When we eat, our body naturally produces enzymes to help break up the food and make it easier to digest. This is the ideal situation for maintaining a healthy weight. The problem with most people is inadequate digestion, therefore causing all the symptoms above. Many of these can be avoided with simple tips. Here’s one VERY important one:

Don’t Drink While You Eat!

I know this may be a hard habit to break, but when you drink and eat at the same time, the liquid is battling the enzymes needed to digest your food. This creates a very inefficient situation. I know we have done it this way all of our lives, but if you want a ferrari digestion you’ll take this advice.

So the change I want you to make “right now” is to drink preferably water (with a squeezed lemon) a half an hour before you eat, then do NOT drink anything during or 30 minutes after you eat.

This will be hard to change, but it is well worth it. If you want to lose weight or maintain your current weight this is one simple tip you can apply right now to achieve it.

Golfers Weight Loss Resource

If you’re looking to lose weight, you might want to check out my Golfers Weight Loss Guide, as it has many simple tips like this and is NOT a diet book

As you may or may not know, sugar has many negative reactions to your body… especially if you have any type of diabetes. For most of us, sugar is consumed WAY TOO MUCH! Sugar causes weight gain, drastic energy fluctuations, and is now said to even feed cancer. The cancer may be far off, but not the weight gain. If you are interested in weight loss it is a MUST you lower your intake of refined sugar and find an alternative like the one I’m about to discuss.

As a golfer, you do not want energy fluctuations on the golf course. This will cause mental focus issues as well as a loss in power when you hit those “energy lows”. The way to avoid this is by not consuming products high in refined (processed) sugar like candy bars. Instead snacking on granola, or fruit, which has sugar… but it’s natural which does not affect your body the same way processed sugar does; and also snacking on nuts can give you sustained energy.

The sugar substitute I want to talk about (and it’s the one I use now) is called Stevia. You will not see it in mainstream grocery stores, but can find it in Wholefoods, and most GNC and supplement stores. If you want to improve your nutrition, then you should read this entire page without further delay.

What Is Stevia?

Stevia is an herb which grows wild as a small shrub in parts of Paraguay and Brazil. The glycosides in its leaves, including up to 10% Stevioside, account for its incredible sweetness, making it unique among the nearly 300 species of Stevia plants.

Is It Safe?

Stevia is an all-natural herbal product with centuries of safe usage by native Indians in Paraguay. It has been thoroughly tested in dozens of tests around the world and found to be completely non-toxic. It has also been consumed safely in massive quantities (Thousands of tonnes annually) for the past twenty years.

How Sweet Is It?

Stevia is 10-15 times sweeter than sugar, so you do not have to use very much to sweeten your food or juices. This will allow for the stevia to last a lot longer, saving on the cost of having to purchase it over and over again.

With all the unhealthy, processed and refined sugars and foods available in the grocery stores, and considering our country is bigger than it’s ever been, I would strongly encourage you to use Stevia as a perfect substitute for sugar!

Healthy Granola

After trying over a dozen different types of granola I found the ONE! It tastes great and is nearly all natural and organic. No processed or refined sugar or any of the bad stuff that’s horrible for our health.

The granola I now eat daily is called Galaxy Granola. I found it at my favorite store Whole Foods. Unfortunately I have not found it anywhere else but on their site.

My favorite flavor is Cranberry/Orange. The cranberries have many health benefits and it’s delicious.

If you read the ingredients, it is ALL NATURAL and ORGANIC. I love that!

Here are the ingredients for my above favorite:

• Organic Whole Grain Rolled Oats
• Organic Crisp Brown Rice
• Organic Whole Rolled Spelt Flakes
• Organic Whole Rolled Barley Flakes
• Apples, Cranberries
• Wildflower Honey
• Organic Dehydrated Cane Juice
• Organic Blackstrap Molasses
• Organic Orange Peels
• Organic Oat Bran
• Cranberry Extract
• Soy Milk Powder

Organically grown and processed in accordance with the California Food Act of 1990.

When you go to their site, read their story. One thing I really like is they donate 1% of their earnings to the natural environment, which you may have heard of them, One Percent For The Planet which means they donate to a network of over 1500 environmental organizations worldwide.

As I become older (and hopefully wiser) I am finding things that are becoming very important to me. I am a firm believer in putting natural foods in my body and not the garbage sold in stores. I am not where I want to be… yet, but I’ll get there.

I no longer drink coffee or soda and opt for purified water and green tea. The health benefits of green tea are unmatched.

If you don’t have a Whole Foods store near you, you can order it online right here.

I hope you enjoyed this article and put it to good use in your pursuit of health and a better game of golf. Please feel free to add your own favorite snacks by commenting below, and if you’re looking for an easy program to lose those unwanted pounds, take a look at my Golfers Guide To Weight Loss (it’s not a diet!)

Not too long ago I read an interesting article by Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press that appeared in the Arizona Republic newspaper suggesting “maybe it’s germs that make you fat.” Boy, wouldn’t it be great if we could blame something besides ourselves for weight gain?

Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath but according to information provided in the article researchers found a strong connection between obesity and the levels of certain types of bacteria in the gut. Borensteins projection was that someday there will be new ways of treating obesity that will go beyond diet and excercise.

Golfers will appreciate a couple of studies that are underway that suggest that there are more of one bacteria and less of another kind in both obese humans and mice (nice to know we won’t suffer alone) and that if you can change the type of bacteria in the intestines and stomach this might be a way to fight obesity.

You see, there are two types of bacteria we are talking about here, without getting too technical about it, the good one is called Bacteroidetes and the bad one is Firmicutes, although it would make more sense for the good one to be called FIRMicutes. Researchers still are not sure that more of the Firmicutes make you fat or if obese folks grow more of that kind of bacteria.

This story made me think about those annoying little “filler” sound bytes that come at the tail end of the TV news about new drugs that are being tested, creating this breathless buzz with the talking heads about what scientists or researchers THINK that this new drug will accomplish.

After they get us all excited about it they close the story with the big let-down, it will be another TEN years before it’s introduced to the public. Personally, I would rather not know about it until it’s out and ready to be consumed! Our researchers in this case are guilty of the same crime – the big build-up – earth shattering news that “a microbial component APPEARS to contribute to obesity.”

Followed by the big let-down – saying that “growing evidence of this link gives scientists a potentially new and STILL DISTANT (another decade or so) way of fighting obesity.” Then they have the nerve to suggest that the current regimen of diet and excercise “is like treating all fevers with one aspirin.” Give me a break, what are we supposed to do in the meantime, nothing? That’s what got us in this mess in the first place!

Bottom line here is that diet and excercise, especially the kind my friend Mike Pederson advocates is still the best way to get rid of those unwanted pounds and get in shape for the golf season. I don’t care how old you are or what kind of shape you are in there are things you can do that will have a marked impact on your game.

I would be willing to bet that there is a distinct correlation between losing weight and getting better at golf. I would even go further and say that you could lower your handicap by a stroke for each five pound weight loss!

Unlike these smart guys that sit around and guess what will work for you, sometime in the next TEN years – Mike’s program is designed to work NOW.

If you want to learn more about nutrition for golf, visit the Low Carb Golfer !

I didn’t realize it until recently, but putting lemon in your water has many benefits and it tastes great too !

One of the main benefits is improved digestion due to the active enzyme like action it does inside your body. With today’s food quality being so poor (processed, high in sugar) many of the foods lack proper enzymes meaning they may stay in your body longer which can cause a whole host of other problems, and can lead to major diseases (cancer included).

Due to the digestive qualities of lemon juice, symptoms like indigestion, heartburn, bloating and belching are cured. By drinking lemon juice regularly, the bowels are aided in eliminating waste more efficiently thus controlling constipation and diarrhea.

If you’ve got any of the above symptoms why wouldn’t you use a “natural” substance like a lemon to cure them? No pharmaceuticals needed here !!

The best, most efficient time to dream you lemon water is 30 minutes BEFORE each meal. Try not to drink during your meal, as this conflicts with your enzymes and makes your digestion less efficient. Hint! If you want to burn and utilize what you eat, you’ll not drink during your meal. It’s a small habit to break… and I know you can do it!

If you’re looking for more simple tips like this to help you lose weight fast, take a look at my Golfers Guide To Weight Loss ebook.

Do you want to end up looking like BIG JD in the picture, or do you want to stop the madness and make the changes you know you need to make to finally lose the weight and keep it off?

Set Realistic Goals

I see this mistake being made every day. When you set your goals, don’t set them so high you’ll never achieve them. If you feel you need to lose 30 pounds, set your first goal at 5 pounds the first 2 weeks. This is achievable and realistic! Once you reach that goal, then go for another 5, and so on.

In a sense these are “mini” goals, but are so realistic you keep a positive mindset during the journey .

Write Them Down

This is critical! Statistics and studies show if you write your goals down you’re more apt to achieve them. There is some link between your mind and the physical act of writing them down on paper.

Once you write them down, post them all over your house. I’m dead serious! Have one on your fridge. One in your bedroom bathroom. One in your office. Seeing these goals multiple times each day will strengthen your commitment to reaching them.

Design Your Plan

Now you’ve got to put together a plan (routine) to achieve these goals. This plan must be very specific in regards to eating and activity. You must have it in your schedule as an actual appointment. Treat it like business and you’ll never faulter.

This plan should cover daily meals. I’m not talking about calorie-counting. I mean simple foods that will nourish your body not pollute it. 80 percent of your daily intake should be fruits and vegetables ! Learning how to eat is critical to your success.

I know you’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true. Fruits and veges feed your body all the nutrients it needs to become a fat-burning machine. And you can eat a tone of them and not put on weight. They are LOW in calories and fat.

Eat Your Fruit First

Here’s a little trick I do. For ALL my meals, I eat a piece of fruit first, then have my meal. I find the fruit fills me up and I don’t want as much food with my meal. Don’t eat the fruit then eat your normal portions ! This is a “no-no!” Eat the fruit, then eat less at each meal.

There are many reasons golfers don’t lose weight, but we’re about to change that aren’t we? This is going to be your year… starting RIGHT NOW! Don’t wait til tomorrow or the start of next week. You’re falling into the same mental sabatoge you do every year.

TAKE ACTION NOW

This is so crucial… I’m going to say it again. Take action today! Do NOT put this off. You have to commit and do it! That’s the ONLY way to success. Make up your mind and don’t deviate. Stay focused and get after it!

If you need a little assistence, you might want to take a look at my Golfers Guide To Weight Loss ebook for tips, strategies and advice to help you lose weight fast and forever!

The human body is designed to walk. Walking is the should be the staple in your life. Too many people find any reason they can to jump in the car to get one block down the street. Finding creative ways to get more walking in isn’t as hard as you think. You have many opportunities every day to walk.

Park Farther Away

I know I can say this one and most of you still won’t do it . It amazes me how much effort people put in to finding the closest spot next to the store they want to go to. They’ll drive around for minutes to get that close spot. Come on… just park the fricking car and walk! If you do this for every opportunity you have, it can add up to a serious amount of calorie-burning per month. Do it everytime you park your car.

Take The Stairs

Who needs a stairmaster when you can just take the stairs at every opportunity ! If you are in a mult-story building for your job, take the stair instead of the elevator. You’ve probably heard this before, but do you do it? At all? I’ll bet not. You’d be amazed how much better you’ll feel doing it. You’re getting a burst of blood and oxygen pumping through your body in a sense “waking you up”. Can you imagine if you had say 5-10 floors to walk. You would be melting the weight off if you walked them instead of taking the elevator.

10 Minutes After Dinner

This is a HUGE one! Do this right after dinner every night and you’ll be a fat-burning machine. If you can’t walk after dinner, you ate too much. Utilize portion control and you’ll be able to get walking easily after dinner. Make it a family affair. Get the whole familiy walking after dinner and talk about your day. Bonding with family can make this a fun activity and not a grind.

Get Through The Holidays

With the holidays come more food and inactivity. This is death to your weight loss management program. Walking is one easy way to at least maintain your weight and not blow up 5-10 pounds every holiday season.

Golfers Weight Loss Ebook

Sorry for the shameless plug, but if you’re looking for easy tips and strategies to lose weight fast, take a look at my Golfers Guide To Weight Loss ebook.

1. Don’t starve yourself during the day. I know how good the food is and how much you’ve been looking forward to it, but don’t skip your breakfast and late morning snack in hopes to eat more Thanksgiving food. You’ll end up binging too much and gorging yourself. How many times have you ate the BIG meal, had 3 servings of desert then felt horrible? Eating earlier in the day will help you eat your Thanksgiving meal in moderation.

2. Do a morning cardio. You’ve got the day off from work, so you’ve got the time to do it. Doing a good 45 minute walk or cardio will give you a great start to your day. You’ll have burned some fat and lifted your mental strength going into your BIG meal. Now because you’ve done this, don’t think you can now eat all you want. It doesn’t work that way.

3. Pick your favorites. Save your calories for the foods you REALLY like. Just because there is a huge selection, doesn’t mean you should eat everything.

4. Eat your fruits and veges. Make it a point to eat lots of vegetables and fruits as your snacks leading up to the main meal. This will fill you up, but with low calories. I know this isn’t as much fun, but you’ll be so glad you did it the next day.

5. Get up and walk. I know the holidays is all about family, so I’m not saying go on a 60 minute walk, but instead of heading for the couch after you’ve eaten too much , go out and do a 10 minute casual walk. Get the furnace burning that meal…then head back in to socialize for the rest of the afternoon.

6. Water. Instead of consuming a large amount of alcohol, mix it up with water. This will help you got to the bathroom more often and release that alcohol, and the water will help you avoid eating too much after the meal.

7. Weigh Pain And Pleasure. This could be an epic battle. What will win. The pleasure of the food or the pain of gaining 5 pounds in one day? I love using this approach. It’s very effective. Especially if you are truly conscious about it in the moment.

8. Be Smart In Those Food Courts At The Mall. When you’re shopping and you get hungry, be choosy at the food courts. This is “high-fat” city! Most of the food courts have a couple of healthy restaraunts. Or…worse case, see if you can get a meal with vegetables or fruit, and eat that first before the main food.

9. Don’t try to lose weight or stick to a restrictive diet this holiday season. If you enjoy your favorite foods in small portions, you’ll feel more satisfied. Trying to stay away from certain foods may leave you feeling deprived, which may cause you to eat more than you intended to.

10. Get my weight loss guide for golfers . Sorry for the shameless plug, but having my Golfers Guide To Weight Loss in your arsenal will get you through the holidays and into the New Year looking and feeling great!

1. Don’t Listen To Bad Advice.

The worst thing you should do is listen to uncredible sources and read all those gimmicky diet books out there. Throughout the last couple of decades we have gone from calorie-restriction diets, to high carb diets, to fat-free diets. Have they worked for you? If you’re like most of the country the answer would be no.

If you eat a high amount of carbohydrates, you better be doing a high amount of exercise to burn it off or you’ll store every extra calorie in the form of fat on your body. Pick your spot and there it goes!

Weight Loss Tip: Cut back on those carbs! That means the pastas, rice, potatoes w/butter or sour cream, and breads. I’m not saying cut them out completely, but portion-control them better, and you’ll see your fat loss explode.

2. The Fat-Free Frenzy.

People (and golfers) have this mentality that if it’s fat-free, you can eat all you want. Wrong! Break it down to the basics. Doesn’t matter if it’s fat-free or not, if you eat more of it, the total number of calories is way too high meaning weight gain not weight loss.

You’re being mislead by food labels and marketing that the fat-free foods is less in calories. Check out the per serving of any of these foods and it’ll show you they are not much less than traditional snacks and foods.

Weight Loss Tip: Eat more normal foods. Now don’t go hog wild here. Make good decisions and watch your serving size per meal, but don’t worry about fat as much. The ONLY fat to avoid is saturated fat.

Good fats are needed for many important life processes. And good for hair, nails and skin. I know what you’re thinking. You don’t care about them…and I hear ya, but just take it at face value.

3. Your Most Important Meal: Breakfast

You’ve probably heard me say this before, or at least read it some where. Don’t skip breakfast. Ever! There have been numerous studies including one at the University of Massachusetts that showed people who skipped breakfast were five times more likely to become obese than people who ate breakfast daily.

The main reason for this is that people who skip breakfast get famished at work, then crave very bad foods high in sugar. This is a nightmare when it comes to weight loss. You’ll never win.

Weight Loss Tip: Eat breakfast within the first 30 minutes of waking up. The worst case scenario is grabbing a nutrition bar and eating that as a meal replacement. This is 100% better than skipping breakfast.

4. Don’t Eat Too Much Sugar

Sugar is in most of our foods except organic foods like fruits and vegetables, although there is moderate sugar in fruits as well. Sugar allows the conversion of calories to fat much easier, causing a dramatic rise in bodyweight and fat. It also creates an extreme imbalance in your blood sugar levels which directly affects your ability to metabolize (digest) your food efficiently.

Weight Loss Tip: If you’re drinking soda, dump it ASAP! Soda is loaded with sugar. In fact, you might as well drink raw sugar and it’s about the same. Not only soda, check your food labels for your cereals and snacks. Many times you’ll see one of these labeled healthy, but in reality many of them have MORE sugar than the regular snacks .

5. Don’t Skip The Weights. Here’s come a little bit of effort. Cutting back your calories, specifically carbohydrates isn’t the only prerequisite for rapid weight loss. You’ve got to add some golf-specific resistance training to your weight loss program.

Studies at the University of Connecticut showed that men that were overweight and put on a 1500 calorie diet did one of three things. The first group did not do any exercise at all. The second one did cardiovascular exercise 3 days per week, and the last group did both cardio AND weights. The results were:

They all lost 21 pounds. But the ones who lifted weights dropped 5 more pounds of fat than the other two groups. Why? Their weight loss was nearly all fat, while the other two groups lost just 15 pounds of lard, in addition to several pounds of muscle.

Weight Loss Tip: Implement three 30 minute strength training sessions each week into your new fat-loss program. Commit to it and don’t deviate. Stick with it! Lost muscle is eventually replaced with fat giving you the look of flab and not tone.

I’m not talking about muscle as in bodybuilding. I’m referring to functional muscle to blast long drives and tear up your foursome on a daily basis .

If you want a straight forward program to lose fat fast and forever, take a look at my Weight Loss Guide For Golfers ebook .

Your Muscles Are Made Up Of Protein And Water

Increased muscle mass is critical for more strength, power and injury prevention. Because muscle is made up of protein and water, you need lean protein sources (fish, chicken, tuna, egg whites) regularly in your daily eating.

The daily recommendations for protein are way too low! They say the average person should have .4 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Thankfully research shows that people engaging in strength training need up to 1 gram per pound. I would like to make a compromise and have .6 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

So if you are a 180 pound man that is strength training at least 2-3 times a week, you would need 108 grams of lean protein daily to maintain and increase your lean muscle mass. Make sense?

To give you an idea of how much protein that is, it is like having three 4oz. chicken breasts a day. Not much is it. Think of having the equivalent 3 times a day and you’re good (if you weigh 180 that is).

Balance Energy With A Protein And Carbs

Have you ever noticed when you have a high carbohydrate meal by itself you end up hungrier shortly after the meal? This is because carbs are sugars. So if you eat a carb-only meal, get ready for the binge for more carbs coming up.

The solution is having a protein with every carb for every meal you eat during the day! Protein breaks down slower in the body, giving you prolonged energy, and the carb gives you more immediate energy, so it’s a perfect balance for EVERY meal you eat.

Control Hunger

A huge benefit of protein is controlling hunger, making your weight loss goals easier to achieve and sustain. As mentioned earlier, protein stays with you longer, so you won’t get hungry as often.

Protein also boosts your metabolic (calorie-burning) rate three times as much as carbohydrate for several hours. Protein also incinerates more fat by slowing the digestion of carbohydrates. So eat those proteins !!

Balance Your Nutrition Bars

Many nutrition bars are high in carbs and very low in protein. Make sure to get a bar with a good balance. You’ll see most of them higher in carbs than protein, and that’s oky as long as there is lets say at least 10-15 grams of protein per bar.

Protein Sources

If you read my post on protein shakes, this is one of the most perfect examples of getting 20-30 grams of protein in a simple shake. Breakfast can be eggs (but preferrably eggwhites) that are cage-free and brown. Lunch can be a tuna or turkey (real turkey not processed) sandwich on whole wheat. And dinner can be fish, chicken, tuna and even beans.

I hope you now realize the importance of protein for increased muscle mass, strength, weight loss, energy, AND LONGER DRIVES !

If reading this article (post) has motivated you, and you want to drop a few pounds (or maybe a lot of pounds) easily, take a look at my Golfers Guide To Weight Loss ebook. This is NOT a diet book, but sound and easy tips, techniques and advice on how golfers can lose weight and keep it off forever!