The Die in Dieting

Dieting and Detoxing doesn't work! 


Every single year a new fad diet or detox emerges and is rabidly embraced by millions only to be abandoned with great disappointment a few months later.

Every New Years, like clock-work, well-intentioned folks jump on the latest bandwagon desperately looking for an answer to their declining health and inflating waistlines. Their hopes are soon dashed, leaving them more depressed and disheartened than before.

You probably already know the definition insanity..."doing the same thing and expecting different results". Diets and detoxes are never the answer and will not work for very long. They are ultimately about depriving the body and are by definition unsustainable.

Self Health on the other hand is not a diet or detox. It is about feeding the body more wonderful foods and plant nutrients than it has ever seen before.

It is about giving your body the most nutrient-dense foods imaginable, then stepping back and watching this miracle machine do its magic. This is ultimately what the body was designed to do–heal itself!

So this new year, 2013, decide to step off the treacherous treadmill and the never-ending roller coaster ride of crazy diets and detoxes.

Read the Self Health Revolution, take the 10-Day Challenge, join the thousands of people who are discovering how to take control of their own Self Health.

Freeing yourself from fad diets and detoxes is much easier and simple than you might think. Join the Revolution Now!

I am here to help you!

Reach out to me at:

http://www.facebook.com/SelfHealthRevolution

http://www.facebook.com/j.michael.zenn

Could Christmas be Killing Us?

A few days ago I stumbled across a “Family Guy” Youtube link entitled, “Christmas is Killing Us”.  The holiday season is coming up, so I thought, “why not”? 

I was simultaneously delighted and disturbed.

Here’s the link.  Watch if you dare:  http://vimeo.com/18027996

When I stopped smiling, it suddenly occurred to me, that perhaps it is true, Christmas is indeed killing us!

Here’s what I mean:

Most people know America is facing a Diabesity Tsunami (Diabetes+ Obesity).

I don’t wish to be a grinch but the truth is 70% of Americans are overweight and almost 40% of us are obese and diabetic or pre-diabetic.  That’s a 25% increase in only 3 years.   How could this be?   

We Never Lose the Weight We Gain During the Holidays

What most people don’t know is that nearly 60% of our annual weight gain happens over a 6-week period every year.  (Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years).  During this very short 6-week time-frame, most of us gain 3-5 pounds. Come March, despite New Year’s resolutions, the excess weight is still with us.  In fact, the data shows that weight we gain over this 6-week Christmas season, we typically never loose.

Here’s the punch-line:  Unless you do something different, this Christmas you’re probably going to add 3 to 5 pounds to your waistline and you’re not likely to ever get rid of it!   Strapping on 3-5 pounds every year during the killer-6-weeks-of-Christmas is a major reason we find ourselves overweight, obese or chronically ill at some point in our lifetime.

The Good News  

I realize the holiday season should be a care-free time of food, friends, fellowship and fun.  Most of us (including me) would prefer not to spend it burdened with trying to be a health-nut.  The good news is you don’t have to be a health-nut in order to be healthy.  

Acquiring a Self-Health Defense Strategy during the killer-6-weeks-of Christmas will likely protect you from threat of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and chronic illness throughout your lifetime.  

Four years ago, I found a simple strategy to fend off these Christmas killers for good. Using this technique I was able to loose 60 pounds and keep it off with very little effort.  There is much more detail in my book, The Self Health Revolution, but here are a few of the strategies that really work.

Practice The Art of Self-Health Aikido

Aikidō :  The Japanese martial art that involves taking advantage of the attacker’s force and momentum by redirecting it in your favor. (requires very little strength to do). 

Five Christmas Aikido Moves

1.  Feed Your Body First

No matter what happen to consume at any given holiday sprawl always feed your body first.  Give your body what it needs first and you will be amazed to find you’re not nearly vulnerable to the crazy holiday cravings and glutinous gorging that everyone else falls prey to when feasting.  

First thing in the morning on feast day, make a Self Health Holiday Smoothie (recipe below).  It takes less than 15 minutes and it instantly gives your body over 100 powerful plant nutrients.  

Punch-line:

• Drink the Self Health Holiday Smoothie 1st thing before your day of feasting.

• It’s guaranteed to control crazy holiday cravings and glutinous gorging. 
• Eat guilt-free because you have already given your body something awesome.

2.  Use a Smaller Plate

Since 1950 our plates have grown from 10 inches to over 14 inches today and our holiday plates are even larger.  Why are we eating so much more?  

We suffer from holiday food cravings and binges is because our bodies are literally starving for more nutrients. Cheaper, processed, fake foods are stripped and sucked dry of these necessary nutrients. In an attempt to make up for this emptiness, our bodies must consume massive volumes of fake foods.

Self Health Christmas Aikido is about learning to consume much more powerful, nutrient-dense foods, so your body is not forced to eat quite as much in order to feel satisfied. 

Punch-line:

• We eat 30% more today:  Grandmom’s plates were 10 in. vs. 14 in. now.  We have been taught to eat until the plate runs out.  
• Studies have shown that if you eat 30% less you will live 30% longer (eating is the most stressful thing we do to our bodies).
• Okinawans: oldest humans on Earth say “Hara Harchi bu”  or eat until 80% full.

3.  Fill Up On Living Foods First

• Fill up on “Living Foods” first (less-processed, healthier foods) like yummy salads, whole grains, grass fed meats and vegetable dishes, etc.
• Go for “Dead foods” last (processed, cooked turkey, stuffing and deserts).
• Living vs. Dead (80/20 rule)  Ask yourself, “What’s living or what’s dead on my plate?”  

4.  Don't Make Any Food Off Limits

• Taste anything and everything (bite sized samples are ok–just don’t gorge) 
• Tasting is what makes the holidays great and you don’t want to feel like you have missed out.  
• Forbidding yourself something just makes you want it more.  When you finally give in...you tend to go nuts!

5.  Remember, You Are What You Eat...Eats!

• Keep in mind that what this animal or plant that you are eating has been eating.  Whatever it’s been eating you will also end up eating! 
• Much of our meat is from drugged, sick, poisoned, obese animals raised on factory farms I call  “concentration camps”.
• Seek out animals and plants to ear that were raised as naturally and as close to the ground as possible.   Their health will become your health!

( As seen in Glamour Magazine December 2012 )

Chai-Spiked-Pumpkin-Pie Green Smoothie  

(makes 1-2 servings) 

Ingredients:

7 oz. Frozen Organic Pumpkin (Freeze fresh or freeze in can)
1/2 cup Organic Soy or Almond Milk (vanilla flavored)
1/2 cup French-Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer (organic if possible)
1/2 cup Organic Chai Tea Latte Mix in box (such as Oregon Chai or Tazo)
1 cup Organic Baby Kale (loosely packed)
1/2 cup Organic Baby Spinach (loosely packed)
1 Full Tablespoon Green Vibrance (from Vibrant Health)--optional

For even more flavor you can add:
1/2 teaspoon Organic Cinnamon (Vietnamese if possible)
1/4 teaspoon Organic Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Organic Ground Clove
1/2 teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

Does Healthy-Eating Have to Cost Your “Whole Paycheck”?

Does Healthy Eating Have to Cost Your “Whole Paycheck”?

Too Poor for Produce?

In this recession, many mothers feel they are facing an impossible dilemma:  the choice between their family’s finances or their health.

Conscientious moms around our struggling country may be thinking, “I would love to buy my family organics or shop at a healthier grocery store, but how in the world will I ever pay for it? In this economy, we are barely getting by as it is.  To feed my family healthier food I’ll have to spend even more”.

Believe me, I do understand why you might feel this way. In fact, I thought the same thing when I first got started with my Self Health Revolution.  I come from pretty humble origins; my family worked hard for every dollar.  I clearly remember times my mother and father had to struggle to make ends meet.  That said, here’s what I’ve learned, buying healthy food may not cost as much as you might think (only 20 to 30 percent more). 

Less Food Is More Food

One reason we suffer from food cravings and binges is because our bodies are literally starving for more nutrients. Cheaper, processed, fake foods are stripped and sucked dry of these necessary nutrients. In an attempt to make up for this emptiness, our bodies must consume massive volumes of fake foods. 

Think about the humongous portions served to us at our local restaurants, cafés, and diners, not to mention all-you-can-eat buffets. Portion sizes across the board are exponentially larger than they were only twenty years ago (bigger portions, bigger profits, bigger people). Even our plates at home have gotten larger, from your grandmother’s ten-inch plates in the 1950s to over fourteen inches today. And they’re still growing.

When living a healthy eating lifestyle, you are consuming much more powerful, nutrient-dense foods, so your body is not forced to eat quite as much in order to feel satisfied. This may not seem possible at first, but you will see that it does work. (Just as better fuel takes your car farther.) And less food equals less money spent at the market.  So your food costs a little more, but it goes a lot further.  And you’re going to love how it makes you feel (no more bloating after dinner).  Plus, serving your meals on smaller, ten-inch plates can save you about 20 percent on your caloric intake and about 10 pounds a year off your waistline.

Home Is Where Your Heart Lives

These days only half of what we eat is food we make ourselves; the other half is mostly defrosted, microwaved, and reheated food we consume from fast-food and sit-down restaurants (much of it from the same food trucks that stock most restaurants). If you really want to save your family’s Self-Health, determine now to start preparing and eating more food at home (more like 75 percent). Kids alone consume 55 percent more calories when eat- ing out, compared to eating foods pre- pared at home. 

You may be thinking this is a good idea in theory, but impossible to achieve with our busy schedules. I truly understand, but you always have time for what’s really important to you. Here are a few time-saving tips that work well for me.

When I’m in a hurry, I simply bypass the fast-food joints and head straight to my local healthy grocery store, where I can usually find a beautiful hormone-and antibiotic-free, cooked rotisserie chicken for around $7 (organic is $9).  I simply add my favorite vegetables and maybe some brown rice, Presto.  I have a delicious healthy meal.  Health-conscious groceries now also offer drug-free and organic, prepared beef, fish, turkey and pork.  

You can swing by, pick it up, run home, and mix it with your favorite veggies and whole grains.  Many health-minded grocers like Whole Foods Markets are now offering family meal deals that feed four people for around $15 to $20.  To make healthy foods cheaper, Whole Foods has also created 365 Everyday-Value, in-house label products that are now several dollars less than other products in the store.  So, eating at home can be much easier and much more affordable than you realize!  Plus, you might actually get some quality time with your family members.

Don’t Let Organics Stop You

Perhaps you have heard about the new Stanford Study? It reportedly confirmed that organic fruits and vegetables are no healthier than conventional ones.  The truth is that the study confirmed conventional produce has 300% more pesticides in them.  These pesticide chemicals are designed to dissolve the nervous systems of insects and are labeled by law as poison by the U.S. government.  Probably not what you would prefer to feed to the people you love the most.

But if you truly can’t afford the more expensive organic, grass-fed, wild-caught foods, then don’t buy them!  Buy what you can afford. You can still buy non-processed foods, conventional fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads and rice, and steroid and hormone-free meats.  You’ll still be so much better off by putting real food in you and your family’s body, even if it’s not all organic.

The important thing is to start feeding yourself and those you love the most healthy foods that you can afford. So please don’t let the price of organics be an excuse for you not to get started. Get out   there and get the best nutrient- dense foods you can afford.

"It's bizarre to think that the produce manager is more
important to my children's health than the pediatrician"
~ Meryl Streep

Pay the Farmer Now, or the Doctor Later!

In 1970 we spent 20 percent of our income on food. With the advent of mass-produced fake foods, we now spend only 10 percent, and it’s going even lower. (Perhaps McDonald’s will end up with a 50 cent menu.) We are now learning the hard way that, when it comes to food, you get what you pay for. It may be time for us to put our money where our mouth is and decide to eat to live rather than living to eat, like so many American families.

Decide right now that your and your family’s Self-Health is worth an extra 20 to 30 percent in your food budget.  If you or someone you love is diagnosed with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity or another chronic illness, it’s going to cost you so much more in money, time, and lifestyle.  Recent studies show that in a recession, due to stress and cheaper, junk-food eating habits, people are 3 times as likely to get sick.

You Can Save Your Family’s Health

If you start now, eating fewer calories by choosing powerful, nutrient-dense foods for your meals, you can actually lower your grocery costs. If you reduce your expenses by avoiding the top four things typically purchased in grocery stores (sugar, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol), you will certainly decrease your budget. If you buy your food from local farmers and farmers markets, you can often save big on produce and get more healthful foods into your body.

Sometimes making the Self-Health transition is not always about time or money. Your family, friends, spouse, and children may initially resist the  Self-Health change. That’s very normal and to be expected.  All real, long-term change happens in the mind and begins with baby steps.  Slowly start to mix healthier foods in your family’s diet.  Their bodies will start craving these powerful nutrients, and over time they will want more. Like anything in life that is truly valuable, it will take time and effort, but the outcome is indeed worth it.  Picture the people you love living healthy, long, energetic lives, free of chronic illness, debilitating disease and pain. 

What’s that worth to you and your family?

~ J. Michael Zenn, Author of the best-selling book, The Self Health Revolution 

Why Obamacare May Not Matter?

Why Obamacare May Not Really Matter?

Imagine a massive tsunami thousands of feet tall, barreling towards the United States at breakneck speed. In fact, the early waves have already begun to crest along our shores.

This approaching tsunami

 is the gigantic wave of Diabesity (Obesity + diabetes). For the first time in history 35 percent of Americans are obese and diabetic. Even more frightening, this represents nearly a 25 percent increase in only 3 years (2008 -2010).

What Happens When America is 50+ Percent Obese?

At this rate, America will be somewhere between 50-70% obese in the next five to fifteen years. There is not a healthcare system in the world (Obamacare or Romneycare) that will be able to handle this magnitude of sickness and subsequent medical costs.

If this Diabesity tsunami remains unimpeded, it will likely collapse our healthcare system and potentially take down our fragile economy along with it.

Here’s the Scary Part

Unlike other potential doomsday scenarios (The Deficit, Middle East, China), this one is actually happening right in front of us and is on guaranteed timeline with an almost certain outcome. Researchers can now predict, virtually down to the month and year, when the Diabesity Epidemic will become unsustainable.

And guess what?

Just like the lack of warnings prior to the housing collapse...no one is hardly even talking about it.

Now, what were you saying about Obamacare?

Are We Headed for a Black Hole?

Are We Headed for a Black Hole?

I realize it's election season and that all kinds of things are being said by both parties in the media right now, but regardless of your affiliation, I think it's safe to say that most of us are sincerely concerned about the economy.

But I wonder if there is something much more urgent that we should be worried about?


Did you know that right now, during this massive financial downturn and prolonged recession, you are three times more likely to get sick?

Not since 1929 have we seen such financial fear, stress, and panic. What may be churning toward us now is what many are calling the “perfect storm” or, even worse, “financial Armageddon.” Yet whether or not you believe the wholesale hype, if a deeper or even a double-dip recession materializes, the biggest risk may not be to your wallet, 401(k), life savings, or bank account.

A shocking new report shows that the most damaging impact of a financial crisis is to your own personal health. In a study of 1,800 people, 91 percent experienced declining health when exposed to financial stress. They were actually three times more likelyto get sick—three times more readily diagnosed with seasonal illnesses, chronic disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, depression, and other stress-related diseases—than people whose lives were financially stable.

In the Great Depression, malnutrition and chronic illness more than tripled. In times of financial hardship, worries abound, and we all know that stress dramatically lowers the ability of the immune system to fight infection. Focused on fear, people tend to indulge in cheaper, comfort foods (toxins), exercise routines are reduced (reducing oxygen in the blood), and more expensive, nutrient-rich foods, probiotics, and supplements are set aside (resulting in malnutrition). Whatever the approaching storm may bring, you must decide now not to join the ranks of the thousands of American victims that are surely caught up in this Self-Health–destructive tsunami.

Join the Self-Health Revolution now! Plan at this moment to protect your and your family’s health from the current crisis. Commit personally to the ten-day challenge in this book. If it works, make it part of your lifestyle and belief system forever. Then you won’t have to worry about sickness-inducing financial storms. It has certainly worked for me. I haven’t been sick (not even a cold) in years! 

"He who does not know food, cannot understand the diseases of man.

Let your food be your medicine and your medicine by you food"

~ Hippocrates, Father of Medicine, 370 b.c.

A New Era for Self Health Revolution!

A New Era for the Revolution!

A few years ago, after loosing my beloved father and deciding to take control of my own Self Health, I sat down to humbly write a book that I hoped would one day inspire other people to start their own Revolution!

Last year, the Self Health Revolution was delighted to receive the enthusiastic endorsement of John Mackey, CEO and Founder of Whole Foods Market, the only such endorsement ever given to date.  John Mackey is one of the most influential, healthy-eating advocates of our time and Whole Foods Market is undoubtedly the world's leading health brand. 

Following this incredible endorsement, we were excited to see the book appear at the checkout of almost every Whole Foods in the nation.  It sold an unprecedented number of books and reached and converted thousands of new followers to the idea of the Self Health Revolution and the 10 Day Challenge.  

The Revolution had begun!

But...it's about to get even Bigger!

In the last few months, one of the largest and most successful book publishers in the country discovered our book, contacted us about helping to take the book global...they are now whole-heartedly behind the Revolution. We are excited to announce that Simon and Schuster / Free Press has partnered with Self Health to publish and distribute the revised version of the book worldwide.  

The new edition of the Self Health Revolution will debut November 27th, 2012 and is currently being translated into Chinese and Spanish.  It will soon be on the shelves at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million, Apple Bookstore, IndieBound, Whole Foods Markets, airport bookstores and many other venues around the world.

We hope that this is just the beginning.  

Thanks to you, our readers, followers and Self Health Revolutioneers, this important message is getting out to the masses, but many still do not know about Self Health and so many more still need to be reached...that's were you come in.  

It may sound idealistic and naïve, but what if we could wake this nation up and get everyone to reclaim their Self- Health? 

What if we could convince them to stop eating fake foods, to ques- tion their doctors, to say no to drugs and yes to living foods? What if the average American knew the things thatyou now know? What could happen for those children who are presently destined for diabetes, obesity, and drugs? 

What could happen to those millions of people who in the next five years will go in for a regular checkup only to find out that they have cancer or heart disease? What could happen to your family and your friends if they knew what you now know? How many lives could we save? How many destinies would be forever altered? Do you think it’s possible to make a difference?

The Self Health Revolution is Really About You...and the Ones You Love!

The Self-Health Revolution is not about money, fame, power, or success. I’m not out to be the next food guru or another Tony Robbins. This revolution is about helping people and changing lives. The hero here is the power of this information and the message of Self-Health. 

If you haven't already, I urge you to simply read this book, put it to the test, try the Self-Health lifestyle for ten days, put these teachings into practice, and if you get results, if it changes your life, then join our Self-Health Revolution. 

But don’t keep a great secret to yourself. Tell people you know and love. They need this message. Share the book. Visit our website. Sign up for our newsletters and videos. Come to our seminars and bring the people you love. They desperately need to know about the secret of Self-Health.

Rev the Revolution!

J. Michael Zenn

PS.  Please email me with any questions, comments, ideas or brainstorms you may have at jmichaelzenn@gmail.com