A simple path to weight-loss and well-being

The absolute worst thing you can do is eat three hours before bedtime.

Let’s start there.

I know it’s hard to read an article among the million or so on-line publications that claim they will make you skinny, or ripped, or happy… Just stick with me. I don’t want anything from you, as a matter-of-fact, the only one I want anything from is myself!

I’m a forty-year-old husband and father of four, have trained with the Navy Seals, and have lost 40 pounds in a month every single year of my life. People always are mesmerized by it. So here it is.

Believe it, or not.

I can get long-winded if I really start stirring the creative soup, but I will try and save that for my other writings. There’s plenty. I enjoy writing fiction and have been at it for over ten years.
But, I have spent a lifetime getting my body back fit. Mostly because, I enjoy treating it like trash for six to nine months out of the year.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Despite my overall bad behavior, I do try and balance my evils with frequent exercise and marginal self-discipline at the foods I eat.

What choice do you have when you have a hard time disciplining yourself over the things you drink?!

There are a few tips that I will give you to abide throughout your lackadaisical yearly cycle, but I mostly want to focus on how to drop that weight and get back to good balance once you realize that your penance tray could use a little contribution.

Your body will always let you know when. It is a well-known fact that men change, only at the precipice.

If you’re at that spot, take a step back by going to bed on an empty stomach. It’s easier than you think, just drink a lot of water. Look at the clock and don’t put anything in your mouth-hole but water three hours before you plan on going to bed.

Believe it or not, this is a good tactic to put your ass in the bed when you planned, rather than sitting up an extra hour watching TV. Mostly because, no one wants to do that without a can of Pringles!

The first night you do this, get a solid eight hours of sleep if you’ve been bingeing or something. Otherwise, if you wake up early and feel good, go with it.

People can be creatures of habit, so I am going to tell you exactly my routine for waking up, and it’s based on Sadghuru’s advice, not the Navy Seals.

Open your eyes to some gentle music or tune, roll over on your right side and sit up on the side of the bed, then rub your hands vigorously together until they are good and warm; better yet, hot.
Yep, just like Mr. Miyagi.
Now, use those hot palms to massage the sleep out of your eyes. Remind you of when you were a kid?

Now do something else you use to do as a child. Smile. If you like, pat yourself down like your looking for your lighter or wallet, just make sure you’re good and alive.
Congratulations, 1.2 million people aren’t this morning.

Can you hear your loved ones playing or eating breakfast? Then they are alive, too. Smile.

If we’re not mourning the loss of a loved one, then we are part of a small group of lucky individuals on planet Earth this morning. Celebrate. Okay, maybe just get up and brush your teeth and hair. But, think about it, and be thankful.

Then, shower. You ought to make a habit of showering prior to bedtime as well. Cold.
That’s right. If you have to work your way down, then start out lukewarm while you lather and wash. Let the water run in each ear canal and you’ll never think of a cue-tip again. Now, that I learned from a Seal Instructor.

I’ve heard every argument for taking hot showers, but the only honest one was, it feels good.
A cold shower may invigorate you for ten or fifteen minutes, but you will sleep better. And, as far as waking up… come on, who can argue?

Fact is, the only way you’re going to get results is through the practice of self-discipline. Training the discipline engine isn’t suppose to be fun, or easy. It’s called working out for a reason.

Like dieting. Dieting would work great for people if they really didn’t enjoy it so much. Drinking five diet cokes instead of five regular cokes is only going to give you a marginal loss in weight because the diet coke only tastes marginally worse!

Put that philosophy in your pipe and smoke it.

Speaking of smoking. If you’re doing it, the only way to quit is not to put one in your mouth anymore. You’re not gonna smoke one through your ear!

Really, go for a jog when you’re bored. And you’re gonna be bored. One thing that happens when you start trying to lose weight or get your body back to feeling top-notch is, you find more free time.

You’re either gonna sleep it away (which is gonna be your first tough obstacle to overcome) or you’re gonna find something to do. After a month, you might start filling some of that free time with meditation, but lets get you back to good before you start spending alone time with your far-from-sublime self.

Trust me on this. If you’ve been treating your body like most American’s do for the past six months, you are going to be the last person that body wants to spend time with any time soon. Do yourself a favor and Moonlight it a little first.

Jesus, I’d say take yourself out, but some people may take that literally when they attempt to stop eating chocolate and quit binge watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Life is good. We want more of it! That means we have to be awake for it.

The best way I’ve found to do that, is to be involved. Be involved with caring for yourself and those you love.

A prime rule is, exercise before you eat or after. This is only common sense. If you are going to sit for twelve hours at a desk job, then you don’t need a two-thousand calorie meal beforehand.

I currently have a desk job myself, so what I do is eat a light breakfast, consisting of vitamins and minerals that I want my body to assimilate, and then I do a little bit of light exercise to get the body transforming those things into part of me.

And, that is exactly what is happening!

Did you know, studies were conducted on patients prescribed bed rest. Their food was injected with contrast dyes that bind to proteins and it showed that while they were inactive after eating a meal, all of the nutrients traveled straight through the digestive tract and out of the body without attaching itself to the muscle at all?

But, when those same patients were required to simply walk to the cafeteria and get their meals, the MRI scans followed those proteins through the digestive tract and out into the actual muscle fiber of the legs and other muscles utilized in the activity.

Activity, within an hour before or after putting something into the body determines whether you are actually becoming that which you are eating!

Want an amazing body in record time? Take away this tidbit.

You are what you eat when you make your body work it.

So, eat some fruit and grains. Devour some healthy meats if you’re not a Vegan, then exercise a little. Just a few push-ups, some sit-ups, a couple pull-ups. Activate those parts of your body that you want to look like you feel the food your putting in is energized with. Heck, I just walk the two miles to work after breakfast. Then, I walk and do some calisthenics on my lunch break before I eat.

Now, that being said, drink a six pack of beer and exercise if you want to become a real life replica of a Budweiser bottle! Perhaps there is a reason we ingest stupid things during times of relaxation. At least they pass right through, for the most part.

Now, I see a rebuttal coming from a mile away.

Well, you’ll say I am contradicting myself by telling you to not to eat before bed because it would just pass right through. Not necessarily. When the body is sleeping it is reconstructing. Reading its DNA and rebuilding things back to how it remembers them.

The reason you don’t want to be passing things right through during the night, is that you want as much living energy as possible focused on that reconstruction. It’s also why the cold shower before bed is advised. Believe it or not, your body is over seventy-five percent water and running water over it does more than just flush away dirt.

You can find well-documented cases of how water itself has memory. Flowing water can take away all those crazy things temporarily stored in your bodies water that conflict with its DNA. Who can argue that after a shower you feel physically lighter in body and spirit?

There is also room here for an open-discussion about clearing the head mentally before lying down through some ritual or breathing exercises. But, that is personal preference.

If you implement the simple pieces of advice I’ve offered, and couple your ingestion with exercise, you will see quick results. If you are moderate in your eating, be moderate in your activity. If your passionate in your exercise, allow yourself a bit more calories. It’s basic!

You’ll stop drinking so much when you realize that it makes you hungry and lazy, and stop smoking when you can’t breath on a jog.

Now, for tips during the cycle, like promised.

Above all, the most helpful thing I can offer, is to have fun. Do something you’re interested in. Learn a skill that makes you smile, or impresses someone. (On second thought, don’t try impressing anyone. I’ve never been able to do that, and I can juggle and stand on my hands!)

But, strive to impress yourself.

Progress feels good. Running that mile a little faster. Standing on your hands a little longer.

Connect with nature. Swim in the ocean. Walk in the woods. Plant a garden. Play with your pets; kids are a good substitute!

Dabble in a little intermittent fasting.

Stuck at a desk? Connect an electric muscle stimulator for half an hour or so. Or get an under the desk mini bike. Ya know, in case you get the urge to munch.

I always carry a gallon of water to work. A gallon cost less than a 20oz bottle (strangely), and you can gauge how much you have consumed throughout your workday. If you’re waiting until your hungry before taking another swig, you’re waiting too long.

I don’t have to tell you that there are calorie free alternatives to everything, but remember, it’s the gluttony that packs on the pounds.

‘You can’t always get what you want,’ is in fact something you should live by.

If you can always get what you want, that’s called Heaven. And, if you’re there, you’re dead.

When you don’t starve your discipline engine once in a while, your body will just constantly put out cortisol and you’ll start retaining. Practicing the art of dealing with stress, in its many different forms, is what will keep you young.

It’s been proven by Wim Hof that caloric restriction, cold water immersion, and exercise are the primary keys to well-being. Is it coincidental that they are all stressors?

I also want to be clear that I cannot speak for the effectiveness of my Roadmap to Wellness for women, because I am a man speaking from my own life-long experience. Also, I cannot account for men of different ethnic backgrounds, as I am a Caucasian of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic descent.

I am, however, immensely interested and open to diverse applications and variations of my suggestions. What helps you lose that yearly junk we compile? Comment below. Maybe you’ll help someone.

Heck, maybe you’ll help yourself.

Jay Horne is an author and publisher out of Bradenton, Florida. He is a husband and father of four.
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