| So I'm flying back to New York from London and had | | | | when they diet. All this and the average american still |
| the pleasure of sitting next to this 14 year old boy from | | | | gains 2 lbs a year! That means we eat 7000 extra |
| Russia. With seven hours to kill I decided to ask the kid | | | | calories more than we burn each year. |
| about his travels. He tells me how he is a professional | | | | 7000/365 = 20 calories a day |
| body builder on tour and proceeded to show me his | | | | So with all the stress of trying to change our diet, on |
| biceps that were probably bigger than mine! | | | | average we still end up eating 20 calories too many |
| What shocked me was the picture he pulls out. Just 3 | | | | every day. |
| years before he was a flabby, pale, fat kid! Now I was | | | | Calories in an Oreo cookie: 50 |
| quite impressed especially since I could sympathize, | | | | So if the average American were to stop yo yo |
| once being the chubby kid growing up. I asked him | | | | dieting, just be consistent and eat one less Oreo |
| what had inspired him to get into bodybuilding. The | | | | cookie a day,instead of gaining 2 pounds a year, they |
| young Russian smiles, turns to me and reveals in his | | | | would lose 3 pounds! |
| broken English that he didn't get into bodybuilding until | | | | Keeping ourselves consistent is the first step, this will |
| he accidentally lost all his weight! I laughed out loud | | | | help to normalize our hormones and remove the |
| thinking my companion was joking, but with the serious | | | | stress of dieting and the guilt of gorging out of |
| demeanor of a young Ivan Drago he affirms "I'm not | | | | desperate hunger. For the average American, all it |
| kidding". | | | | takes is one less Oreo cookie, one small change to |
| Naturally I inquire as to how he could accidentally lose | | | | change your life entirely. And without all the headache |
| what looked like 25 lbs off his young frame. What he | | | | of trying to stick to some crazed diet, one cookie is an |
| told me, what I spent the remaining 5 short hours on | | | | easy sacrifice to make for the body you deserve. |
| the plane listening to changed my life... | | | | Behavior is everything, the smallest change in our |
| The events that led this boy to such a dramatic | | | | behavior can produce great changes in our lives. Small |
| change inspired me. It wasn't some magical berry from | | | | changes in our diet, in our work out routine, in the time |
| the middle of no where or some gut wrenching | | | | of day we eat, in how much sleep we get, in how |
| Russian kettle-bell exercise, not even a strict low carb | | | | much water we drink, in how we handle stress! It all |
| diet. It was a series of behaviors he adopted that | | | | effects us hormonally, and there are small changes |
| forced his body to naturally shed fat and build muscle. | | | | we can make right now that have a huge impact on |
| So I spent the next 6 months investigating how this is | | | | the quality of our lives. |
| possible. Why did just a few small changes have such | | | | My experience with the boy reminded me of the time I |
| a big effect? Things I never would have considered in | | | | learned to play golf |
| my daily routine that drastically change our health and | | | | I always wanted to be a good golfer, I dreamed of |
| vitality. In my research I discovered a few basic things: | | | | learning how to drive the ball like Tiger Woods without |
| Diets Don't work! | | | | the frustrations of trial and error. |
| Your lifestyle determines your weight, if you force | | | | I had tried some lessons in the past, it helped my swing |
| yourself to do exercises you don't enjoy, and cut out | | | | but I would always end up reverting back to my old |
| all the foods you love in an attempt to shed the | | | | crooked swing soon after the lesson was over. Some |
| pounds you will only gain the weight back faster than | | | | instructors said I should buy some expensive clubs to |
| you lost it when you go back to the normal routine. | | | | help but I didn't want to give up my clubs, after all they |
| Most of the time when people stop dieting they gain | | | | were a gift! |
| more than they did than when they started. Sad fact is | | | | Then I played a round with a total stranger. After |
| diet and exercise is not enough. Why do we gain even | | | | watching me swing he offered his advice as a 'golf |
| more weight after we finish our diet? Our hormones. | | | | pro'. When I told him to spare me the rap about getting |
| We all know that skinny kid that seems to have a | | | | a new set of clubs, he just laughed and proceeded to |
| hollow leg when they eat everything in sight and never | | | | show me a small adjustment in my grip. To my |
| gain a pound. What makes him different than me? | | | | amazement, my very next swing was the straightest |
| Why is it if I so much as look at a piece of cake I gain | | | | and longest drive I ever hit. What he said changed my |
| 5lbs?? | | | | golf game permanently: |
| The answer is our hormones! | | | | Don't give up your favorite clubs or drive yourself nuts |
| We spend the average year going from crash dieting | | | | trying to get the perfect swing, just change that one |
| to over gorging, or on the run eating fast food, to not | | | | little thing until you perfect it then move on. |
| eating at all if we are really busy. The toll this takes on | | | | My friends were baffled and begging to know my |
| our body is more than meets the eye. This Yo Yo | | | | secret after that encounter. By focusing on the |
| dieting wreaks havoc on our hormones while making | | | | smallest, almost unnoticeable changes, I had completely |
| us miserable. | | | | changed my golf game, all thanks to that golf pro who |
| Consider this, The average American will cycle their | | | | offered his advice. |
| diets constantly over the course of a given year: | | | | Who we are is determined by our behaviors. The life |
| - Over eating on the holidays. - Cutting the calories for | | | | we lead is determined by our choices. |
| that new years resolution that usually lasts about a | | | | If we can change a few small behaviors to match that |
| week. - Right before the summer trying a new low | | | | 14 year old bodybuilder, or to match that skinny kid |
| carb diet to fit into that new swimsuit. - Adhering to the | | | | who can eat everything in sight, we can enjoy a |
| latest health fad in the media. | | | | thinner, happier version of ourselves. |
| A constant cycle of guilt when they gorge and stress | | | | |