Today the image of The Marlboro Man, (an iconic cowboy of the 50’s sucking on a cigarette), conjures up a sense of derision, as though that were a backward time, archaic and medieval – and one which we have evolved from.

That view and the cultural shift that changed with it was very much apparent last year when scenes of a toddler chain smoking in Indonesia were broadcast around the world. For most people it was a horrifying sight and ranked somewhere between neglect – to outright child abuse.

In either case it elicited offense to our moral senses and raised poignant questions about the responsibility of parents to their children. Thankfully these views seem to suggest we have come a long way since the Marlbaro Man and what this symbol represents. Clearly there has been an evolution with respect to smoking since the 50’s stemming from a change in the zeitgeist. That is the spirit of the time, its philosophy, attitude and ideas.

No longer is the Marlbaro Man cool.

Today we know the dangers smoking poses to our health so although some people continue – they knowingly do so at their own peril. As an adult, that is a matter of choice. Allowing children that choice on the other hand as in the previous example, is not only irresponsible, it’s an outrage to many.

However if we replace the cigarettes in this scenario with a triple cheeseburger, or any other similar ‘food’ that can only be described as a nutritional train wreck, we find no such moral compunction. Society, at least for the most part, accepts and even endorses the practice. We happily feed it to our children.

Which is astonishing as ‘food’ is as great a killer as cigarettes today. In fact both diet and smoking are the two biggest causes of preventable deaths in developed countries globally. Yet it is cigarettes who are the villain and its producers who have blood on their hands. While food conversely, goes virtually unnoticed as a serial killer and suffers no such restrictions like that of cigarettes. Atrocious foods are the Marlbaro Man of our age – a symbol of ill health, a slow acting poison freely marketed and an undeniable wolf in sheep’s clothing. These are not so Happy Meals….  

The result of course to society and individuals themselves are epidemic levels of illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. These diseases have unremarkably grown in parallel with the rise in fast food over the past 30 years and the presence today of poor foods (and advertising for it), is ubiquitous. The unfortunate consequence of this is that millions of people are now hooked on a new addiction that is just as sinister as cigarettes and that has no accompanying sense of danger about it. Smoking or eating poor food over time have the same destination, yet it is only our attitude toward smoking that is appropriate given the jeopardy to health. We are not there yet with food.

A naïve sense still exists in the community that governments and regulating bodies wouldn’t allow us to consume foods which may be harmful to our health. The history of cigarettes however illustrates how gullible this view is, given that in 1964 the US Surgeon General’s Report stated ‘smoking causes cancer’, yet it wasn’t until over 30 years later that a significant court case was won against the tobacco companies. It has been downhill ever since for the tobacco industry yet the fact remains that it took decades to convict them even after we knew without doubt the threat this habit posed to our health. History may yet repeat itself.   

Today there are many anti smoking campaigns with graphic ads showing diseased lungs, cancers and so on that are the confronting truth about this practice. Ironically however you may see these ads followed by a fast food commercial, insipidly targeted at children. We are in a dark age of nutrition and it may be another 30 years before we look back on such fast food ads with the equal disdain of a child smoking. One can only hope.

Therefore asking people to lose weight these days (or more succinctly, to change their body composition), is like asking someone to quit smoking in the 60’s when advertising, temptation and ready acceptance of the practice are everywhere. It’s a difficult road.

However it can be done and we have the advantage over previous eras of now knowing what the danger is before it’s too late. And this is an important first step in modifying the eating habits of people who wish to change body composition. In essence not many people want to actively damage their health or the health of their children. Knowing the dangers of poor food choices therefore and understanding the consequences is critical. Poor food producers won’t be forthcoming about it (much like cigarette manufacturers weren’t), but the science is clear – their products can lead to ill health and an early death.

Eating healthy on the other hand, won’t kill you and although it is often the biggest challenge, it also offers the biggest rewards in terms of looking better, feeling better and achieving body composition change. More importantly long term ‘good health’, (which is the overarching goal for most people), often boils down to this one defining factor – i.e. nutrition. ‘Health’ in this regard is an invaluable asset to each of us and to those around us, which is often only appreciated when you don’t have it. So the next time some clown offers you or your children a not so happy meal, please consider your health, your goals, and the Marlbaro Man.

What lengths would you go to, to get into shape? The answer for most people is quite shocking.

I call it the ‘The Milgram Effect’ on weight loss. To elaborate Stanley Milgram was a psychologist from Yale University who conducted experiments which began in July of 1961. The experiments were designed to test the willingness of study participants to obey a figure of authority who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. The people recruited actually believed they were part of an experiment which dealt with the relationship between punishment and learning.

These participants were instructed by an ‘experimenter’ (who was really a stern faced actor in a white coat) to give a third person an electric shock who answered a question incorrectly. Subsequent errors led to an increase in the intensity of the shocks in 15-volt increments, from 15 to 450 volts, at the urging of the authority figure.

The shocks were not real as the third person receiving them was also a performer and did a great job of acting his way through ongoing zaps. The results of the study were quite frightening as 26 out of 40 participants (65 %) administered up to 450 volts which could have been (at least to the subjects knowledge) potentially fatal to the person receiving them.

Although these kinds of experiments have now been formally banned they continue to take place in the laboratory of capitalism daily. Diets are failing, people are dying, getting fatter and increasingly unhealthy, while the free market economy as a result, scrambles to address this need with a multitude of products and services being produced. Unfortunately many of those which are born out of this need are complete rubbish and would be hilarious if they were not for real. Here are just a few of the thousands out there that tickled me recently;

➢ The Hawaii Chair – a motorized chair that rotates in a hula motion and has multiple speeds to tone muscle so as to – “take the work out of your workout”.

➢ The Hallelujah Diet – which (you guessed it) requires you to eat blessed food which is unsurprisingly only available from the creators of the diet.

➢ The Abdoer Twist – which “scorches away calories in just minutes a day”.

➢ 3 Minute Legs – a contraption that is for people who can’t do squats or lunges, as this thing does it for you! “Drop two dress sizes in two weeks”. Amazing.

➢ The Ab Circle Pro – this machine also suggests that in 3 minutes a day you can “go from flab to AB in just weeks!” Watch as the video displays an obese man miraculously morphing into a bodybuilder, while the narrative says, “guarantee it”.

➢ The simple knife and fork, attached to a set of 2-pound dumbbells……

➢ The latest shoe that uses “Kinetic Wedge and rocker sole design” – and infers that it is the shoe, and not the exercise, that will get you into shape.

➢ No effort at all – a vibrating pad that you can simply stand on and it joggles the fat right off you!

Many of these snake oil sales pitches have doctors, fitness professionals, athletes, astonishing “patented technology”, revolutionary design or some other specialist endorsing them, reminding me of the actor playing the authority figure in the Milgram experiments. And although these examples are somewhat comical the implication of Milgram’s research in obedience to authority, is demonstrated by illustration here – in the fact that this stuff actually sells!

However there are just as many that are more insipid and are a threat to, rather than an (alleged) aid to our health. This state of affairs demonstrates, not only the gullibility of some people, but where we are in terms of our general literacy about health. More importantly it underlines the fact that many people need someone outside of themselves to tell them what to eat and how to exercise, even if their own sensibilities tell them the advice is suspect.

This advice is more often than not, provided to them by a “weight loss expert” – which is actually a contradiction as anyone skilled in this field will know that body composition change is what people are actually seeking, not weight loss. The weight loss expert therefore is at best a misnomer, and at worst, fraudulent. I have never met – (with the exception of competitive athletes who must make a specific weight class), a person who wants to lose weight.

The underlying goal for people is invariably to change their body composition, which is the ratio of fat to lean mass in the body. In most cases they want to lose fat, and to a lesser extent gain muscle (or both). So it is monumentally perplexing to witness on a daily basis many and varied “weight loss” experts, peddle their wares in pretty much any forum you can imagine. The credibility of these “authorities” should immediately be in question as, ironically, if they had any expertise at all, they would not mislabel themselves.

Given these examples do we really need a figure of authority to tell us what to eat or how to exercise? Well clearly the marketing engines behind the many foods, products and services that generate revenue from them will have you believe so. However they are trading on and perpetuating what is now a palpable fear about our health. This unease is somewhat quelled when we have an authority on the subject tell us it is ok and all is well – as long as you do this…. Eat a magical pill, berry or use a revolutionary new technology that apparently provides us with the means to exercise our bodies in “only 3 minutes a day” – despite the fact that to use it (and believe it), you must desist in exercising your brain entirely.

It should be remembered that much like the Milgram example, the context of the authority and what it tells us is not always as it seems. In many cases advertisers simply use the authority as a means of disempowering people from the decision making process. It’s a selling strategy utilizing obedience to authority that works. Weight loss advertisers are a case in point as they put forward, what appear to be, ludicrous attempts to cash in on the current malaise about our health. These absurdities nevertheless are bought in scores.

So how does an unsuspecting consumer avoid being one of the majority of suckers who buy into the ruse of the ‘authority’ on the subject? Well clearly it pays to do your own investigation, and in doing so it is important to possess the basics of being able to interrogate information. Asking questions such as – is the information biased, objective, who is the source, its authority, the agenda, is it timely, and is there a commercial gain behind it – are a good start.

“Weight loss” – or more succinctly body composition change, is not a new subject. There is a large body of peer reviewed research which is easily accessible to draw some fairly solid conclusions as to what the consensus is about certain subject matter – be it diet, exercise or anything else in this field. Unsurprisingly there have been few if any truly remarkable changes to the basics of getting into shape and being healthy. The fundamentals are still sound. Therefore if an ‘expert’ makes claims that sound a little ridiculous, there’s a strong chance that they are. It is important that the authority does not dispossess people’s ability to exercise a modicum of common sense.

Despite what advertisers and their ‘experts’ will tell you, this subject is not the exclusive domain of a chosen few and we need to challenge the notion that it is. The alternative is that we become part of the experiment and simply get told what to do even if it compromises our health, or the health of others, while also lightening our wallets. Do your own research, draw your own conclusions based on the evidence, critically analyze the information that is presented – and you won’t get a shock.

It’s rather discouraging to note that almost all of body composition change efforts – (which are otherwise known as weight loss attempts), fail. Nevertheless there is a glimmer of hope when we examine the numbers.

Let us first define ‘failure’ – which by most measures is that a person returns to their original weight at anywhere from the time of the intervention (the change effort) to five years later. The most important detail in this information is, interestingly, not that they failed, but rather ‘when’ they failed. Relapse generally occurs well after the intervention, and not surprisingly when the person is no longer in a program and left to their own devices.

Anecdotally we can infer from this that there may be a relationship between long term success and being accountable. It seems not so coincidental that as accountability, measure and scrutiny fades, that people respectively gain weight. We know this intuitively and there are many examples (not just in the context of body composition change) that this principle applies.

Indeed several weight loss studies now confirm that there is a positive correlation between the success of participants and their accountability. That is the more accountable they are, the more likely they are to succeed. If there is no accountability then there is nothing compelling, requiring the participant to continue with their efforts to change. This explains relapse following a change effort and why such good success rates are reported while people are actually in a program.

This evidence naturally proposes the question; how does a person stay accountable? Well, it is probably oversimplifying things to say – stay in a program. Yet it is undeniable that people have the most success during this time, as whether it is formally or informally the framework has been established which includes (but is not limited to), a goal; being accountable; a workable timeline and some form of measure. This is replicable and even after the program finishes should still be the basic mechanism for people to assess their change efforts – even if it’s only for maintenance purposes.

Fit specimens are generally people in some form of program, which they are accountable to until they reach a goal or date, finish, and then begin another. Similarly competitive athletes use the same model and it is no accident that in shape people and successful change participants, do the same. The act of measuring, being responsible to someone or something outside of ourselves and under scrutiny is important, even for graduates of a program – particularly for graduates – that should not be overlooked.

Accountability measures can take the form of a journal, a mentor, a coach, a trainer, a training partner, spouse, community, friend or friends, tracking tools, a group, doctor, health professional, repeated fitness testing, repeated body composition testing and so on.

Ideally you should be able to stand in front of, or report to someone at regular intervals who can appraise your progress and offer recommendations, whether that be in terms of lifestyle, diet, training, motivation or other relevant factors. That ‘someone’ in the mirror unfortunately doesn’t qualify in this regard. In most cases when a person is forced to  ‘Stand and Deliver’ – they do. Therefore it makes obvious sense to engineer this accountability into your change effort for optimal results.

Desire and satisfaction can be bitter sweet as they both produce very different outcomes for most people. The satisfaction of reaching a peak usually results in flaccidity, indifference, loss of arousal and the mistaken belief that the job is done. Not so when it comes to changing body composition. Which is of course the subject addressed here….

Conceptually it can be thought of as an in built thermostat by which we regulate ourselves. This Thermostat Concept has its roots in psychology’s Drive Reduction Theory, which says organisms have physiological needs that must be satisfied, or a tension is created, until those needs are met. Similarly the effect has also been noted in people whereby we each have a level of comfort in our lives which, when not met, creates a drive to do more, to turn up the heat until again we reach a level of ease.

This metaphor is particularly useful when we think of it in the context of getting into shape, losing fat and changing body composition. Usually before engaging in an exercise or nutritional program individuals are dissatisfied with their health, weight, look or some other factor which creates a force, an energy, an impetus for change. The success of the change effort is usually closely correlated to how powerful this drive is, the desire – and how long it will last.

Unfortunately for most people the drive behind their change effort has limited thrust and tends to wilt over time. Which is why we often see the Thermostat Concept, manifest itself as Yo-Yo weight loss and weight gain. At some point the drive is no longer sufficient enough to sustain the efforts of a change program, people get comfortable and the heat of their efforts, begin to wane.

Tapping into this drive is critical to individuals in not only reaching a goal, but also in maintaining it. The difficulty it seems is not only running hot, but staying that way. The perfect nutritional and exercise program alone will not get you to your goal unless there is a strong desire and a compelling need to do so.

Indeed if there is nothing gripping, no stimulus to create momentum, then the chances of gaining and maintaining traction in the change program may be slim – (no pun intended). Individuals who seem to have the most success are those who can not only reach their peak – but stay on the hobbyhorse over time by tapping into their own unique motivations for doing so.

Rousing stimulus such as the desire to get into an old size eight pair of jeans for example, may be enough to get a person to change, however is unlikely to be compelling enough to keep them there. Satisfaction in this regard can be fleeting. People get there, relax and in a short time, are back where they started and yearning for more for themselves.

Life changing measures require an equally motivating vigor which cannot be satiated by one brief moment of pleasure – such as losing some weight, or reaching an ideal weight, then sagging back into a relapse. Ongoing satisfaction rather, is found in the passion of staying firm, and fulfilling the desire of reaching health goals – permanently.

This may be easier said than done as change programs focus principally on diet, exercise – or both. Rarely do they address the driving forces which compel people to get into and most importantly, stay in a change effort. This is the reason 80% of people who take out a gym membership cease training within three months of signing up – and is in part why over 90% of diets fail.

The drivers behind motivation to change are unique from person to person and hence a one size fits all approach to stimulus of this power is usually inadequate for a lasting effort. What is certain however is individuals who are successful over the long term are able to connect with things which are personally compelling to them. A heart attack victim for instance, who must change to live, has some fairly convincing consequences driving him to maintain his efforts over time.

Regardless of the circumstances there are invariably things that people can connect to which will give them lasting power. It is this critical criterion, which is often overlooked, that must be addressed if participants are to succeed long term. This introspective process allows the person to answer their own question as to how they turn up the heat – and stay hot.

Hoodia Balance is a Fast and Effective Health Supplement

On November 21, 2004 CBS correspondent, Lesley Stahl reported on 60 Minutes that a strange little plant, Hoodia Gordonii, “… is a natural substance that literally takes your appetite away.” According to CBS, “Scientists say that it fools the brain by making you think you’re full, even if you’ve eaten just a morsel.”

IF ONLY YOU WEREN’T SO DARNED HUNGRY ALL THE TIME…

It’s true that you eat for a lot of different reasons, but feeling hungry can drive you to distraction. You know you should stick to your diet (what ever the current one is), and you know when you’re eating more than you need. But, what can you do about always feeling hungry? It’s just not fair.

Hoodia Balance might just be the answer you’re looking for. Combined with a sensible food program, exercise routine, and drinking plenty of water, the ingredients in Hoodia Balance will help you to regain your slim body easier and faster.

If you weren’t hungry all the time, you wouldn’t be tempted to snack between meals. You could easily say “No,” to second helpings. You would find it easy to push away from the table feeling satisfied.

A great deal of research is being conducted into the effects of satiety (the feeling of being full) on overeating. Hormones circulating through the body convey messages to the brain to indicate hunger of “fullness.”

WHAT IS HOODIA GORDONII?

Now, word of this amazing plant is spreading like wildfire across the country and taking the consumer market by storm. Many are calling the discovery of Hoodia Gordonii the breakthrough of the decade.

Hoodia Balance contains a massive 750MG of 100% pure certified South African Hoodia from the Kalahari Desert. With the media storm surrounding hoodia, the product is in extremely high demand. That coupled with the fact that there is a very limited quantity of real hoodia gordonii available from South Africa, the opportunity for counterfeit, fake and diluted hoodia products is running rampant. There are two certified documents required to prove the authenticity of pure South African Hoodia which we are proud to display. They are the C.I.T.E.S Certificate and the Analytical Report.

If you missed the 60 Minutes program, the program described Hoodia as a small, succulent plant that grows only in the remote region of the South African Kalahari Desert. There, the indigenous San Bushmen have eaten the plan for centuries, to stave off hunger during their long and arduous hunting trips.

This small plant looks like a dill pickle with spines on it. It grows slowly in its harsh environment, and takes four or five years, or more, before it is ready to harvest.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, joined forces with the South African San Council. They agreed to work together on the usage of indigenous plants for the benefit of both parties. They also committed themselves to the conservation of natural resources.

Because of tremendous worldwide demand for the Hoodia plant, it has become endangered by over-harvesting. Now, certification is required to prove that the product is authentic Hoodia Gordonii.

Real Hoodia Gordonii only grows in the semi-arid desert of South Africa – not in China, or Mexico, or the United States. With Hoodia Balance you can be assured of getting the real, organic Hoodia ingredient. Check out our shop – BeautyandHealth4All for the best offer with worldwide shipping.