Ok, without getting too freaky on me, take a moment to get in tune with your stomach. Do it right now – feel your stomach.

No! Don’t touch it! You don’t know where that thing has been.

I mean, just sit still and tell me how your stomach feels. Does it feel full? Does it feel bloated? Does it hurt a little? Does it feel heavy?

If you feel any of these, then you are in a state called “OOGIE”. And we all know how Oogie feels (eating too much of a good/bad thing). When you come to know what Oogie truly feels like, then half the eating battle has been won!

Being “at one” with your Tummy

Part of becoming a WEMP is getting “in tune with your tummy.” And you can tell, just by feeling your stomach, whether you are full, whether you feel “oogie” (you’ve eaten too much or something bad), or whether you’re truly hungry and should eat.

Your stomach is the key – not your tongue or your mouth (they always seem to want something sweet, salty, or fattening). When you get in tune with your tummy, it can tell you – at the very moment when you are faced with food – whether you really want to eat or not.

Also, being in tune with your tummy will help you PREVENT the feeling of being oogie.

For example, most likely you have had the experience of eating a delicious chocolate chip cookie (if you don’t like chocolate chip cookies, just substitute your favorite food weakness). If you’re like me, you’ve probably eaten a chocolate chip cookie and liked it so much that you just had to have another – and then another, and another, and another.

And, you probably also remember how you felt after eating all those cookies – big time OOGIE! You just didn’t feel good afterwards. You knew that all those chocolate chip cookies were not good for you, your body, or your weight and you FELT it. One or two cookies and you probably would have felt OK. It was the overeating that produced the oogieness.

Knowing full well what that oogie feels like when you eat poorly, you can use that to improve your eating choices. If faced with a decision whether to eat something, first, get in tune with your tummy. Does your stomach feel like eating right now. If not, if you feel bloated, full, or oogie, then you can admit to yourself that you don’t really feel like eating. So, you don’t. Simple as that.

Your Eating Conscience

But let’s say that you do feel like eating something. Again, use your tummy to help you decide. If you want to eat and you’re faced with a plate full of chocolate chip cookies – get in tune with your tummy. You remember what that oogie feeling feels like when you’ve overeaten or ate poorly before. Imagine what your tummy would feel like if you dug into that plate of cookies. You know you’d feel oogie. In fact, you can almost feel that oogie feeling right at that very moment of decision. That will help you decide. You may have a cookie, if you want, but you probably will choose something healthier as a main course.

And always let your tummy be your guide (Jiminy Cricket got it wrong – at least when it comes to eating).

Now, getting in tune with your tummy gives you the wisdom to choose: whether to eat and what to eat.

But now comes the fun part….

Eating with Passion

When it comes to weight loss, we all know the problem with eating – we eat too much. But, we also eat way too fast!

Our eating speed impacts our eating quantity. We don’t slow down and really enjoy our food. Consequently, we shovel it in so fast, we end up shoveling more than we truly want or need.

That’s where WEMPS is different. The focus is on slowing down, really savoring your food, enjoying every bite to its fullest. When you do that, you’ll enjoy what you eat, you’ll eat enough – but not too much – and be able to walk away healthy and happy.

It’s like making love to your meal. Have a Meal of Passion.

Fix something you want to eat, then sit down, relax, and eat slowly. Chew your food thoroughly. Taste it. Really savor it. Put your fork down and talk to somebody across the table. Have a conversation – live in the moment. Focus on enjoying your meal.

And, once again, while you are eating, get in tune with your tummy. Slow down and get a sense of how your tummy is feeling. Eat until your tummy tells you you’re sated. Then, you’re done with a wonderful meal.

You sit down with a simple and tasty meal and slow down long enough to let your tummy tell you when you’ve enjoyed enough – and that’s a Meal of Passion.

Passionate Partaking!

Photo by Honza Soukup

All right…. nobody move!

Take your index finger off that clicker and back away from the mouse….

You need to read this.

While Enjoyable Exercise and Passionate Partaking are important, what I’m about to share with you is the secret weapon of WEMPS.

This is the silver bullet, the holy grail, the magic wand, the miracle worker. This is the KEY to get THREE:

1. Lose weight
2. Get in shape
3. Feel great.

It is…. Strength Training!

Now LADIES, do not forsake me on this – you GUYS, either! Just hear me out. I’m not talking about getting big and musclebound (ladies: your hormones won’t allow it anyway – you’d have to shoot up steroids like the majority of professional baseball players to’become that freak of nature you’re so fearful of becoming. Also, I’m not talking about lifting huge amounts of weights either – remember, this is a WEMPS program).

Your Body’s Engine

Let me start by saying that the best thing you have in your body for burning fat – are your muscles. Think of it like a car. If you have an economy car, it’s engine is small and doesn’t have much power, right? Consequently, it doesn’t burn much fuel. But, if your car is a Ferarri, then your engine has a lot of power – and can burn a lot of fuel – even when it’s just sitting idle.

That’s how the muscles work in your body. If your muscles are more flab than muscle, then you’ve got the engine of an economy car. It doesn’t have much power and it doesn’t burn much fuel (calories). If, however, your muscles are lean and hard (strong), then you’ve got the engine of a high performance sports car – lots a power and it will burn lots of calories.

For years, everybody always assumed  that to lose weight it was all about Cardio! Cardio! Cardio!

Well, as the Spanish say, “Stupido! Stupido! Stupido!”

With cardio, you burn calories while you’re doing cardio, but there’s not much of a residual effect. But with strength training it’s very different. You not only burn calories while you workout, but strength training burns calories AFTER you’re done working out. Strength training raises your body’s metabolic rate. In essence, it builds you a stronger, more powerful engine that will burn calories – even when your engine’s just idling.

The Miracle of Muscles

But Magnificent Muscles don’t stop there. In addition to giving you a better fat-burning engine, strength training provides a host of other wonderful benefits that you simply CAN’T pass up! Look at all these:

1) Magnificent Muscles give you a better shape.

Even though we say we want to lose weight – what we really want is to look good. And while they may seem similar, they are not one and the same. Believe me, you can lose weight and still look pretty grim. Your body and skin can still experience a good amount of sagging. And it DON’T look pretty!

Strength training can fix all that. It can give you the hourglass shape that you truly want. It will give you the tone that you truly desire.

2) Magnificent Muscles give you better posture.

You’re mom got it all wrong. Instead of saying, “Sit up straight!” She should have said, “Go pump some iron!” Strength training helps you sit up straight, throw your shoulders back, and suck in your stomach. That way, you can at least give the appearance of having lost weight. OK, it’s cheating – but a very nice form of cheating!

3) Magnificent Muscles help you live better.

Strength training helps your body to move and function better. You can do more stuff and you can do whatever you do better. You can lift, pull, push, grab, carry, and squeeze better. In short, you can live life – better.

4) Besides all of the above – being strong just ROCKS! Let’s face it, everybody wants to be a strong person. And, when you feel physically strong, you feel mentally strong. You feel good – and you look good, too .

So, what do you do in this phase of the WEMPS program. Well, as promised, you don’t have to do anything extreme. You have 8-10 “Feats of Strength” that work different muscles and it takes 15 minutes just three times a week.

That’s right!

It’s easy. You start small and build strength. It takes no more than 15 minutes to do the Feats of Strength. We have a new 15 minute Workout of the Week (WOW) every two weeks so you don’t get bored doing the same thing over and over again. Do it just 3 times a week – and pretty soon, you’ll love how you look and feel.

Magnificent Muscles!

Photo by: aigarius

Don’t you just hate it when you see one of those rags-to-riches stories where the person follows their dreams and now are getting paid obscene amounts of money to live happily ever after.

The nerve of some people! Enjoying what they’re doing – and getting paid for it!!

Well, now it’s your turn to do something you enjoy and get paid for it. Not paid in cash, mind you. Paid in less weight, better health, and funner living (please forgive the less-than-cutting-edge English).

Yes, you can lose weight and get in shape – and love every minute of it. That is, as long as you find something physical to do that you really enjoy. (Please take a moment to get your mind out of the gutter. That is a rather enjoyable way to burn calories, I grant you. Nevertheless, this is not Weightloss for Nymphs.)

I don’t hafta!

What can you do for exercise?

Let me start by telling you what you DON’T have to do:

Well, first off, you don’t have to do aerobics….

There, I said it.

I know most of you are breathing in great gasps of air, your faces contorting into hideous configurations, shocked at the audacity of such a bold statement. But it’s true.

Richard Simmons be damned. (There, I said that, as well….)

You don’t have to dance in front of the TV. You don’t have to Sweat to the Oldies (or New Age, Punk or Acid Rock….)

You don’t have to run or jog.

In short, you don’t have to do any of these.

Unless, of course, you WANT to.

All you need to do is find something physical that you enjoy doing, and do it!

Walk this Way

I love to walk. Therefore, I walk.

The thing I like so much about walking is that while I’m walking, I can do so many other enjoyable things. When I walk, I get to enjoy nature. I walk, and I look, and I smell (don’t go there), and I really enjoy myself – all while getting some good exercise.

Don’t you think you can find something like that for yourself?

Sure you can.

Maybe for you it’s riding a bike. Maybe it’s swimming. Maybe it’s dancing. Maybe it’s playing basketball, soccer, or volleyball.

Do you get my point? Well, would you mind giving it back please?

Maybe you genuinely enjoy running. Well hey, more power (and pity – sorry, just overly biased) to you.

So run!

Find something you genuinely enjoy doing and then set time aside – 20 minutes two-three times a week. That is YOUR time – and be jealous about it. I don’t mean you have to do it by yourself. I mean, you have to realize that with all the demands you have on your time, Enjoyable Exercise is something you deserve, need, and want to do. So, make sure you get that time to do it.

And you don’t have to do this stuff alone. I love to walk with my wife or sons. It gives us time to visit. It’s great.

Now, lest ye think that this enjoyable exercise couldn’t possibly help you lose weight. Let me remind you that this isexercise. If you’re walking, this is not just a leisurely stroll (although it may be when you first start out). Walk, but do it at a pace that reminds you this is exercise – but not so fast that you don’t enjoy it.

As in all things WEMPS, start small (slow) and build up. Progress over time and pretty soon you’ll be walking at a good clip – all while carrying on a stimulating conversation with yourself or your loved ones.

Enjoy your Exercise!

Photo by kevindooley

But if I want to lose weight, I don’t want to be banned from eating certain foods.

I don’t want to calculate every calorie that enters my mouth.

I don’t want to spend half my day at the gym and the other half drinking sixteen glasses of water – just to be healthy.

I don’t want the measure of a good workout to be whether I puke or not.

In short, I want to lose weight the way I want to lose it.

And, I believe I can do it my way.

Let the Babies have their Way

Now, the others – the fanatics – will call what I do “lazy”. Well, let them call it what they will.

As I see it, it comes down to the tortoise and the hare. They can hop along in their healthy fanaticism, but you know what? I don’t think fanaticism lasts. I think they’re gonna quit, eventually.

But I think I’ll just keep right on going with what I’m doing – losing weight, getting in shape, and feeling great.

You know why?

Cuz I LIKE what I’m doing. What’s more, it’s easy. It caters to a basic human tendency – laziness. It’s the lazy way to lose weight.

Let Me be Perfectly Clear

Now, I know I’m not an expert. I’m not a personal trainer, nutritionist, or yoga instructor. I haven’t produced any exercise DVDs. I can’t teach any pulse-pounding dance moves. I don’t know how to sweat to the oldies, newbies, or anything in between.

I haven’t lost tons of weight in my life, either. The most I’ve weighed is 206 pounds. Now I weigh 175 – my playing weight in high school. I’m 48 years old. And, while I don’t quite have a six pack, I’m in pretty decent shape for my age. I look good (well, pretty good… can’t be too arrogant, now can I). I feel good. And I want to be good – the rest of my life.

I guess that’s my point….

I don’t think the good Lord put us on this earth to spend the majority of our time dieting and exercising – or burning calories stressing about it. So, if you’re going to be healthy, you better find something that you can do the rest of your life. Something that won’t kill ya!

I’ve tried to figure out a way to lose weight, get in shape, and feel great – the lazy way. Not too demanding, not too fanatical. Just reasonable and practical.

And I think it’s working.

I Know a Guy who Knows a Guy who….

Now, I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to healthy living. It just so happens that I work for a company that produces one of the greatest pieces of equipment in the world for rehabilitation and athletic performance. And no, you don’t have to buy it to lose weight. That’s another one of my tenets about losing weight the lazy way – you shouldn’t have to lose weight in your wallet at the same time. I only talk about what I do for a living because of how it helps me learn about healthy living.

Because of where I work, I’m surrounded by health and fitness experts. And these aren’t just some local trainers. These are the people who train all the other people in the industry. These are the gurus, the thought-leaders. So, I get to learn from them. I also get to see what is truth and what is not and apply it to WEMPS.

And that’s my goal, my challenge, my journey: to prove that a person CAN lose the weight they want; they CAN get the body they want – and they don’t have to kill themselves or be a fanatic to do it.

I call it Weightloss for WEMPS.

WEMPS is really quite simple. It comprises three habits. I call them the Three Habits of Highly Effective Losers. And, in addition to these three habits, there is ONE TRUTH TO RULE THEM ALL….

W is for Without Willpower – This is what underlies everything in WEMPS. It’s premise is that if you are relying on willpower to help you lose weight, get in shape, and feel great – then you will eventually fail. I know that’s a tad cynical, but it’s also a tad realistic. So, do something easy and enjoyable – and you’ll probably stick with it.

E stands for Enjoyable Exercise – This is cardio to get your body moving, your blood flowing, and your heart beating. But this ain’t yo momma’s cardio. No “Sweatin’ in your Grundies” or running till you drop. As in all things WEMPS, you find something you enjoy doing, then do it for 20-30 minutes two-three times a week. I like to walk (wouldn’t you guess).

M stands for Magnificent Muscles – This is the silver bullet of WEMPS. This is what will help you the most in losing weight, getting in shape, and feeling great. It is becoming strong. But again, this is WEMPS. You only workout three times a week – FOR JUST 15 MINUTES. You get a strong, toned body and become a strong person in the process.

P is for Passionate Partaking - This is where you get in tune with your tummy. You eat good, but you don’t become a food nazi. You let your stomach tell you what to eat, when and how much – no more, no less. You slow down and really savor your food – and your body will tell you when you’ve had enough.

This is what I’m doing – I’m living it. I think WEMPS works, and I think it works for others. Well, at least I’m trying to prove that it does. Oh, and I’m gonna have fun doing it.

What else would expect from a WEMP?

Photo by: gemsling