As far back as little league my family and friends called me a health nut. As a young adult I exercised regularly, juiced carrots by the gallon, added wheat germ to everything and loved researching all the latest health trends. By the end of my first year at the University Of Houston every one I knew considered me the go-to guy for any question regarding diet, nutrition or health. In 1989 I suffered a devastating back injury that required surgery. The injury and resulting surgery slowed my fast moving, exercise-loving lifestyle to a crawl. Prior to the injury I exercised regularly. I'd go running just for the fun of it. I considered a twenty mile bicycle ride short and rock climbing and back packing in the mountains were my preferred method of relaxation. After the injury and cervical disk surgery my physical activity slowed to a crawl for almost two years. Going from active to sedentary is a perfect prescription for weight gain. I gained 35 pounds, my waist grew bigger and my blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides set new record highs. As the pounds piled on I discovered a fascinating fact about human nature. I discovered that what you see when you look in the mirror is a wildly subjective. When you look in your mirror your assessment of how good or how bad you look is determined more by your self image than by your waistline, wardrobe of hair style. A beautiful woman with a poor self image looks in the mirror and doesn't like the way she looks, while some pot-bellied Jabba the Hutt with a good self image looks in the mirror and sees a super stud. Your evaluation of how you look boils down to this... If you like yourself, odds are you'll think you look great regardless of what the rest of the world sees. If you're low on self-esteem you won't like the way you look even if even if Sports Illustrated is trying to sign you to model for the cover of the swim suit edition. For me it was simple. My self-image refused to let me see a thirty five pound overweight fat boy in the mirror, instead I accused the dry cleaners of shrinking my suits. No kidding! The reality check that knocked me out of my self-induced myopia came from my loving wife who explained that the cleaners shrunk nothing and that I had in truth, fact and reality become "portly". Truthful though they were, I hasten to add these are the most unkind words she has ever spoken to me before or since. Knowing that Elizabeth sugar-coated the truth, (I wasn't portly, I was fat), and knowing that carrying an extra 35 pounds drained my energy, I decided to lose weight and regain my former state of vibrant health. But there was a problem... at least at first. The problem was simple. At that time I was in exactly the same unfortunate position most overweight people are in. As smart as I was and as much as I thought I knew, I didn't know a thing about the physiology of weight gain and I knew even less about how to achieve lasting weight loss. In psychology this is called "retroactive inhabitation", which is a fancy term that means when you're convinced you know something you tend to close your mind to new information on that subject. That's fine if you happen to be right. But if it's not? What if what you think is right, is wrong? What then? If you convince yourself you know something and close your mind, but happen to be wrong, you're doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over until you give up or drop your old beliefs and learn something new. When I decided to lose weight I did what I imagine most people do, I thumbed through diet books and followed the flavor-of-the-month guru weight loss advice, which was pretty much in line with what I thought anyway. I lost, I gained. I lost I gained. I lost I gained. For two years I believed in the weight loss gurus and I believed my repeated failure to lose weight and keep it off simply meant this humble grasshopper was not worthy. Retroactive inhabitation had me in a choke hold. But a single doctor visit forced me to face a harsh reality. My results from two years of lose-gain dieting were so bad that my doctor, who I trust implicitly, told me that if I didn't lose weight and get my blood pressure under control he'd put me on medication, probably for life. "Lose 35 pound or else!" That was it. I was too young to be bothered by health concerns and I was frustrated because I had worked hard to lose weight and keep it off and had failed. Of course failure is common when you don't really know what you're doing and, based on results, I didn't. But all that was about to change forever. Motivated by my doctor's threat and angry over the fact that the so-called "experts" apparently knew nothing about helping an overweight person lose weight and keep it off, I decided to find my own answers. I became a student again. I attended conferences, seminars, symposiums and lectures featuring the world’s leading authorities on diet, nutrition, ortho-molecular medicine and the fundamental basis of good health. I read medical journals like they were mystery novels. I digested piles of nutrition information, researched every possible connection between diet, nutrition and health and I developed an encyclopedic knowledge of all the popular "Pied Piper" approaches to weight loss. The more I studied the more I understood why these pop approaches to weight loss are fatally flawed and why people trying to follow them have practically no chance of losing weight and keeping it off any length of time. Motivated to improve my own health and determined to develop a program anyone can follow to lose weight and keep it off, I continued searching for answers. Eventually the search lead to one of the most authoritative and respected sources of medical knowledge ever published. A book that no doctor would argue with and a book that all doctors learn from, the Textbook of Medical Physiology published by Guyton & Hall. The Textbook of Medical Physiology is the premier physiology textbook used in medical schools nationwide. This book became my personal guide to understanding how
the healthy human body functions and how diet and nutrition affects that
functioning. The more I studied the more I realized most popular diet, weight loss and health advice is based on shockingly shallow science and littered with ridiculous claims that have no basis in reality. I became disgusted with the mountain of scientifically absurd diet products and the avalanche of silly approaches to weight loss and health improvement. The experience of being the victim of misplaced trust led me down a path I never dreamed of traveling. I expanded my studies, eventually earned a Ph.D. in nutrition and have gone on to become a nationally recognized authority on diet, nutrition, weight loss and a variety of health-related topics. I've helped a lot of people lose weight, improve their health and regain a sense of youthful vitality they thought was gone for good. Several years ago I spent a year putting together a fact based program patterned after my immensely successful private weight loss consultations. The program, 5 Steps to Optimal Health, is unique. With this program as your guide losing weight, looking great and building a firm, attractive body you're proud of is just a matter of time. The Program, which is available online, is downloadable and comes with two full years of free updates. As for myself, once abandoned popular advice and learned the truth about diet, nutrition, weight loss and health, I lost the 35 pounds, my blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides are in the perfect range and my 34" waist hasn't changed in over ten years. The only difference between the overweight me arguing with the cleaners... and the fit, healthy, energetic me who has helped thousands lose weight and keep it off, are the insights and information available to you in the 5 Steps Program. In addition to the 5 Steps Program I publish a free health newsletter... be sure and subscribe and I publish a health and weight loss blog that's quite a bit different than anything you've likely ever seen on these topics. If you enjoy straight talk, you may just love my accurate and often politically incorrect take on diet, nutrition, weight loss, health news and all things health related. Here's a link to the blog. http://www.DrRussellsHealthAndWeightLossBlog.com Be sure and subscribe to the free health and weight loss newsletter, just fill out the form below. FYI... I hate span and will NEVER give, share, sell, loan or rent your email address to anyone for any reason. -------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Russell J. Martino is a popular guest on radio and television across the country and a frequent key-note speaker. Audiences nationwide know him as, The Voice of Health. You'll never look at your health the same after hearing what Russell has to say on the subject. He's a master at tearing down popular health, aging, weight loss, diet and nutrition myths and explaining the facts and strategies that empower you to reach your ideal healthy body weight and achieve excellent health naturally. |
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