I did my measurements today after completing my 28-day Fast Start program. I excited that I continue to lose weight and inches, but not with the actual numbers. I, like many people, aren’t easily satisfied with incremental results.

I lost one pound during Week 4 – down to 189 and a total of 14 pounds from 203 four weeks ago. I lost one-half inch off my waist, now 41.0 inches down a total of three inches from four weeks ago. That number I am happy about. I can actually fit into some of my clothes much easier. My hip measurement remained the same at 41.5 inches – down a total of one and a half inches in four weeks. I didn’t realize I had that much extra fat around my hips. More importantly, my hips are larger than my waist – and I think that is a big deal. It’s been a long time since my waist was a smaller circumference than my hips.

My chest remained the same as last week, 44.0 inches – down only a total on one and a half inches from four weeks ago. An inch and a half from both my chest and my hips and three inches from my waist is encouraging to me. My neck measurement was down a quarter of an inch from last week and a total of one inch from four weeks ago. I noticed this last Friday when I went to a ‘black tie’ event and my bow tie was listing slightly to one side. That wasn’t normal for me. Usually it stays where I align it. I studied it in the mirror to see what might be the cause and I noticed right away my bow tie was very loose – hence falling down on one side. I hadn’t thought about tightening it because I was losing weight.

Would I change anything in my 28-day program? I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Regardless of my successes or failures on my 28- day Fast Start program, I believe that I made significant progress. Obviously most people use their results as an absolute in their assessment of any program they are on. My program is not a diet – a short-lived process where you change your food sources. It is a lifestyle program. I kept asking myself, can I live this way for the rest of my life? That was the real criteria that I was comparing my daily and weekly results to.

It wouldn’t have mattered if I lost twice as much weight or inches if I could not sustain 90% or more of what I had been doing. You do things that you enjoy doing, or things that don’t really upset your norm. Can I say that eating only when I was hungry was uncomfortable – No! Did I enjoy it? Not really enjoyment, but more of a monitoring mode to see how hunger affected me. As long as I had instant access to fluids, it didn’t matter that I was not eating. I was extremely tenacious to ensure that I was maintaining my nutritional balance – something that is an absolute when going on a calorie restricted regimen.

My mental clarity was never challenged during the last four weeks. I think that is important. I was never fatigued. I was tired on three or four occasions. In the past I would take a short nap – initially planned for fifteen minutes and would routinely end up at thirty minutes or longer. I would wake up as tired as I was when I started my nap. During my 28-day Fast Start program, I took maybe one quick nap each week – usually a little later in the day than I had reviously. I would set my phone alarm for ten minutes and actually use that nap time for focusing on ‘how can I do a particular task’ that I was planning to do. I would wake up with the alarm and reset it for ten minutes. On each occasion I would never make it to the second alarm, but would wake up about five minutes into the second sleep cycle. I would get up and would feel more relaxed than I did when I started my nap. That was definitely noticeable.

On my Atkins lifestyle I noticed that I did not have any endurance when I went running. I did not run during my 28-day program. I did do several 30+ minute cardio routines and did not feel drained or truly exhausted afterwards. I normally raised my pulse rate above 150 when running and that may be the difference. On the cardio equipment I could only raise my pulse into the 130’s – so the intensity was not the same. The duration was longer than my runs in the past on Atkins, but I don’t believe my endurance was really tested on any of the equipment I chose to use during my 28-day program.

I switched over to running sprints about three years ago and I notice that running a 5K race with my daughter and/or grandson is much more tiring than it has been in the past. I enjoy the sprints and I truly believe that they are better conditioning exercises than long runs with a constant pulse rate.

The quality of my sleep has definitely improved. I believe part of that is the forced nutritional balance that I adhere to daily. In the past, I would notice a ‘not so good night’s sleep’ could be corrected by correctly any vitamin or mineral deficiency that I allowed to happen more than a few days. Doing something each day is easy to do – and, it is easy not to do. Taking vitamin/mineral supplements is easy to do – and, it is easy not to do. I know that it helped the quality of my sleep in the past. Adhering to a daily regimen of balanced nutrition definitely helped the quality of my sleep.

I hadn’t thought about getting a blood test before and after I started my program. I wish I had. It would have been interesting to see the results internally of nutritional balance and reduced calories. I will continue to report on my progress as I continue to maintain a low total calorie and balanced nutrition lifestyle. I will report periodically on my progress. After 30 days habits become fixed. It really did not seem challenging to me to adopt an ‘eat when I am hungry’ lifestyle. I will continue to monitor my progress and report accordingly.

Thanks for following my progress.

Red O’Laughlin
Your Prosperity Professor
281-437-8114 H/W 281-687-1188 C

I am completing my 28th day of my 28-day Fast Start Program. I’ve broken some habits and still have one or two minor ones that need additional attention. My biggest revelation was the ability to completely transition overnight from eating three or more meals a day to eating only when I am hungry. I still find in difficult not to eat when I am not hungry and I’m ready to go to bed in a few hours. I still think that I must have something before going to bed to quench my hunger during the night.

I noticed also that I could control my hunger much more easily at home. I think that is because I can control my fluid intake – something that I might find more difficult at work – or for me attending multiple meetings or events during the day. When I am hydrated, I am not hungry. When I don’t hydrate throughout the day, I find my hunger announcing itself. Is that good? I want to eventually transition to an effective calorie restricted lifestyle. I wanted to see if my ability to transition to a ‘eat when you are hungry’ lifestyle was attainable. I learned it was much easier than I thought it would be.

Now the challenge will be to develop the right nutritional plan and begin transitioning to a more planned meal program with less total calories and nutritionally balanced. I had a meeting late this afternoon – a one-on-one with another guy who will be reviewing my weight loss book. He asked me if I thought about writing a cook book. I told him that I had not and immediately took a note. I’ve given it a lot of thought and it makes sense. It would be a wonderful thing if I could analyze the needed nutritional requirements for ‘x’ amount of calories and develop an appropriate meal plan.

One of the things I wanted to blog about was a subject I touched on at last Saturday’s presentation. Each one of us needs to become a subject matter expert (SME) on the nutritional content of foods and understanding food labels. If we want to make wise choices in the foods we choose, then we should know exactly what benefits we are deriving from the foods we choose. Yes, we can pick and choose certain proteins, fats and carbohydrates, but do we know exactly what nutrients are in each and how that combination of foods benefits our bodies?

Allow me a few moments to briefly cascade through each week and comment positively or negatively on each of the requirements I set forth in the 28-day Fast Start Program. Make goals – definitely needed. Promise yourself – definitely needed. Visualize your end results – definitely needed. You must know where you are going and you must get your subconscious mind aligned with your journey. You also must understand that a new lifestyle is not temporary. Every change you make will become your norm in the future. Yes, things will be tweaked as needed, but you cannot go back to the lifestyle you had chosen that allowed you to gain the weight you did not want.

Measure yourself – definitely needed. Plan your meals in advance – definitely needed. Learn how to ready food labels – yes and more – as I mentioned a moment ago, you must know the nutritional complement of each food you eat to stay healthy. Hydration – absolutely mandatory. Portion control – you cannot succeed without it. Chew your food thoroughly – another absolute. I’m still having problems with this new habit. When I don’t think about it I revert to my old habit of eating very quickly. Eliminate/reduce fructose – another absolute.

Add tea to your dietary options – some people don’t like the taste of tea, but you need fluids to keep hydrated – choose your own liquid without sugar or artificial sweeteners. Yes, you have time to wean yourself off the artificial sweeteners, but you really need to do this for a healthy lifestyle. My last item from Week 1 is to eliminate alcohol. As with any requirement to eliminate an item, there are always options to ‘celebrate’ with a ‘coke’ or glass of ‘wine’ or a bottle of ‘beer’. Moderation is absolute! You must be balanced in your choices and you must adhere to moderation even when you splurge on that one day every couple or so weeks.

Nutritional balance with vitamins and minerals – an absolute, whether in the foods you eat or the supplements you take. Antioxidants to fight oxidative stress and inflammation – another absolute requirement. Increase omega-3 fatty acids – yes, much of our population is deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. Reduce omega-6 fatty acids – this is mandatory from an inflammation perspective and for the fact that the majority of the United States is overdosed on omega-6 fatty acids already. Add stress relief methods (yes plural – methods) to your daily life, even when you don’t think you need them. You must reduce cortisol and stress relief is one way. Get better quality sleep – mandatory for a better life.

Exercise program – I wish I had exercised more during my 28-day program. I probably average about 2.5 times to the gym during the week and maybe one day at home that might qualify for minimal strength training. I know the gurus tell us to spend ‘x’ hours/day for ‘y’ days/week doing cardio and this and that. The real objective is to develop a habit of exercise to help your overall brain and heart health – not to lose weight. Vary your exercise to gain strength, flexibility and endurance. It doesn’t have to be excessive, but doing something nearly every day develops the habits you need for your new lifestyle.

Add fiber to your diet – anytime you reduce your total carbohydrates you need fiber – through supplementation or through food choices. I try to obtain fiber first from foods and then balance it out with supplements. I chose psyllium husks, chia seed and inulin as my primary soluble fibers. I chose not to use an insoluble fiber during my first 28 days because I wanted to stay with the products I already had on my shelf. As I begin to restock in the near future, I will chose an insoluble fiber, such as Chitosan (which I’ve used extensively in the past) to supplement my fiber choices. There are several fibers that I need to explore further before making my final choice. Add prebiotics to your diet – another absolute requirement.  

Week 3 focused on hormones. The first is insulin. Reduce total insulin – a desired outcome, especially if you have insulin resistance. Secondly, to concentrate on changing your insulin resistance – if you have it. Third, to increase your overall insulin sensitivity – restore it back to your more youthful days. Increase free testosterone – yes, definitely needed, especially if you have abdominal visceral fat stores. Decrease excess estrogen – same reason as free testosterone. Increase fat absorption. Something I did not do during my program. You have to be selective when you take a fat absorber to not conflict with the good fats you need in your diet. I choose very carefully which fats I choose to eat and made a decision that I didn’t need the fat blocker. I stay away from omega-6 fatty acids and load up on omega-3 fatty acids, omega-9 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) such as coconut oil – which I used extensively for cooking and daily intake – 4 tablespoons a day minimum.

Week 4 focused on toxin removal. You must remove as many toxins as you can from your daily lifestyle. They are dangerous and can affect your health in ways you have no idea about yet. I’ll be writing a book on that subject in the near future. Improve your self-image – this dates back to Week 1 when the focus was on aligning your subconscious mind with your goals. Your self-image is just as important as any food you choose to eat.

Increase carbohydrate absorption was not something I spent much time doing since I significantly reduced my carbohydrate intake. I tried to stay in the 50-80 grams/day of carbohydrates to keep my body periodically replenished with fuel (blood glucose), but not to a level that I could not enjoy burning fat for the majority of the day. I personally find it extremely easy to avoid carbohydrates completely, but I realize that your body needs some on a daily basis for optimum health. Choose your carbohydrates wisely.

Increase your serotonin levels – yes, this is critical if you are obese. It’s a good thing to do if you are not overweight. Eliminate vitamin deficiencies and you will have more essential amino acids available to convert to serotonin. Improve your thyroid health is mandatory. You need your thyroid working for you to stay healthy and thin. Consider a calorie restricted lifestyle is an option. I haven’t done it yet, so it is still an option, but from everything I have read, it is one of the best things you can do for a healthy long life.

I will report my weight and inches in the morning for my 28 days and see what successes I have. Until then,

Red O’Laughlin
Your Prosperity Professor
281-437-8114 H/W 281-687-1188 C

It’s interesting how things can surprise you. I’ve been pitching my book to friends and I received a response last night that was surprising. My friend said he wasn’t interested in my book because he didn’t read.  And, that he is getting older and it wouldn’t benefit him that much. I thanked him for his honesty and discussed it briefly with my wife before going to bed. Yes, I can understand some people who prefer not to read. Their days are jammed with too many things attacking their time from every direction. They really don’t have the time to read. Some people prefer not to read when given the opportunity. Some people prefer to read those things that interest them.

The reading part surprised me a little, but the getting older comment was totally out of left field. We are all getting older – every day, so to speak. We don’t have an option on getting older. Most people, like my friend, assume that they don’t have any control over their physical age. I’ve noticed that people typically have at least three separate and distinct ages. The first is their chronological age which started on the day they were born. The second age is your mental age. It’s how old your brain operates at on a daily basis. Most of us have a mental age somewhere in the twenties. My mental age is 24 years old. I think very much like I did when I was in my mid-20’s.

A person’s biological age is a combination of their internal and external physiological ages. Some people look older or younger than their chronological age. Other people look older or younger than they feel they are. Take an average 50 year old man for an example. He is chronologically 50 years of age. His mental age may be 25 years of age. He may look like a 55-60 year-old and feel older than that. From my own personal surveys, most people look and feel older than they are. Some of them actually look younger than their age, but they feel older than their chronological age.

I look younger than my age by at least ten years (from what people tell me) and feel nearly twenty years younger than my chronological age. I’m sure part of my physical aging is genetic. But, I believe that a person’s nutrition and attitude impact their biological age. Proper balanced nutrition gives your body the reserves it needs to operate efficiently. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies lead to early aging. I believe a sedentary lifestyle makes you feel older since you are not as active as you can be – or should be. I’ve noted in my chapter on exercise that exercise is not an effective method for losing weight. However, it is needed for brain health (more oxygen flowing through your brain improves your memory and clarity) and heart health (exercise improves heart muscle strength).

My Week 1 concentrates on aligning your subconscious mind to help you achieve your weight loss goals, but more importantly, to effectively change your lifestyle. It’s extremely important to get your subconscious mind on your side to achieve any goal. Your subconscious mind helps immensely to reduce your biological age. I use a mantra every day (many times a day actually) that I learned from Dr. Deepak Chopra. It’s simple. Every day and in every way I increasing my mental and physical capacity. My Biostat is set for a health ______ year-old. I look and feel like a health ________ year-old.

Regardless of my biological age I am telling my subconscious mind that I am younger than my chronological age. Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between real and imagined. If you visualize and imagine you are younger, slimmer, trimmer, stronger, more powerful, more active, more muscular, etc, you can train your subconscious mind to overlay your new thoughts on top of your older views of yourself – your old self-image.

I’ve been doing these affirmations (and others) for several months. I can tell that I walk differently that I did before I stated. By walk differently, I mean that I feel different – more confident, more graceful, more quickly, stronger, etc. It’s a little thing, but it is noticeable. I’ve always been a pretty clear thinker. Maybe it has gotten better, but I have perceived no distinct difference from before until today. I firmly believe that the communication with my subconscious is making me younger and healthier on a daily basis.

As you transition into your new lifestyle, every trick in the book to make you feel better, look better, etc is needed to be able to take full advantage of your ‘later’ life. You want to be in good health and able to do the things that you want to do.

I am looking forward to the last day of my 28-day program – which is tomorrow. It’s been interesting and I’ll comment on those lessons learned along the way of my journey to my new lifestyle.

Red O’Laughlin
Your Prosperity Professor
281-437-8114 H/W 281-687-1188 C