Hi Folks,

It is a really busy time here as more and more people turn to the Altered Images lifestyle.

That's fantastic but I am stressed this morning about how much there is to do and how little time there is in which to do it. So I am going to practice what I preach. Read on to find out how...

Stress without physical exertion will make you gain fat!

The jury is NOT out on evolution. The human body evolved to deal with stress in certain ways. Before we became "civilized," stress was all about fight-or-flight. Stress was that you were about to be eaten by a lion so you'd better run!

In response, the body needed a mechanism for quick energy to be available and a system to help deal with shock and injury. It was all about survival.

The result? In stressful conditions, the body secretes cortisol - a hormone that immediately starts breaking down muscle tissue for fast energy (it also acts as an anti-inflammatory in case of injury; cortisone is a relative of cortisol).

These days, we very rarely have to worry about being eaten by pretty much anything. But the basic responses of the body can't distinguish between that stress and the stress of, say, your boss taking away your treasured red stapler that you love so much and moving your desk to the basement.

In the past, stress would be immediately followed by physical exertion. You'd run as fast as you could from the lion or you'd fight off what was attacking you. Now, there is rarely physical exertion following stress so the cortisol is not dissipated. It continues to break down muscle and promote fat storage.

This is why constant stress without regular exercise will make you gain fat.

One for you to think (not stress!) about.

So how is this relevant to practicing what I preach? Well, I have kept this blog uncharacteristically short thus creating more time for myself. So I will be less stressed. I feel good that I have kept up with my commitment to blog every day. So I am less stressed. And now I am going to do my own training and mop up all that cortisol. Oh and training will in itself make me less stressed. 

In fact, I feel better already.

Your Friend and Coach

Adrian Lowther

Good Morning All,

I've got ask you...do you really want to lose more fat? I ask this because as with almost anything else one aspires to achieve in life, most simply would LIKE to lose more fat, but simply don't WANT to lose it badly enough.

It's kind of like in competitive athletics.  Everyone would like to win rather than lose, but there are very few that are driven with a purpose...those that not only WANT to win, they MUST win to be satisfied, and nothing less will do.

As you might imagine I get loads of emails from readers every day about a variety of subjects. Do you know what I hear the most? Excuses, Excuses, and more EXCUSES about why this or that person can't lose their body fat.

I know there are some REAL issues out there, but for the most part the excuses I hear are just hollow reasons that keep most people from succeeding with their fat loss and fitness goals. So, I wanted to go over with you some of the top excuses I hear about every day from would be fat burners, so you can judge for yourself. Are they holding YOU back?  If so, what can YOU do about them right now?  And ultimately, what kind of person are you really? Someone who would like to win...or someone who MUST win?

Hollow Excuse 1: "I Can't Find The Time To Eat Right"

Look, we're all busy, but how is it that some people can do it and others just complain about not having enough time to cook healthy meals or prepare healthy snacks? Do you want it or don't you?  Get serious, get organized, and prepare your meals/snacks the day before if you must.  Cook in large quantities, for the whole week even, so that you can refrigerate or freeze the leftovers to eat at later meals throughout the week.  This is less time spent cooking and more time spent enjoying delicious healthy foods. Carry healthy snacks with you.  Keep some at the office.  Keep some in your car...make it easy on yourself so you're not stuck in a hunger panic at the nearest fast food restaurant.

Hollow Excuse 2: "I Can't Find The Time To Exercise"

Again, I'm busy too.  But seriously, if you can't find 15-26 minutes two to three times in a week (as we use at Altered Images), you need to fix your schedule.  That's less than 1 hour per week out of the available 168 hours.  Are you even a little bit serious about losing more fat?  Yeesch!

Hollow Excuse 3: "Healthy Food Is Too Expensive"

I know that this is true in some cases, but you must realise where most of your food money is going...to the stuff in the boxes on the shelves...not to the stuff that is grown and comes out of the ground. Are organic fruits and veggies more costly than non organic varieties?  Sure, but cutting down on the next few boxes of cheesie puffs will more than make up for it. Plus, once you start eating more nutrient rich foods, you'll automatically eat less...which means you'll be buying less too.

Hollow Excuse 4: "I Hate Exercise/Diets/Water, etc."

Oh really?  Well I bet you don't hate those things as much as I  hated being more than 40 pounds overweight, having low energy, and basically sleepwalking through life for 10 years.  Of course, I found that you don't have to go on "diets" to succeed. Decide what YOU hate more and be prepared to live with your answer.

Hollow Excuse 5: "I Eat Out All The Time"

OK, first, you can eat out and still eat reasonably healthy.  BUT, you can't expect to eat out too often...the healthy choices are restaurants are few and far in between. Eat out for special occasions...even once or twice a week is fine.  Don't let it become an every day event or you'll look like you eat out every day...makes sense doesn't it?

Hollow Excuse 6: "It's Too Expensive For A Gym Membership"

Really?  How much do you spend a month eating out?  On fast food?  On DVD's you end up watching once and other miscellaneous expenses? Here's a better question:  How much are you willing to pay for medical costs and the time spent at the doctor and the hospital as you get older and your health starts to break down? The longer you can avoid this scenario the better...and all for less than the cost of a Starbucks a day or less?

Hollow Excuse 7: "I've Tried Everything...Nothing Works For Me"

My guess is you've tried SOME things for a few weeks at a time, never giving ANYTHING long enough to see if it will really work for you. This is where most people end up after trying fad diet after fad diet.  That's why diets don't work in the long run. Instead, try integrating some of the tips I give you each day in this blog into your existing lifestyle.  Before you know it, you'll have totally reshaped how you eat, exercise, and metabolise calories. And give us a call at Altered Images. We do not do diets. We do not do Memberships. We guarantee results. We do change lives.

Alright, there's 7 of the top hollow excuses I see from readers all the time.  Believe me, there are a lot more...but we'll save those for another day.

So again, ask yourself: are excuses like these holding YOU back? If so, what can YOU do about them right now?  And ultimately, what kind of person are you really?.. 

Someone who would like to win...or someone who MUST win...?

Your Friend and Coach

Age Lowther

Good Morning All,

I've mentioned before about how shocked I am at the daily decisions some people make that go directly against their efforts to lose fat and get lean (despite their claims that they are "trying everything").

I’ve been thinking about this since yesterday’s blog and found myself regaling a client of the following story earlier. The details (place and time) aren’t important because it is something I see time and time again…

I remember wanting something to eat before going to a meeting. I knew I was going to need something substantial to eat to hold me over until I would get home later that night.

Everywhere I looked all I could see was your typical chain fast food joints, or coffee shops selling processed carb, high sugar ‘edible food like substances’. I did spy a sandwich shop/cafe that appeared to sell some healthy options. Maybe I could get a baked potato or such like, so I made a bee-line for this apparent oasis.

Now here's the thoughts I had...

There was a McDonalds right next to this healthy cafe.  The queue was at least 20 people deep with everyone who ordered stuffing their face with all sorts of deep fried nasty-ness.

However, there were only 2 people in the healthy cafe (and I was the 3rd)! Huh!?!

Now I do realise that in recent times, the major fast food chains are at least attempting to offer some healthier options for people to choose from, but I can assure you from what I saw, nobody was choosing any of the healthy options over the deep fried junk.

Not only that, but as I scanned the long line of people waiting patiently for their chemical-laden trans fat infested "happy" meals, I noticed that not 1 single person was normal weight... every single person in the line was overweight!

I can also make the prediction that if you conducted a survey of those 33 overweight people waiting in the McDonalds line for their junk food, and asked them if they wanted to lose weight, probably at least 90% of them would tell you YES.  The other 10% are the people that simply don't care at all about their health or their appearance.

So once again, this begs the question... if these people honestly do want to live healthier lives and lose their fat, why are they making the decision to eat at the fast food place, when a cafe with healthy options was right there next to it, and didn't even have a line in which to wait?

Perhaps it has to do with the clever marketing of fast food and that people are semi brainwashed into choosing the fast food over some non-chain which isn't branded into their heads?

Perhaps they can't resist the fast food once they smell the fried food?

Perhaps they feel that the healthy cafe would be too costly instead of the cheaper food at the fast food joint?

I'm not sure of the answer. Again, as with anything involving the mind and decisions, it is a complex subject.

I do think that the cost issue is ridiculous if you think about it.  Maybe a fast food meal full of junk would cost you £4.00 and the healthy meal at the cafe would cost you £6.00 (maybe). My thinking is... isn't it worth the extra £2.00 to eat something that will make you feel better, look better, and live longer?

Maybe I'm stupid, but it just makes sense to me to pay a little more for quality.

Something to think about as you're out there on a daily basis making these types of decisions that will affect your health (and appearance).

Your Friend and Coach

Age Lowther

Good Morning All,

Darn it...after having got back to blogging every day I have slipped again and missed yesterday. Thinking what excuse I was going to give you made me think...gosh I hear some excuses from people regarding exercise and nutrition. Some people like to call them reasons or justifications, but why don’t we just call them what they really are…excuses. 

In my experience with coaching people to lose body fat, I have found that the difference between those who are successful and those who are not, is the ability to problem solve.  Those who are successful do not allow life’s disruptions to control their exercise and eating plan. For the most part, the reason people cannot attain their goal is because they make excuses for their failure to follow a plan.  Here is a list of the most common excuses:

• I couldn’t exercise because work got too busy
• It is not convenient to eat protein with each meal
• Tracking calories is too time consuming
• I can't eat breakfast
• I can't afford it
• I haven't got time
• It’s the holiday's
• I was eating out
• I just can’t seem to fit 5-6 small meals in every day

This list could go on and on.  Life is dynamic and there will always be “reasons” why you “can’t” adhere to an exercise and eating plan.  When the switch goes on in your head that says, “Losing weight is the only option”, you will find a way to turn those obstacles into solvable problems. 

Fortunately, what you put in your mouth and do to your body are the things you will always have control over.  Over time, your exercise and eating plan will become the constant instead of the variable in your life.

This may sound to be oversimplistic and even harsh. Of course there are other things involved. To give you just one example, the support structure provided here at Altered Images is crucial to your success and in this example,  is key to helping you overcome obstacles and barriers to participation and success.

But the point is still valid...let's not make excuses. I once heard someone say, and have since often said myself...'trying is just a noisy way of not doing something!'

Your Friend and Coach

Age Lowther

Hi Folks,

It is a Saturday after an extremely turbulent and difficult week.

So, now that I have lifted my day by doing my own training and am looking forward to the mornings clients, I thought I would try to lift any flagging souls out there with a bit of humour and regail you with a Fatuous Testimonial...

You must not get the impression that I have stood idly by and allowed all this to just happen. That I have just let the weight pile on and on without trying to get on top of it, to wrest back control of my body from my mad metabolism. I did not go quietly into that dark night.

I had dieted. Of course I dieted. I dieted to Olympic standards.

I gave up fats. I gave up sugars. I gave up dairy. Red meat? Forget about it. I even, Lord have mercy gave up alcohol. I gave up any food that was in any way remotely pleasant. I ate bread the same texture and flavour as sandpaper encrusted cardboard smeared with the merest hint of fly duty posing as tasty yeast spread. Then I gave up wheat altogether. I found myself eating tiny garamflour pancakes smudged with a tiny suggestion of Stone Me If That’s Not Butter. I then read a terrifying article about the carcinogenic properties of chickpeas and had to relinquish even this pathetic balm to the appetite. I became sitophobic: from being a sensual delight to anticipate with pleasure, food now seemed to belong in the same category as weapons of mass destruction. The fat content of nuts made them as deadly as bullets. An avocado pear started looking as lethal as an anti personnel fragmentation grenade.

I joined clubs. I had red days and green days. I lived only on speed slim shakes. I followed Rosemary Conley’s advice for my hips and tum. Then I stopped combining proteins and carbohydrates. Then I gave up carbohydrates altogether. Then I gave up proteins and carbohydrates. I never snacked. I would sooner have shot my own mother than have eaten a chocolate bar. I stopped eating altogether after one o’clock in the afternoon. I tried living on raw fish and rice. Then I even gave up the rice. I ate kelp. Kelp and only kelp. Lord have mercy.

And each new effort, each new push would produce the same results. For the first few weeks I would lose weight. Then I would stop losing weight and tighten up my regimen. I would lose a little more weight, and plateau out again. Then I would be starving, eating only nonsense and still not losing weight, and I would give up. Then in a few short weeks I would be back at my original size and then some.

And one day, I found myself standing in front of a salad bar and realised there was nothing there I was allowed to eat, that I’d ingeniously managed to negotiate myself into a position where pretty much all I thought about was food, and yet I couldn’t eat any of it.

And then I met Adrian from Altered Images. His first words….I don’t do diets. Cliches…he knows them all, and even has a few of his own:- "What are the first three letters of the word diet", "You must feed your body not starve it".

After listening to him there did seem to be a passion and a confidence in his approach. He guarantees results for goodness sake. I was incredibly sceptical. Who wouldn’t be? But I took a piece of his free advice and gave up giving up. He convinced me that if I’d never started any of this diet nonsense, I’d probably be four stone lighter than I was.

OK. Enough was enough. Or rather, not enough was enough. I would eat what I wanted, within reason. And that worked, in a way, for a while. My girth stopped growing. It wasn’t going away, but it wasn’t getting any bigger. Result: happiness. After a fashion.

So what next? I admit to going back to the diet drawing board and weighing everything up, again. Ultimately I had to face up to Adrian’s advice, still ringing in my ears, that exercise was an essential prerequisite to success. Which meant but one thing. 

It meant I had to swallow my pride, having first assessed its calorific value and Glycemic Index, of course, and go back to the gymnausia. Actually not quite a gym. Go on, lose yourself (quite literally; in my case four stone of me) in the unique and unbelievably enjoyable experience that is Altered Images.

Name and Address Supplied.

Hope you enjoyed that.

Now go and enjoy your Saturday.

Your Friend and Coach

Age Lowther

It is my unhappy task to inform you that Suzie will no longer be working at Altered Images. I am sure you will join me in wishing her well for the future.

Your Friend and Coach

Age Lowther

Good Morning All,

Over the last two days I have explained why many people end up dieting and why diets do not work. Today I am going to tell you what to do about it.

The answer is actually very simple and I really do not enjoy telling you; you know it already!

Just stop dieting and start eating nutritiously.

Stay clear of very low calorie diets that ask for more than a 15% reduction below your body’s maintenance needs. This is the safe level that prevents this yo-yo syndrome and metabolic nightmare.

Find an eating plan that is suitable for your body type. I know this seems like general advice and you may be thinking, “just tell me what to eat!” However, common sense and intuition will guide you at first.

When you stop starving yourself, you eat a sufficient amount of food and eat right for your body type, you will find your energy soaring, weight problems will be a thing of the past and your immune system will be charged up to fight off disease and illness. When you choose the right foods, you may find that you don’t even have to worry about counting calories, because your body will find a natural balance, and the result will be a lean body and a richer life.

Do you appreciate what I have just said? A leaner body and a richer life is within your grasp. 

Why not call in to Altered Images for a free, no commitment chat about what this means for YOU.

Your Friend and Coach,

Age Lowther

Good Morning All,

Yesterday I discussed how many people end up dieting. Today I want to explain why diets do not work, particularly diets that demand severe calorie restricition.

It has been said many times by many nutrition experts too: When you have a dramatic reduction in calorie intake, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and survive.

As your body goes into melt down mode, your body loses its sense of hormonal and metabolic balance. You begin to feel deprived and sluggish. When you begin eating more after being in starvation mode, your body’s sympathetic nervous system goes on high and packs fat away for future starvation faster than a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter.

Remember that your body will place a hierarchy of importance inside itself in order to survive.  There is no changing the genetic survival code. Thousands of years ago, we learned to store body fat efficiently for the lean times, and our bodies still retain this genetic memory.

When you start a diet with a dramatic calorie reduction, your body will first burn through all the glycogen in your system, which is stored in the blood, muscles and liver. Your brain needs simple sugars to operate properly, so when calorie-deprived, your body says, “Where is the glucose? I need glucose for my brain!”

So a signal is sent to your liver to release glycogen and convert it to sugar.  About 80 grams of glycogen is stored in your liver, so after just one day, you are liver glycogen depleted. What then? Your body looks at the other source - muscle tissue – and takes all of that muscle glycogen and does the same thing.

Then comes the part that should scare the dickens out of you: Your body’s command centre (your brain) says, “No more glycogen left, so let’s start cannibalising muscle tissue to turn it into glucose so I can survive! That, in a nutshell, is the hierarchy of survival and that is the dieter’s dilemma. Your muscle tissue isn’t important during a famine, and your body doesn’t know the difference between dieting and famine.

No matter how much you grit your teeth; no matter how much willpower you have, no matter how strict your discipline, very low calorie diets will eventually always cause you to lose muscle mass as your muscle protein is used for “food.” By the way, did I mention that muscle tissue is the “burning centre” for calories? So when you lose your muscle, your calorie burning furnace is gone.

Think that’s bad? It gets worse: If the diet continues long enough, you begin to produce fat cells full of toxic waste products and start to develop stubborn fat. Stubborn fat is metabolically very inactive and very hard to burn up, because your adrenal system can not unlock the fat cell to burn the “fat” inside as energy. Your body still has to rid itself of toxins and other waste products and it does not do it well with minimum energy stores or working overtime to produce energy from muscle tissue.

It gets even worse still: Your body “remembers” all your past diets and yo-yo ups and downs and every time you repeat the diet cycle, the weight gets harder to take off and it comes back faster when the diet is over.

What is the solution to this dieter’s dilemma?

I will tell you that tomorrow.

Your Friend and Coach,

Age Lowther

Good Morning All,

Almost all of us have been there at some time in our lives, especially as we get older, when the fat just piles on, we find ourselves looking in the mirror and then we do what millions of dieters do every year all across the world: We buy the latest quick fix weight loss gimmick. Deep down, we know it won’t work, yet we are always teased by that glimmer of hope so we continue to pursue the ups and downs of this dieter’s lifestyle.

Beginning a brand new weight loss regime can be a confusing, stressful and even maddening period of time. Some of us tend to over-think, procrastinate and wait until “the time is right” before we get started. Others make emotional decisions and jump right into the latest diet without doing any research or thinking at all. I have seen many of my clients go down both of these roads and either way, it always ends in failure and lack of results.

Those who jump on the latest bandwagon often lose some weight in the first few weeks, but it’s never long before the breaking point comes and you give in to that double cheese burger and you’re right back in the fat-storing mode. All the weight you lost comes back with a vengeance, along with a little extra to add insult to injury.

In the unlikely event that you do get some long term results, for the amount of effort you’re putting into your diet plan, the rewards are minimal. This dissatisfaction with your results leads you to scream, “This isn’t working!” and you start looking for the “next big thing” and the diet roller-coaster ride continues.

Listen! There are some simple reasons why diets do not work, especially a diet that requires you to reduce caloric intake to an amount that would barely satisfy a Guinea Pig.

Tomorrow I will tell you why.

Your Friend and Coach,

Age Lowther

Good Morning All,

If you watched the video on yesterday's blog you may, after being astonished about the healing powers of food, have thought that you couldn't possibly eat like that. Well, that may indeed be true. It probably isn't necessary either. 

I do rather hope that you took away some of the principles. My blog two days ago should have convinced you that over time, you would not need discipline to avoid junk foods and eat foods that you dont like. Rather you would slowly gravitate towards eating natural wholesome foods provided by Mother Nature and enjoy the whole process.

Staying with the video for a moment, I do wonder whether you (sorry to be sexist, but men in particular) have ever cooked Kale or Seaweed? Have you ever considered that when you do the grocery shopping (ha ha...women in particular!) you probably visit the same store, go down the same isles and select the same foods every time.

So to the title of this blog...

Obviously I really didn't find a "new" food. It just so happens that it was "new" to me, since for some reason, I never remember eating these before.

It's always good to keep an open mind about trying new and different foods all the time.  It certainly keeps things interesting.  It seems that many of us tend to get stuck into a routine of always getting the same types of food at the supermarket each week.

Sometimes, I like to visit a different store or look more closely in a different aisle that I usually just breeze through to see if I'm missing anything.

Sometimes I'll find something that may be common food to some people, but that I've been overlooking. 

This week that common food that (for some reason) I had never tried before was figs.  I guess when I was a lad I did eat fig biscuits (I actually used to love them), but that's a whole different story, full of corn syrup, sugar, refined flour, and processed refined oils.  

But I had never eaten whole figs...the real deal.

So the other day, I was in the health food shop and saw a bag of whole figs and decided to give them a try.  Now I have a new favourite sweet treat that is also healthy. Sure, figs have a little bit of natural sugars, but they also have a good dose of fibre to help blunt the blood sugar response. Also, as long as you only eat 2 or 3 whole figs, the number of calories are fairly negligible, while at the same time it helps to quell your sweet tooth (instead of eating a high calorie pudding or cake). 

Not only that, but figs are one of the richest sources of minerals of any fruit. In addition, they have a wide array of moderate amounts of vitamins, including vitamin K.

Although I'm now on a fig kick... that wasn't really my point to this blog. The real point was to remind you every now and then to try to break out of your shopping habits where you buy the same foods every week, and instead look for healthy whole foods that perhaps you haven't tried before.  

Expand your horizons and it makes eating healthily all that more interesting!

Instead of your typical banana, apple, or orange... maybe get a little crazy this week and try a persimmon, passionfruit, pomegranate, dragonfruit, or guava (if those aren't your usual fruits).

Or if you usually just get chicken and beef as your meats, why not try lamb, venison, ostrich, or some exotic fish this week.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas to get started on diversifying your food shopping.

Of course, if you need ideas for healthy meals that promote a lean healthy body for life, there are plenty available in the Altered Images Programme.

Here's to trying new foods!

Your Friend and Coach

Age Lowther