Thursday, January 31, 2019

How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

You may be dealing with (or have dealt) with some serious, debilitating pain.

You wake up in the morning with stiff knees and what feels like a brick in what used to be a healthy, flexible lower back.

You finally make it downstairs and decide to reach into the overhead cabinet for a plate.

Everything is finally looking up until, of course, you realize that you can't actually reach into the overhead cabinet.

As a matter of fact, you can't reach much of anything, being that your shoulders barely move from your side.

I hear you.

I've actually been there myself.

Throughout the years I'd developed torn rotators cuffs in not one, but both of my shoulders.

I also slipped a disk in the L5-S1 region of my lower back, which literally had its way with me.

Bad shoulders is one thing, but being unable to walk or stand (or sit for that matter) without pain is a whole different story.

To complete the trinity of major joint issues, I developed hip bursitis and referred knee pain. This often still pops up today (sitting at a desk 12+ hours a day will do that to you), which is why I spend time EVERY DAY doing pre-emptive hip mobility and flexibility work.

Of course, there are certain circumstances tied to the development of these conditions. I injured my left and right shoulders in a swimming accident and a fight, respectively. As for my lower back, I first ruined it with bad form doing sumo deadlifts (during one of my many short-term, ill-fated weight loss attempts). It got better for a while until I slipped on water running down the stairs in my good ol' college frat house. After that, my back was officially shot, and I could barely walk 2 blocks without unbearable pain.

But I never did anything to make it better. I chalked up my unbearable pain to these past incidents and to overall bad luck.

I never realized that there were contributing factors that came even before the one-off injuries happened. Basically, my shoulders would probably not have torn so easily had I actually walked with good, upright posture, and if I had had strong rear deltoids and stabilizer muscles. As a lazy, overweight man who either laid on a couch most of the day or sat slumped over his computer, these "healthy" strong shoulder muscles were practically nonexistent.

And what happened as a result?

I had terrible posture 24/7, and as a result of not putting in any effort to deal with these structural issues, just furthered my obesity and chronic pain.

I'm glad to say I've now boiled down the "collision points" of chronic pain and overweight/obesity in America to 4 fundamental issues:

1. Years of terrible, misinformed eating (and obesity)
a. The resulting inflammation and joint stress from poor nutrition, high Omega 6 intake, high refined food intake, and high sugar intake will easily do you in.
b. High consumption of nightshades (we'll discuss these soon) can also be a major cause of worsening pain.

2. Lack of exercise
a. My idea of exercise for most of college was moving from my recliner to go downstairs to the kitchen...funny thing is: I'm not kidding
b. Without adequate mobility and movement, our muscles weaken and atrophy, making us more prone to injury and pain.

3. Terrible form during exercise or activity
a. Rounded shoulders, crooked backs, squatting with knees going way past the toes...the list goes on.

4. No idea how to use supplements correctly
a. My idea of using supplements at the time was trying creatine and fat burners to build muscle and lose weight, and popping Motrin every 2 hours to stop the pain.
b. If you know anything about creatine, you'll know that it builds muscle and actually causes weight gain. (Nice one, Sayan)
c. As for most stimulant fat burners, they're nothing but caffeine and clever marketing. I could do better at Starbucks, and not ruin my heart in the process.
Only take caffeine in supplements when it has additional benefits. For example, studies show EGCG green tea extract taken with caffeine significantly improves fat loss and would be a smart use of a stimulant fat burner.
d. The Motrin and myriad of other pain relievers I used? Nothing but a convenient method to numb the pain, rather than dealing with it head-on.

Long story short, when I realize the error of my ways, and actually spent time fixing them, I experienced dramatic results.

Basically, I was able to finally find a way out via a very 'secret method' that most people don't even consider to be an option.

When applied consistently, these somewhat unorthodox methods helped me completely rid myself of joint pain, lose over 75 pounds, eliminate fatigue, reduce what used to be extreme anxiety, and much more.

It worked wonders for me, and I know it can do the same for you.

As for my chronic joint pain, I would estimate over a 50% reduction in pain in just 3 weeks.

And this is just by using the nutritional guidelines below.

Since adding in comprehensive rehab techniques (discussed in the exercise guide) and smart supplements (such as Turmeric, Ginger, and more in InvigorateNOW), my pain has become almost non-existent.

So, what's the secret?

Glad you asked. It's all comes down to 3 main steps. These steps are quite similar to the whole health weight loss philosophy of this book in general, with ONE distinction. I'll discuss the difference in just a moment.

First, here are the 3 fundamental steps that can reduce inflammation and pain for good:

Step 1: Eat a processed-food free diet, a.k.a. EAT REAL FOOD, that does NOT harm your body.

Step 2: Do (some) exercise! Very often, the more inactive you are, the worse the pain gets.

Step 3: Use only natural supplements. Quality herbs and vitamins (NO over the counters, prescription meds, etc.), and a source of Omega-3 (though eating fish is preferred)

Since the exercise is covered in the bonus manual, and the supplement is our flagship
InvigorateNOW product, we're going to jump right into the nutrition aspect.

You'll notice the nutrition is similar to what I've been telling you so far, since this is what works exceptionally well for inflammation relief. But you'll also notice some major distinctions, since we're seeking to cut out every possible source of discomfort.

Test this out for 30 days straight, and your pain WILL start to disappear (you usually start seeing benefits in less than 2 weeks).

Also, don't be surprised if others measures of health start improving dramatically.

In other words, "You're gonna like the way you feel...I guarantee it". (My painfully unclever adaptation of the Men's Wearhouse commercials).

Anyway, I digress.


Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.


Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com


Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Last chapter, we mentioned the "batch meal" process. This is my secret to eliminating anxiety around meals and having food ready at a moment's notice.

Here are the basics:
  • On most Sunday nights, I'll cook up 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs with veggies and a bit of white rice.
    • I'll then eat this same meal for lunch until Thursday.
    • Thursday night, I'll cook again to get me through the next few days.
  • The following Sunday I'll switch it up and, for example, cook 2 pounds of ground turkey with 4-5 different spices and herbs, and eat it with some sauteed kidney beans and veggies.
  • I do the same with breakfast, by making 12-15 hard-boiled eggs on a Sunday and eating a few of them every morning with some hot sauce or salsa and sauteed veggies.
    • Yogurt breakfasts are even easier. Simply buy a bunch of small plain Greek yogurt containers and fruit, and eat 1 of them every morning.
      • I like Fage brand since they make plain full-fat and 2% greek yogurts. Chobani does not do this, from my knowledge.
      • Note: Don't buy the large containers since it's such a pain to correctly measure portion sizes. Just buy small containers.
      • It's easy, it's simple, and it makes life so much easier.
  • No longer do I have to worry about what to eat, or whether or not I'll have time to cook or any of that nonsense.
  • I simply put some of my pre-made food into Tupperware and heat it up in the office microwave. Perfect.

Oh yeah, before I forget. Here's...

A stupid simple food prep "hack" that 90% of dieters drop the ball on, but will guarantee you perfect portion control and effortless weight loss

When you want to weigh your food into portions, how would you usually do it?
If you're like most people, you'll simply take the prepared food, put it on a bowl/plate and pop it on a scale. Subtract out (or "tare") the weight of the plate, and voila, you have the weight of your food.

Perfect, right? Wrong.

When you weigh foods (especially meat) after they're prepared, they're guaranteed to weigh less. This is due to the water weight of the food that's been lost during the cooking process.
Studies show up to 33% of weight in meats is lost after cooking.

And if you're counting your food intake based on the post-cooking, post-water-loss weight, yet comparing the serving size to the numbers on the nutrition panel, you may be understating your calorie intake.

Sure, this isn't a make-or-break thing if it's a one-off occurrence. And sure you can get by guesstimating when you buy food outside (which is rarely, I hope!)...

But anytime you cook at home, I highly suggest you weigh food before you cook.

Think of it this way...

When you're cooking up 8 oz. of boneless skinless chicken thighs (300 calories or so) with 1 tsp of coconut oil (50 calories or so) and some other spices and whatnot, you're at about 400 calories. Sounds like a decent-sized meal.

If you did this the wrong way, though, by weighing after you cooked...

Your 8 oz. of chicken would probably weigh 5 or 6 oz. at most. If you assume 6 oz. of chicken (225 calories) plus 1 tsp of oil (50 calories), you're now at 275 calories for the meal. Already off by 125 calories.

Add the fact that you're eating this same meal for 3 or 4 days, and you're already eating a cool 600 calories more than you thought for the week. Even worse, you may be making the same mistake with another meal in the day, meaning you could be off as much as 250-300 calories per day! In one week, that's 1750 calories more than you'd pictured, making weight loss much more difficult if you ask me!

This is just one of the many reasons people stick to their diets, but still, fail to see results.

It's the little things that add up and throw us off track. Don't let this happen to you.

Simply weigh your food before you cook, and you'll be much happier with how you look and progress toward your goals.

If you're making large batch meals, follow this process:

1. Weigh out the whole size of the meat beforehand (3 lbs. for example)
2. Know how big your serving size will be for each meal (8 oz. for example)
3. Diving the whole size of the meat by the serving size, to know how many portions you'll need
    • 3 lbs = 48 oz
    • 48 oz/8 oz per serving = 6 servings
4. After cooking your food, weigh the whole batch.
    • Let's say the 48 oz. become 36 oz. after cooking
5. Divide the new sizes by the # of servings, and you have the new cooked-food serving size
    • 36 oz/6 servings = 6 oz per serving
6. Now simply weigh and pack up the food into 6 oz. servings, and enjoy!

And, while we're on the topic of sizing up our food...

If you decide to grab some fast food for a change, keep decision making and unnecessary thinking to a minimum (and fat loss to a maximum), by eating one of these:

1. Chipotle salad bowls:
a) Chicken or steak (sometimes double), black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, hot sauce.
b) If it's a heavy workout day, I'll sometimes also have some rice and a touch of sour cream.
c) I stay away from the cheese, guac, and other condiments since they can easily throw you out of your calorie balance.
d) I've read the nutrition panel on the Chipotle site like 50 times so I know this usually runs me around 450-650 calories depending on what I add in.

2. Subway
a) The food quality here is very poor, I'll admit, but it lets me count/control my calories which is a 100% win for weight loss
b) I'm a smaller guy and generally need 1800 calories or so if I'm looking to lean up a bit.
c) So I make sure my Subway lunches are right around the 600 calorie mark, for an even split of 1800 calories into 3 meals
d) This leaves me with a simple, but favorite choice of mine:
i. Black Forest Ham & Turkey on Toasted Footlong Wheat bread, with copious amounts of spicy mustard, tons of veggies, and no cheese. Perfecto!
e) I'll add in double meat sometimes for a protein boost, but for the most part I'll keep to a single serving (try to avoid excess intake of processed, non-organic cold cuts)

3. Otherwise, you can stick to very simple sandwiches or salads
a) For sandwiches, have some simple cold cuts like ham, turkey or roast beef and some veggies on toasted bread or a wrap.
·         Skip the mayo or any dressing/sauces, since they are quick calorie bombs and it's hard to know how much of said condiment is in your meal.
·         Mustard and/or spicy mustard is my go-to condiment
·         You can get a sandwich with chicken breast too, and just have Frank's Red Hot or Cholula hot sauce
·         Skip the cheese, especially since I've seen delis put on 4-6 slices of cheese on sandwiches way too often. Gotta make sacrifices from time to time!
b) For salads, stick to veggies, chicken, eggs, or other protein sources, anddressing on the side.
·         Eyeball the protein portion in the salad which usually comes out to 1-2 palm sizes (about 20-40 grams of protein, or 200-300 calories at most taking into account oils used during prep or fattier cuts of meat)
·         Don't get breaded chicken or other breaded products. It's extra crappy calories and it usually has trans-fat (the worst kind).
·         Never, NEVER have them put dressing on for you, or you can just about guarantee missing your calorie totals.
·         And do not pour the whole dressing cup over your salad
·         Get dressing on the side, dip your fork into the dressing cup, and then take some salad onto the fork.
·         You'll get the same amount of taste, but your salad won't be doused in dressing and you won't be eating 600 calories of sauce.

Follow the plans above, and fat loss will be a cinch. Eat right when you can and cook batch meals as much as possible, and if all else fail, eat from one of the semi-healthy options above.


Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...


Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.


Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com