Whatever be the cause, obesity is basically the storage of excess energy that is converted into fats. The natural process of gaining weight is actually nature’s way of protecting against periods of famine and drought. But with development we have now reached an age of abundance. And this innate capacity of the body to store excess fat for later use has turned into a health risk.

Obesity can occur due to many factors other than overeating. These include genetic predisposition, medical conditions, drugs, a poor lifestyle or psychological disorders. Overeating, however, …

Mental Edge Monday Topic #28: Talk to Yourself In many ways, our brains are like computers. They are given input, which they process, and then provide a certain output. I have always been fascinated by this concept and the idea that we can program our own brains. By programming, I’m not talking about studying or learning a foreign language (although these can be considered forms of programming too). I’m talking about the programming that we do every day to ourselves through our own self-talk. Self-talk is the language that we use, both out loud and in the privacy of our own minds. It’s the way we talk to ourselves. Do we encourage ourselves, doubt ourselves, question ourselves, ridicule ourselves, denigrate ourselves, or praise ourselves? What is your self-talk like? Behavioral researchers estimate that 77% of everything we think is negative, counterproductive, and works against us.

I was at the beach recently and was astonished, when I started noticing a pattern in men (of ALL ages) and that was the lack of control and amount of fat many men have, starting from their navel to their pubic bone! It is not unusual as a man ages that this starts becoming more pronounced, yet I was seeing these basketball ponches of belly fat on young guys!

Over the years, I have had many male patients of all shapes and sizes. The majority of the times a man whom …

What is Yoga?

The word “yoga” means “union.” Yoga is a psycho-physical discipline with roots that go back about 5,000 years. There is a lot more to yoga than physical postures (Asanas), or the breathing exercises (Pranayama) or even the meditation. In the true tradition of yoga the goal is union with the Absolute, known as Brahman, or with Atman, the true self. Most people now, however, approach yoga to obtain the very real benefits of health, mental clarity, stress release and fitness. The wonderful thing about yoga is its flexibility. …

Mental Edge Monday Topic #17: What Wakes You Up in the Morning? I recently came across this great video of Ray Lewis (LB, Baltimore Ravens) giving a pre-game pep talk to a high school football team. There were several things in this video that stood out for me. One was the wicked thunder that cracked a few times during his talk. The other was a quote that really got me thinking. Lewis says (1:41), “Don’t let the alarm clock be the only thing that wakes you up in the morning.” How true that is! I spend a lot of time thinking about how to motivate others and myself.

Overeating is the result of habits and if you can target those habits and resolve them then the overeating and subsequent weight gain will be a thing of the past.

Humans are habitual beings and most things we do in life are the result of habits.

The problem with habits is the fact that they generally start with very small changes in our life and more often than not we don’t even notice them. Once they become habits though it is very hard to break the cycle and make changes.

Many people …

Have you heard of negative calorie foods?

Negative calorie foods are those which require more energy (calories) to digest than they provide nutritionally to our bodies – and people typically overlook them when trying to lose weight.

Dieters are often so obsessed with following the strict guidelines imposed by their diets that they limit their food intake (sometimes drastically) and deprive the body of essential fibers, vitamins, and nutrients it needs to maintain proper health and balanced function.

Many negative calorie foods are readily available and affordable at our local supermarket, farmers market, …

Mental Edge Monday Topic #10 : Rejuvenate vs. Wreck Yourself I get annoyed when people are so quick to pull the “age card” when faced with issues about their weight or fitness level. I hear it every day – even from people in their thirties : “Oh, yeah, I’m getting older now. I can’t expect to do what I used to do, right? Oh well, I guess it comes with the territory.” And everyone listening to them just nods their head in agreement as if this is some kind of universal truth. Why doesn’t anyone call these people out on this jibberish?  Are we just trying to be polite or do we actually agree with them? Do our physical abilities, agility, strength, endurance, and energy automatically start to fade away as soon as we hit 35 years old? Or is it more that our growing list of responsibilities tend to crowd out any meaningful time for fitness

Mental Edge Monday Topic #19: Phil Black’s Standup Paddleboard Follies I used to love summer – until today . Today severely challenged my manhood. I ate more humble pie today than I will care to remember for a long time. In the end, my experience on the water today taught me some valuable lessons that I have long forgotten. The punch line is this: “Trying new things sucks” I was all fired up this morning to try this “standup paddleboard” thing. If you haven’t witnessed or heard about this new craze, it goes a little something like this. take a huge, floatable, extremely buoyant oversized surfboard and stand up on it no really, go ahead, stand up, it’s very stable – no one falls off sure, wear your sunglasses and favorite shirt and don’t worry about the iPhone in your pocket – don’t worry, you won’t even touch the water proceed to take gentle strokes like you’re an Italian gondolier paddling down a calm Venice waterway it’s like you’re floating on the water, really fun, exhilarating, soulful, relaxing Lies, lies, lies. Truth be told, watch the video and you will see a small sampling of my complete ruining of an otherwise fun water activity.  Before launching, I stood with my board and paddle in my hand

Tips for Making Yourself Far More Flexible in the Next 30 Days

When it comes to the Big Three of exercise – cardiovascular, strength and flexibility training – it’s pretty clear which one can get overlooked. After all, while we prize cardiovascular and strength training for their role in helping us lose weight, build muscle and get fit, the benefits of flexibility training are less immediately alluring.

As the population ages, however, more of us are learning to appreciate the rewards of stretching. Staying limber can offset age-related stiffness, improve athletic performance, …