds)

Let's look at an example:

You are 32 years old
You are 5 feet 4 inches tall (162.5 cm)
Your weight is 185 pounds (84 kilos)
Your BMR is 655 + (806) + (291) - (150) = 1,602 calories

Next, determine your total daily calorie needs by multiplying your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

• If you are Sedentary (little or no exercise), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.2
• If you are Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.375
• If you are Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.55
• If you are Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.725
• If you are Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.9

Using our example woman above, we'll assume she's sedentary and multiply her BMR of 1,602 by 1.2. Her total daily calorie requirement is 1,922 calories. This is the total number of calories she needs in order to MAINTAIN her current weight.

In this case, it's recommended that this person NOT drop her calories below 1,200. If she keeps it at a more conservative 1,422, she should be fine.

Of course, it means that her fat loss will be less aggressive—just one pound per week at most ... 500 calories times seven days equals 3,500—but to go further would put her at risk for the starvation response.

Certainly, as she becomes more active, her caloric needs will increase and more aggressive fat loss caloric deficits can be implemented.

Harris Benedict Formula for Men

First, figure your BMR by completing the following equation:

66 + (13.7 X weight in kilos) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

(1 inch equals 2.54 centimeter; 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds)

Now let's look at another example:

You are 25 years old
You are 6 feet tall
Your weight is 220 pounds
Your BMR is 66 + (1,370) + (914) - (170) = 2,180 calories

Next, determine your total daily calorie needs by multiplying your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

• If you are Sedentary (little or no exercise), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.2
• If you are Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.375
• If you are Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.55
• If you are Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.725
• If you are Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training), take your BMR from above and multiply it by 1.9

Using our example man above, we'll assume he's also sedentary and multiply his BMR of 2,180 by 1.2. His total daily calorie requirement is 2,616 calories. This is the total number of calories he needs in order to MAINTAIN his current weight.

To lose one pound per week, he'll need to have a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories (3,500 calories divided by seven days equals 500) which brings him to 2,116 calories per day.

So that's one calculation. The next calculation is my favorite because it's simpler and it also has put me into a range with which I've had better success . without using the BodyGem or similar test.

Simpler = Better

I don't know where the formula originates, except it's one that's frequently used in Men's Health Magazine, as well as in Lou Schuler's Testosterone Advantage Plan and in Ian King's The Book of Muscle. Also, I've only seen it applied to men and I haven't found a version designed specifically designed for women, so individual mileage may vary for women.

To figure your calories begin with your weight. Multiply that number by 11. The result of this is your BMR.

For example, let's take a man who weighs 225 pounds: 225 pounds times 11 equals 2,475.

Next, we'll figure the metabolic factor as a combination of the person's age and activity level . which is defined simply as Mostly Sedentary, Moderately Active, or Dedicated Exerciser or Athlete.

Now, let's use the chart above to determine your metabolic factor by finding the percentage that matches your age and activity level. To maintain some consistency between methodology and examples, we'll continue to use what we used above in the Harris-Benedict Formula . which means that our hypothetical man is 25 and mostly sedentary.

The chart, then, tells us to use 30 percent, like this:

2,475 (BMR) times 30 percent equals 742.5 (2,475 x .3 = 742.5). This number is your metabolic factor.

Now that we have that number, we add it back into the BMR to arrive at the MAINTENANCE calorie level, like this:

2,475 (BMR) plus 742 (metabolic factor) equals 3,217 calories.

To lose one pound per week, simply subtract 500 calories from the maintenance total, like this:

3,217 - 500 = 2,717

To recap:

Weight x 11 = BMR

BMR x Activity Level = Metabolic Factor

BMR + Metabolic Factor = Maintenance Calories

To lose one pound per week:

Maintenance Calories - 500

To lose two pounds per week:

Maintenance Calories - 1,000

Conclusion

So there it is: some basic and not-so-basic methods for figuring out your caloric needs. It's not necessarily an exact science, but hopefully it will give you some tools to make some better estimates of where you need to be to help ensure your success. In most cases, you will need to experiment for a while to figure out where in a range you achieve your best results.

And in all cases, it will be wise for you to track your calories over a period of time, making notes along the way. Internationally renowned fitness expert, Ian King, suggests that nine to 12 weeks is usually sufficient to garner some keen insight to where your calories should be to achieve maximum and healthy fat loss.

But it doesn't really end there. As your conditioning and fitness levels improve, so will your caloric needs. Muscle mass needs more fuel because it burns more fuel. Adjusting your calories will be necessary and the process begins all over again.

There are some tools available on the Internet that can be quite helpful. Most notably, there's a Web site called Fitday.com that allows you to track your calories online. Its database is extensive and it allows you to enter custom foods that do not appear in the list.

As a companion to Fitday.com, I recommend another Web site called CalorieKing.com. It's another database, but it specializes in name brands and common items found on the shelves of your local grocer and restaurants. It won't track your calories like Fitday.com, but it will help you know how the name brand foods you eat break down nutritionally.

Rob Siders is the owner of The-Fat-Burn-Book.com and Blog for a Singular Quest. He lives in Denver, Colo., and considers himself a "recovering athlete." An active participant in organized sports during his teenage years and early 20s, Rob spent 15 years since then overindulging in bad foods and unhealthy behavior. At 35-years-old—after watching his wife lose 70 pounds in 18 months and then becoming a personal trainer—he decided to get serious about his own physical fitness and long-term health in mid-2004.

7. Health News

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The effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on blood lipids

It is well known that soy protein has a beneficial effect on blood lipids, but it has been unclear which components of soy protein are responsible for the health benefits. A new meta-analysis of 23 controlled trials, published in the February 9, 2005 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, aimed to identify and quantify the effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on blood lipids.

The results of this study show that soy protein containing intact isoflavones significantly reduced total cholesterol by 3.77%, LDL cholesterol by 5.25% and triglycerides by 7.27%. In studies greater than twelve weeks in duration, beneficial HDL cholesterol was increased by over 3%. These changes were related to the level and duration of intake, gender, and initial serum lipid concentrations of the subjects. Whereas soy protein containing isoflavones had significant positive effects on blood lipids, researchers found that tablets containing only extracted soy isoflavones did not have the same effect on total cholesterol reduction

Increasing calcium from diet and supplements lowers colorectal cancer risk

Research conducted by the University of Minnesota Cancer Center and School of Public Health has shown that women who consume more than 800 milligrams of calcium each day may reduce their risk of developing colorectal cancer by as much as 46 percent.

The study, published in the January 2005 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, followed over 45,000 women for an average of 8.5 years. The researchers found that the women who consumed at least 800 mg of calcium each day had a 24 percent reduction of colorectal cancer risk regardless of whether the calcium intake was from diet or supplement. However, in the women simultaneously consuming high levels of calcium totaling at least 1200 mg a day from both diet and supplements, the colorectal cancer risk dropped to 46 percent.

Dietary fiber may help prevent hypertension

Dietary fiber intake in Western countries averages approximately 15 grams per day, which is about half the amount recommended by the American Heart Association and other health organizations. A new study published in the January 24th issue of Archives of Internal Medicine shows that increasing fiber intake may have a positive influence on blood pressure. Researchers performed a meta-analysis of 24 randomized placebo-controlled trials involving over 1,400 subjects to measure the impact of fiber supplementation on blood pressure. Fiber supplementation at an average of 11.5 grams per day reduced systolic blood pressure by 1.13 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 1.26 mm Hg. Reductions in blood pressure were larger in older (> 40 years) and hypertensive subjects.

Previous research has shown that fiber has a favorable effect on blood lipids and may help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. The present meta-analysis indicates that dietary fiber may contribute to prevention of hypertension, especially in Western populations where intake is far below recommended levels.

Folic Acid reduces risk of hypertension in women

Folic acid supplements, widely used by women to prevent birth defects, may prevent hypertension in women, possibly due to its ability to relax blood vessels and ease blood flow. In a new study, published in the January 19th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers analyzed health data collected from over 150,000 women participating in the Nurses Health Study. Researchers found that the women aged 27 to 44, who consumed at least 1,000 micrograms of folic acid daily -- from foods and supplements -- had a 46 percent decreased risk of developing hypertension compared with those who consumed less than 200 micrograms a day. And in the women aged 43 to 70, those with a high intake had an 18 percent reduced risk of developing hypertension.

Folate occurs naturally in substances such as orange juice and leafy green vegetables, and is added to certain food products, but getting the vitamin from foods alone failed to lower the risk of hypertension. Higher total folate, obtained from both diet and supplements, reduced the risk of hypertension, particularly in younger women.

A Note on Pharmaceutical Grade Supplementation

It seems every day a news headline flashes by and demonstrates how powerful antioxidants are for general health. Unfortunately, most people are not well-educated regarding the benefits of multivitamins and therefore "settle" for far less than what their body deserves. Research is typically performed in a quality environment where the ingredients tested are high potency: when the research reports a specific amount, you can be certain that is well within the range of what was indicated. Are supplements that you take off a supermarket shelf subject to the same standard of quality? The answer is NO! The supplement industry is only loosely regulated, and many manufacturers choose to avoid quality control processes. Some use their own, proprietary techniques that are not verified by third parties. Often when they embrace what is known as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), they adhere to the "food" standard, which is far less demanding than the "pharmaceutical" standard. You can read more about these standards by visiting Current Good Manufacturing Practices and USP.org.

There is a great guide to multivitamins called the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Lyle MacWilliams, B.Sc., M.Sc., FP. Lyle is a former Canadian Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for British Columbia. His book not only introduces the importance of antioxidants, but has several chapters explaining how they impact health. It covers the research behind vitamins and minerals. Most importantly, Lyle pulled together a panel of leading nutritionists (all doctors) to find the recommended levels for optimal health. This was called the "Blended Standard" and over 1000 multivitamins were compared against the standard. Only 500 made the cut, and of these, only 5 ranked in the 90th percentile or higher! Lyle published the scores for these top 500 in his book.

If your vitamin scored in the top 10%, that is fantastic! Congratulations for taking steps to protect your health - the monthly investment in a pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin is, in my opinion, a true health insurance policy. If your multivitamin is not superior quality, or if you are not currently taking a multivitamin, then I encourage you to read this to appreciate the value of the multivitamins that I sell (it took me four years to find a company with this level of quality and integrity), and then contact me, call toll-free 1-888-472-2829, or sign up online as a preferred customer to place your order and get started right away! Your health is precious, and I would not ask you to invest in something so important without offering the opportunity risk-free. Our products adhere to pharmaceutical-grade GMP, come with a potency guarantee that what is on the label is in the bottle, and are backed by a 100% 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. Motivation: Fatal Crash Transforms Lives (by John Leonard)

Hello my name is John Leonard, I am the president of Fit 4 Real and I am going to share my story with you.

It is the story of how my life was shaped as well as the reason I have dedicated my life to helping people become fit, healthy and, most importantly, happy.

Let me start by telling you what I was like a few years ago. Like most people in their twenty’s, I was a bit of a party animal. I had a decent job and therefore a bit of money to party with. I drank, ate out several times a week and stayed up late. The only exercise I got was when I played sports. I did play a lot of sports, but did a lot of abuse to my body in the process. I mean, how much does the exercise of a nice hockey game really mean to your fitness level when you drink ten beers and eat a couple pounds of wings after the game? Not much. I was almost 240 lbs, which at five foot nine is a lot – too much!

I worked a physical job in a chemical warehouse, but I hated it. I wasn’t where I wanted to be at all. There was no end in sight. I was a lifer! I was destined to work 730am until 4pm for the rest of my life. Five days a week. But the money was ok and I partied after work.

But this is not about my former job. Not at all.

It was a normal Friday night. I worked some overtime and finished work at 1130pm. I met up with some friends at a local bar; it was someone’s birthday. I got to the bar, did some karaoke and drank some beer. It was now 2am and my brother’s fiancé, who happened to be there, asked me if I wanted a ride home.

Did I want a ride home? Little did I know, that was the question that would hold the answer to the biggest decision of my entire life. I said no. I had a designated driver for my car.

At about 2.30 am we jumped into a couple of cars, all with sober drivers, and headed to Subway for a sub. It was only a two-minute drive. Home was two-minutes further.

From my extra long day and the beers, I fell right to sleep as soon as I got into the passenger seat of my car. When I woke it was a different world. Chaos.

 

I awoke suddenly to see my car springing backwards away from the tree. There were broken teeth and blood in my mouth, and blood gushing from a large gash on my forehead. My knees were pinned to the seat by the floor and the dashboard and I was almost broken in half by the seatbelt.

I got out of the car to notice utter destruction. The car had hit a tree at 120 km/h head on the driver side. The driver was not wearing a seatbelt. I am sorry to say, rest his soul, he was ejected about 60 feet from the car and died. One young man in the back seat, right behind me, lay in the back seat with a broken neck. Finally his girlfriend lay with her head out the back window, eyes open, unconscious. My world, as I knew it, had ended.

Minutes seemed like seconds. It seemed like there was a crowd instantly. Police, fire and ambulance along with some co-workers and resident surrounded the destruction. The accident happened only minutes from my home. I was taken to the hospital for repairs.

At the hospital I was x rayed, stitched and consoled by doctors, family and friends. The police were there to ask me what kind of car it was. I remember yelling at them, “what do you mean”. “We can’t tell” was the sad reply they gave me.

They couldn’t tell what kind of car it was. It was that destroyed.

The x rays showed that I mysteriously had no broken bones, except for my nose. Imagine how I felt. I felt guilty. How come people are gone, paralyzed and broken but I have no broken bones. The CT scan even showed no signs of brain damage or even a concussion. My face hit the windshield and only stitches. My knees were badly damaged. They were not broken, but the damage was bad nonetheless. My ligaments were, and still are, all out of whack. I couldn’t walk for 4 months and was told that sports were done for me. A cane might be in my future.

The young man driving the car was gone at 23. The young man in the back seat, directly behind me, is now paralyzed from the neck down. And the girl is, for the most part, fully recovered. It is a tragedy that 4 lives were forever changed at the age of 23. A definite tragedy.

 

There was absolutely no way I was going to spend my life without sports. I was not going to be dependant upon a stick to walk properly. As soon as I could stand on my leg I decided to sign up for college and become a personal trainer. I would fix my own injury and help prevent anything like this from happening to anyone ever again. It had to be the reason I was spared. I believed it then and still do to this day.

Imagine being 60 lbs overweight and deciding to become a fitness professional. Everyone thought I was nuts. That wasn’t about to stop me, say what you want. I began and finished college, got a job as a personal trainer at a large health club and learned how to deal with people. I learned to really connect and teach people a new lifestyle. I was helping. I soon became a fitness manager, teaching other professionals to help change lives. It was great for a while, but I wanted to help more. It wasn’t about money or even recognition. It was, and always will be, about PEOPLE.

That is how Fit 4 Real came to be. It came from the ashes of destruction. Passion coupled with the vision, determination and integrity of overweight and broken man started something wonderful. I will never forget what happened, where I was or who was there. I was given a gift; an eye-opening event changed my life, and many others in one moment.

This is my story. Does it have a happy ending? Well, I am happy, those that I have helped change their lives are happy and many more will become happy as they become educated and empowered. Fortunately, I see no end in sight. I hope that my story has taught you a few things. No matter what your circumstances, there is absolutely no reason for you not to change your life. If I can do it, anyone can. Secondly, I hope you understand that change can happen in an instant, one decision can change the course of your life forever. Make good ones. Finally, it doesn’t take what happened to me for you to change anything you want. If you are having trouble, we can help. There is a program for everyone. We can help you develop it.

One final note; I would like for everyone to understand that they can email me at any time. I will always respond to your emails. It may take a day or two, but I will always get back to you. Never doubt the fact that I am here if you need me.

Until we meet, good luck.

Yours in fitness

John Leonard.

John Leonard is a Fitness Professional, Author and speaker. John is a contributing writer for the World Natural Sports Organization (www.WNSO.com) producers of the acclaimed FAME World Events Series (www.FAMEworldevents.com). John will be taking the competition stage for the first time in June 2005 at the FAME 2005 World Championships (www.FAME2005.com) John has dedicated his life to helping improve lives as President of Fit 4 Real Fitness Inc. Visit his website at www.fit4realfitness.com

Great Health, Wealth, Relationships and Overall Success! Become part of a group that has committed to a plan, a process, a blueprint and a commitment to inspect and improve their lives. The Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan (including experts Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy) will help you do just that and become the person you desire to become. Visit: www.jimrohn.com today!

9. Business Development: Creating Opportunity (by Jim Rohn)

An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life.

To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.

A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.

Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.

What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.

And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth - your enterprising nature.

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to www.jimrohn.com.
Copyright © 2001 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.

Could today be the day that turns your life around? Visit this page and take a look around. This is definitely not for everyone, but if you feel you are one of the few who qualify, leave me your contact information and we'll set up a time to talk! - Jeremy

For more business development and motivation articles, visit MLM-Secret.com - the site dedicated to entrepreneurs!

10. Closing Thoughts

The second month is already here! We are well on our way into the first quarter. So what goals did you accomplish so far? I met several of my goals, and missed a few more.

I achieved one of my financial goals just one week late ... no complaints. I've grown my network marketing business and introduced several more individuals the possibility of true freedom. My wife and I enjoyed our first movie out together in quite some time, and had a great vacation weekend in the Savoy lodge. I've been consistently performing my combat conditioning routines, and the dogs are getting walked on a regular basis. We joined a new church that we now regularly attend, I became more involved in the community through an organization that I joined and we have all come together more closely as a family. Plenty of goals accomplished, and others that are yet to be reached — the key is that I'm focused on consistent action to make them real.

What are your favorite accomplishments so far this year? What goals did you miss, and why did you miss them? Were they not realistic, or did you simply not take the action to succeed? What are you going to do about it? The choice is yours to be in control of your life and especially your health. Enjoy the coming weeks and until next time, I am honored to be

Your partner in health,

Jeremy Likness
CEO, Natural Physiques
A Division of Golden Summit, Inc.
1-888-472-2829

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