Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated Oils Make You Fat!

Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are Transfats that have been subjected to torturous processes that create fats and oils that the body has not evolved to digest. These oils will not only kill you in the long term by producing diseases like type II Diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis, but by depriving you of essential fatty acids, they will actually make you fat!

Simply Put, Transfats Make You Eat More

Essential fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) are fats that are vital to every metabolic function in your body. Your body can’t make them and your body MUST have them. You’re body will keep you craving food until it gets the quantity of essential fatty acids that it needs to sustain life. You will not stop being hungry until you give your body what it needs.

The Key To Getting Thin Is . . .

The key to staying – or getting – thin is to the foods that contain large amounts of polyunsaturated oils. (Those foods include cold water fish like salmon and tuna, olives, nuts, and egg yolks. Avoid farm raised salmon – farmers have managed to change the healthy oils in those fish because of the foods they are feeding them) Foods rich in healthy fats remove your sense of hunger. You can also go straight to the source and consume well balanced oils like Udo’s Perfected Blend (available in the refrigerated section of health food stores) or New Spirit Natural’s Golden Omega Omega (available on line). I add a tablespoon or two to my breakfast smoothie or use these oils as the basis for my balsamic vinaigrette. Never ever cook these oils! Use butter or coconut oil for cooking.

Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils make you gain weight the same way that saturated fats do. They increase your cravings for fat, and products that contain fat, to get your necessary daily requirement of essential fatty acids which they themselves lack. But partially hydrogenated fats have a downside much greater than saturated fats. Not only do they produce chronic disease over the long term, but they interfere with you body's ability to ingest and utilize healthy good fats! They actually block your cells abilities to take in and utilize healthy fats. It’s kind of like carbon monoxide which jumps onto the circulating hemoglobin and won’t get off. In that case, your body starves for oxygen. In the case of Transfats, your cells starve for fat. Your body keeps adding fat. The fat can’t get into your cells to satisfy their metabolic needs, so it gets stored as fat on your stomach, thighs, buttocks, arms etc.

Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated fats are poisons.

Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated fats are poisons, just like strychnine and cyanide. They interfere with your metabolic processes by taking the place of a natural substance, healthy, essential fats, which perform critical functions. Because hydrogenated fats never existed in our billions of years of evolution, your body has no defense against them – your body doesn’t know what to do with them and never evolved a defense against the. The immediate effect is to slow your metabilism.
The worst hydrogenated oil (and the most plentiful) is soybean oil. Soybean oil depresses the thyroid. A depressed thyroid lowers your energy levels, makes you feel less like exercising, and contributes to weight gain! Because it’s cheap and flexible, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are hidden in most processed foods. Remember processers go for cheap and soybean oil is cheap. When you eat out you are generally eating food packed with cheap unhealthy oil and cheap unhealthy sugar substitute. Simply put this is the reason for the explosion in obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes and cancer. Soybean oil has another down side in that most of it is made from genetically modified plants. There is a real possibility of interfering with our children’s reproductive systems which could have devastating effects on future generations.

Now that more and more people are alert to the down side of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats and oils manufacturers have begun to change words. Mono-glycerides and di-glycerides now featured on labels are substitute words for hydrogenated oil products.

Why Fad Diets Contribute to Weight Gain

If you’ve been on every diet in the world, well maybe not EVERY diet but a good number of them, and you’ve lost weight and then gained it back plus a few pounds – also known as the yo-yo effect – here’s why.

The “Lose Weight In A Short Time” diets are structured to do two things: lose water and lose protein. The body requires a steady input of protein throughout the day in order to build new cell walls as they age and break down as well as to perform other cell functions. Deprive it of protein in your food, and it looks for a new source of protein. The most convenient source of available protein is yourself. That’s right. When you are on fad diets that deprive your body of protein your body literally cannibalizes itself. Of course the body isn’t stupid. It takes its protein from the most expendable source it can find. The heart is not expendable, your internal organs aren’t expendable, and your brain – which is running the show – wouldn’t knowingly do anything to damage itself, so your body chooses to take protein from something that won’t immediately kill you – your lean muscle mass.

Nasty weight loss behaviors like bulimia and anorexia also introduce problems like mineral imbalance and are apt to kill you from potassium deprivation before it fully cannibalizes itself, but let’s just stick with the major problem of losing lean muscle mass.

Lean muscle mass actually burns calories. It burns fat while you sleep. It is your body’s single greatest calorie burner and very important in weight loss. That’s why good diets suggest muscle building weighted exercise along with aerobics (which doesn’t build muscle as its primary objective). Losing lean muscle mass literally means that you are undermining your body’s ability to burn calories every time you go on a fad diet. This makes it increasingly difficult to lose weight and easier and faster to gain weight. The pattern is to lose weight fast, lose muscle mass, gain weight back, go on another fast diet, lose more muscle mass, gain weight back faster, and on and on and on. Every time you to on a fad diet you lessen your ability to lose weight easily and heighten you ability to gain it back faster.

The answer is: avoid fad diets like the plague. One of the reasons teenagers are struggling with weight right now is – not only because they’re eating too much junk food but because they’ve started yo-yo dieting. Once on the yo-yo, it’s hard to get off. A good rule, if your teenager will cooperate, is to have them bring a healthy lunch to school. They will feel better through the day and – quite frankly – you don’t want your children eating school lunches EVER.

To lose weight, you want to change your lifestyle so that you eat three good meals a day and, if you get hungry between meals, drink water and have a very small protein rich snack. The rule for protein is: eat an amount of protein equal to the size of the palm of your hand three times a day. Drink 8-10 8 ounce glasses of water through the day, one on rising, one half hour before each meal and the rest mostly between meals. Eat all the raw or steamed green vegetables you want at meals, eat 6-8 almonds or a piece of string cheese between meals and eat that kind of a snack and drink a glass of water half an hour before attending a cocktail or dinner party so you don’t drink alcohol from thirst, or eat things your normally wouldn’t touch from hunger.

This diet is outlined in Suzy Prudden's Itty Bitty Weight Loss Book which is the smallest, fastest to read, lifestyle changing and best diet ever written.

The Case Against Microwaving

The case against microwaving begins with a reproducible scientific study conducted by a ten year old for a science fair. The child bought two house plants from the same store at the same time. They were clippings from the same plant, she placed them in the same size plastic pot, in the same potting soil; similar in every possible way. The child brought them home in the same bag and placed them beside each other on the same shelf in her house.

One plant was watered with purified water. One plant was watered with microwaved tap water. Even before potting the plant in the microwaved water showed signs of distress. Within nine days, the plant watered with microwaved tap water was dead. Earth’s organisms, of which you are one, are not designed to ingest microwaved nutrients. Water is an important nutrient for you, for me and especially for plants.

Microwaving ruptures the cell walls of the foods that are cooked in them. To prove this, put a whole egg in a microwave. Cook it for 30-60 seconds. Watch the cell walls rupture. An egg is a complete single cell. What happens to the egg happens to all the cells in the food you cook in the microwave. When you chew food, you may rupture the cell walls of a few of the nutrients in your meal, but for the most part you simply separate the cells. Your body was designed over millennia to ingest and digest whole cells. It has no idea what to do with the ruptured cells that are fed to it from microwave cooking. In Russia, the microwave is considered so dangerous it has been banned from manufacture or sale.

But, you say, I have eaten microwaved food for years. My response is that it will take you a bit longer to feel the effects of microwave cooking than it took the more vulnerable plants. Most of today’s major diseases are diseases of malnutrition. Microwaving contributes to malnutrition. Most people whose organs are finally protesting against the terrible food and the worse cooking methods in our society blame the organs. They don’t look at the cooking methods or the de-neutralization of the foods they are ingesting (I’ll cover the unhealthy foods produced by big-Agra in another blog or two).

My suggestion is either throw your microwave out or use it to store foods you don’t want the dog or cat to eat before you serve it. Don’t cook your food in it.

Why Buy Organic?

Well, to begin with, plants that are not organically grown are sprayed with herbicides, fungicides and pesticides, which are as toxic to you as they are to pests and do not necessarily wash off completely.

Second of all non-organic product can be genetically modified without mentioning the fact on the label. An example of how that might work is that genetically modified fruits and vegetables might be weed killer resistant – so the “farmer” can inundate this fields with weed killer so he doesn’t have to spend the money weeding, and you get the residual that’s left on the fruits and vegetables after harvesting. In addition, your kid’s reproductive capacity is jeopardized, a side benefit of genetic engineering consistently found in test animals.

Villagers in third world countries - where lots of your fruits and vegetables have been grown - are experiencing all kinds of health and reproductive problems as a result of this kind of farming. So in addition to your health concerns, there are all kinds of social and human rights reasons for buying organic that are not directly related to your personal health. China - where the Walmart chain buys its cheap vegetables - is so polluted (particularly with heavy metals) that it cannot actually produce organic vegetables. This is particularly important when it comes to root vegetables like potatoes, carrots and the like. Recent testing has shown that vegetables from China labeled "Organic" were awash in toxic chemicals.... Be careful where you buy. Buy local when possible. Farmer's Markets are wonderful because you know the person who raised your food.

Recently I was given a book called “Country Wisdom and Know-How: Everything You Need To Know To Live Off The Land.” In that book I learned that 95% of healthy soil consists of minerals, which are in a constant state of breaking down. The minerals feed the plants, the plants feed us. If the minerals are not breaking down the soil becomes sterile. The plants do not take up minerals and minerals are absent from your diet. Most agribusiness product (non-organic) contains few if any minerals. Occasional the business feeds a few of the major minerals back to the soil but minerals like zinc and chromium are almost gone from the American soil... Russian and Central European soil is notably lacking these minerals with clear implications for long term health.

Agribusiness uses petrochemicals to force plants to grow. The result is big product with little nutrition. Indeed diseases like Type II Diabetes have been linked to an absence of minerals and healthy oils in diets. Or should I say that Thomas Smith as part of his program for reversing diabetes had great results adding minerals along with omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids to his diet. I highly recommend a daily mineral supplement. Many of my clients have found that their energy increases substantially if they use a good trace mineral supplement. I recommend the company New Spirit Naturals for excellent and safe supplements.

Agribusiness is sneaky and you have to read labels.

• 100 percent organic. Products that are completely organic or made of all organic ingredients.

• Organic. Products that are at least 95percent organic.

• Made with organic ingredients. Products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. The organic seal can’t be used on these products.

In terms of weight loss, the body stores toxins like pesticides, herbicides and fungicides in your fat. The more toxins you ingest, the more fat you need to store it in.

A word to the wise.

When you go on a diet, be certain to take antioxidants. Antioxidants will bind with the toxins that are released as you lose fat and help your body remove them safely from your system. Antioxidants are very important in our polluted world and will help your overall health. Since vitamin and mineral combinations need to be in balanced amounts, don’t try to construct your own antioxidant combinations, use a trusted source. Trusted sources do not include any vitamin and mineral combinations you find in drug stores and supermarkets.

The Benefits Of Water in Weight Loss

My staff and I were astonished when Ellen (not her real name) walked into our office. We specialized in weight loss and Ellen was thin. Of course, we always say that thin is in the eye of the beholder – anorexics can look at their skeletal bodies and see fat everywhere. Until she told us what was going on in her life, our thought was not to sign her up.

Ellen was a runway model, the small amount of weight she carried on her hips was costing her jobs. We asked her to fill out a food log to see what she was eating. She ate well. Protein and salad with vinegar or lemon juice for dressing. The only thing we saw that we thought she might change was diet soda.

Starting with her second visit, Ellen began substituting ice water for diet soda.

“Ellen,” her agent said one day. “You are dropping weight so fast you aren’t doing anything stupid are you?”

“No. The only thing I’ve changed in my diet is I’ve given up diet soda for water.”

Now, not everyone will experience Ellen’s results. She was eating well and exercising regularly to begin with. However, we have found that water helps relieve bloating and, because it doesn’t bring chemicals with it, it does not contribute to weight gain. Fat is where toxins from your environment and the food you eat is stored, so if you are regularly drinking chemicalized soft drinks – even those with no calories – your body will create fat for storage.

The very first thing we suggest to our clients is to start drinking water – eight to ten eight ounce glasses a day, and to give up drinking soda. Soda – diet and sugar filled – brings with it all kinds of problems which we’ll go into in another blog. Water is the best drink you can give to your body as long as it doesn’t come in plastic containers…. Yet another article.

What is CVR?

CVR is Creative Visualization and Relaxation. It is a process that helps you relax. When you relax, your other-than-conscious mind becomes receptive to changing habits and behavior patterns. Habits like the feeling that a meal is incomplete if it doesn’t end with dessert. If you don’t want to eat sweets at the end of a meal (frankly a dessert make me feel ill) then you tell your other-than-conscious mind that it now feels completely satisfied at the end of the main course and you finish your meal then because you are satisfied.

All our behaviors are linked to habits. Sitting in front of the TV is a habit. If you turn on the TV when you walk into the room, it’s a habit. If you light up a cigarette at the end of a meal it’s a habit. If you turn on the lights in a dark room when you enter, it’s a habit. If you snack when you come home from school, you may be hungry, and it’s still a habit. Drinking coffee in the morning is a habit. Picking up a Snickers Bar at the checkout counter is a habit – and don’t for a moment think the Supermarkets don’t know that.

In Suzy Prudden’s Pounds Off we identify the most common habits that keep people overweight and create processes to change those habits so that you can listen to on your New Reality PAL at home or in class. Sometimes the habits change as soon as you become aware of them, sometimes they change over time. Sometimes the suggestions take hold and you never return to a habit. Sometimes you find yourself slipping into the habit again so you need to listen to the habit-breaking process a few more times to get back on track.

CVR makes changing habits fun and easy no matter what behaviors you’re trying to change.

How Suzy Prudden’s Pounds Off Came About

In the years between 1998 and 2008 I built the largest Creative Visualization and Relaxation (CVR) Center specializing in Weight Loss in Los Angeles. The program was high end, expensive and it worked. I had a success ratio with my clients of over 60%. To put that in perspective, most weight loss and diet programs (including diet pills) are 2% successful, Weight Watchers is 10% and stomach stapling is 30%.

During those years I was vaguely troubled by the exclusivity of my program in the face of how big a problem obesity was becoming. The problem was that CVR wasn’t covered by insurance. My partner and sister Joan Meijer and I often talked about finding a way to broaden the availability of what we knew, but the solution was elusive and we were busy. Over those ten years our business spread to three centers, we had ten employees and we didn’t have time to think about the percent of people who called us who didn’t come in because the price was prohibitive or who didn’t bother to call us because they assumed the price would be prohibitive.

In 2008, when the recession hit, high end weight loss became a luxury. I closed my weight loss centers and started in a different direction developing a new modality called hypno-coaching. Just when I wasn’t paying attention to the problem of weight loss, my sister and I began to experience a new idea taking shape. In a matter of weeks the Suzy Prudden’s Pounds Off program emerged as a Business-in-a-box (or in this case, a binder).

As it turned out we were teaching a coaching class at the time. “What would you think about weight loss classes that use the material that you’re learning here and in my CVR classes?” I asked one afternoon. The response was amazing. It felt as if we had opened the door to a possibility no one had ever considered before and that the class was relieved to have the structure of that little binder to lean on while they built their practices.

My students began using the program and the success stories began to come in. The student’s clients lost 30, 40, 50 pounds, experienced no cravings and enjoyed lifestyle changes in exactly the same way as my high end clients but at much lower cost.

One day, in the middle of all this change and development, I had dinner with Dale Springer of New Reality a company which had developed a revolutionary delivery system for the processes I was developing. I was in the process of becoming the voice of New Reality and I was interested in seeing Dale’s reaction to our little binder idea. “I have 200 people who would sign up for this immediately,” was Dale’s response. “Let’s blend our businesses and market it.”

Thus began our quest to reach every corner of America with a revolutionary weight loss program which has a proven track record of success at a reasonable cost.