What others are saying about Think Smart & Lose Weight
Review by Roger French, the Natural Health Society of Australia:
This would have to be the easiest book to read ever. It is 208 pages of very plain language in very short chapters, the shortest being half a page.
Sandy, a nurse, used to be heavily overweight herself. Her dialogue is striking for its non-stop, first-hand wisdom, expressed with enthusiasm and passion, and all in keeping with ‘true’ Natural Health.
This book demolishes the use of unhealthy and junk foods in a most graphical and colourful way. The motivating effect this has might well be the book’s greatest offering to people who want to overcome obesity and terrible health. “Be smart – stop stuffing your poor body with ‘dead’ junk food!” she declares.
Sandy’s
book is not a diet book. It is a guide for people with diet-related
issues who want to lose weight and are serious about keeping it off.
It is a testament of what is achievable for the individual.
Losing
weight is not about counting calories and living on the scales, it's
about making small daily changes that will contribute to an exciting
new you. Sandy Bröcking’s own story is behind the innovative
health plan presented which does not involve a radical or expensive
diet regime.
Sandy is dedicated to saving others from what she has been through, especially the embarrassment of being greatly overweight.
“I think it is a great guide to health coupled with an
individual’s journey toward better eating and a more enjoyable
lifestyle. This book is a fantastic and easy read.”
Emma H
“Thank you Sandy
The book has changed the life of a whole
family”
Alex W
Give Yourself the Greatest Gift
Think Smart & Lose Weight
By Sandy Bröcking
Copyright © Sandy Bröcking, 2010
Smashwords Edition
www.thinksmartandloseweight.com
www.sandybrocking.wordpress.com
This book is available in print.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Thank You
First of all, I want to thank you for investing time in yourself and for showing an open mind by reading this book.
ABOUT FIVE YEARS ago I came to Australia and fell in love with this beautiful country and its people.
But there is one thing that makes me very sad. People’s diets are becoming a ‘nightmare’ and too many Australians, just like people in many other countries such as the US or in Europe, are exploding into a much fatter and unhealthier lifestyle than ever before.
Being overweight, unfit and having an unhealthy and ‘unhappy’ diet is all too common for Australians and most people in many developed countries. Recent newspaper articles say it all: “Australia is now the most obese nation in the world”, “Every second adult in Australia is overweight”, “Obesity crisis”, and so on. Reading these articles makes me sad and extremely worried.
As I used to be heavily overweight myself, I want to share my thoughts and the method I used to lose those kilos for good — with no dieting and no calorie-counting, but with lots of enjoyment and fun.
So, please enjoy reading, have fun and … ‘keep thinking’, because that’s all you need to get rid of your spare tyres and keep them away for good.
Thanks to my mum, who I truly love, to ‘Trouble’ the best thing in the world, and to some brilliant teachers.
Sandy
CHAPTER
1
— Me
CHAPTER
2 —
A Different Story?
CHAPTER
3
— Money and Health
CHAPTER
4
— Fat v Money
CHAPTER
5 —
Body and Soul
CHAPTER
6
— Your Skin? Your Spots? Want Some
Make-up?
CHAPTER
7
— Diets or My Body and Me?
CHAPTER
8
— The Core of Happiness
CHAPTER
9
— The Truth
CHAPTER
10
— Meat About
CHAPTER
11
— What Do Chicken and Pigs Have in
Common?
CHAPTER
12
— Happy Egg – Happy Life?
CHAPTER
13
— The Myth About Milk
CHAPTER
14
— A Yoghurt Story
CHAPTER
15
— Do You Wonder Why?
CHAPTER
16
— Dead Food and the Social Belly
CHAPTER
17
—
Energy
CHAPTER
18 —
Our Body
CHAPTER
19
— Any Smokers Around?
CHAPTER
20
— What Makes Our Bodies Feel Good?
CHAPTER
21
— Why?
CHAPTER
22
— My Little Friend
CHAPTER
23
— Sail Away
CHAPTER
24
— Make a Plan
CHAPTER
25
— Be Smart
CHAPTER
26
— What About a Feel-good Diet?
CHAPTER
27
— Fighting the Secret Enemy
CHAPTER
28 —
Who Decides When We Eat?
CHAPTER
29
— Making Life Easy for You
CHAPTER
30
— What if I’m Hungry?
CHAPTER
31
— One More Thing
Tips
& Tricks
More
Information & References
Addition: About the Author
Me
AS A BABY, as a kid at school, as a teenager and as an adult I used to be big. Too big! I’m not talking about the wonderful ‘before and after diet photos’, where everybody wonders if it is the same person in both pictures. No, I want to let you know that I have experienced it all. I had horrible times at school. I was embarrassed to take off my clothes for swimming lessons. Embarrassed that I couldn’t run and was always far behind everybody else — puffing like an old steam train.
I was scared and sad, spending most of my time in the schoolyard by myself. I received bad school reports because my classmates ‘looked better’. I was bullied.
Sometimes, I felt so bad that I prayed to God and asked him to end my life.
I was caught in the food chain. I was sad and frustrated. I ate to comfort myself — which usually made me feel even sadder and more frustrated and, of course, I ate more to comfort feelings.
I just kept sitting there by myself. I was too scared to do anything. I was scared people would reject me, talk about me and make fun of me.
All my life I had wanted to go horse riding, but I was too fat. “Poor horse,” I thought.
So I continued to sit by myself, watching TV and stuffing my face with ice-creams, biscuits, cheese sandwiches, chocolates and anything else I could find.
What a great life!
At school, we had this horrible teacher who made us run 3km in the hot midday sun during sport lessons — and I hated it. One day I kept dragging myself along, far behind everybody else, huffing and puffing as usual. I was so embarrassed. I felt the pain of dragging along all this extra fat that was sitting on my body. I was exhausted, I was angry and just couldn’t believe that I had to keep going through this ‘torture’ every single week.
And it made me think: “Hang on, this ‘torture’ is not going to change — but what I can do is change myself.
~ And that’s what I did! ~
I started running. I ran every day — first just a little, then a little more, and I loved it! It didn’t take long before I couldn’t get by without running.
These days, if I call my mum when I’m stressed or upset, she says: “Go for a run or a bicycle ride!” Off I go and on my return, I am happy and relaxed again.
Try it. Go for a walk, a run or a bicycle ride when you are feeling upset, stressed out or frustrated. It can do amazing things.
Way back then, I thought: “Why do I make my life so painful by dragging all those kilos around with me?” So, I started watching what I ate and changed the way I thought about food. The surprising thing was that I didn’t even need to eat less for the kilos to start dropping off.
Sounds interesting? — Keep on reading.
MY MUM IS the most wonderful and caring mum and I truly love her. We talk on the phone two times a week for hours and have a great time.
But guess what? She is not entirely happy. She wants to play with her granddaughter. She wants to do a million things. She wants to visit me — but she can’t! She can’t even walk properly because she has to drag huge amounts of fat around. She is short of breath because her poor lungs are so squeezed by all that fat that they can’t work properly. Her bones and joints are giving way and breaking down from the heavy weight they have to carry.
I would love to bring her over to see this wonderful country and she desperately wants to visit me — but she can’t. She isn’t even able to properly fit into the seat on the plane.
There’s more to it than the ‘sad — eat more — sad — eat more’ cycle. There are many things that help pile on those extra kilos, despite us hating them so much. There are our social meetings and family celebrations. There are parties with friends and colleagues. What about all those wonderful birthday celebrations? Don’t even let me start talking about the Christmas season or the annual ‘Easter Egg Explosion’.
What do people usually do at all those parties? They eat and drink. Yes, of course there is lots of talking and chatting involved, but the main exercise is usually eating and drinking.
And whoever invites us to a party has to organise a whole lot of food and drinks. I know this from my own family, friends and colleagues, and myself — because I have been there.
What is usually happening at those parties? Think about all that wonderful food sitting there around us. Think about the bowls with tasty crackers, chips and dips. Just seeing those bowls makes you hungry, doesn’t it? Don’t we usually think: “I feel a bit hungry — I’ll have a few?” Then we have a few more … and a few more … and, oops, suddenly the plate is empty. It used to happen to me all the time, and not only at parties.
The other thing we usually do is have a drink … or maybe two … or more.
Have you ever noticed how hungry alcohol can make you? The other thing alcohol does is create euphoria. After one or two drinks, our bodies relax and we just want to have fun and some enjoyment … and how lucky, there is so much food to enjoy around us, and, so of course, we keep eating.
Then right on time, there is the main meal turning up and whoever makes the meal, or brings food to a party; has to do better than the person who made it the last time. Isn’t it true? Have you ever felt the pressure of needing to be better or at least to keep up with your friends and relatives? Do you often think: “I have to make something really special and fantastic?” It is our social rules. It is competition — and we all love our competition. Everybody wants to be the best!
There you go and create a ‘best’ meal. Take some fish or meat; add some fatty cheese to the dish, and some extra cream. Use lots of oil and butter to make it ‘taste better’.
Sour cream goes well too and you need some sauce or gravy. Don’t worry too much about the vegies or salad; nobody is going to eat those anyway.
Let me tell you a trick. If you want to get rid of your salad, add lots of gooey mayonnaise or cream and cheese to it and then people will eat it.
I have always wondered where the name potato ‘salad’ came from. All I usually find in the bowl is potato mixed up with ham or bacon, a considerable amount of egg, lots of mayonnaise, salt, and maybe a ‘lost’ pea or onion. If this ‘fat-soaked and dead mixture’ is considered a salad, I can’t help it!
It’s true, just look around. Go to a restaurant and see what’s left on the plates. It is generally the fresh salad and vegies. Most people only leave meat if they’re already had three portions, or if it’s as dry as old shoe leather. Now watch the vegies. They are commonly left on the plate unless covered in creamy sauce, cheese or some other gooey stuff.
Think about what this means for our body. Any party or family gathering you go to, they try to make you eat something you don’t want to eat — or at least your body doesn’t want to eat. You can be sure your body will tell you the next morning when you step on the scales.
And I haven’t even mentioned all the cream cakes, chocolates and ice-creams … and this list goes on and on.
So what is this?
~ I call it a collective suicide! ~
Why would you want to keep doing this? You love your family. You love your kids.
You love your friends. Why do you want to kill them?
What about yourself? What intelligent human being would do that to their body? No animal would do that, unless they are ‘humanised’ like some of our dogs and cats. (Poor fellows those ones, but that’s a different story.)
Animals decide what to eat and what is good for their body. Have you ever tried to feed a cat something it doesn’t want to eat? It sniffs the food for a brief moment, then stares at you as if to say “Do you want to poison me?” And then it proudly walks away without even tasting it. Just sniffing the ‘poison’ is enough.
Why don’t we try to sniff our food more often before actually tasting it? Try the smell of raw meat for example. It smells disgusting!
Look at all the animals in the wild. Why do you think all animals of the same species have the same shape? Why is it that human bodies have huge differences in their shape? Have you ever seen an overweight kangaroo or antelope in the wild?
So why would us intelligent people overfeed and kill ourselves with food? Is it because it is the rules? Is it because everyone does it?
Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to break through those rules and say: “I love you guys and I want to have a good time and fun with you, but I don’t want to be part of this continuous circle of overeating.”
~ And guess what — it’s easy! ~
I’ve done it! The moment you make your decision, it’s easy!
Say no! You decide what you eat! You choose! And you will always find a great, tasty valuable choice of food that makes your body fit, healthy and energetic. You even have great fun at the same time. You will enjoy any party at any time of your life so much more if you don’t stuff yourself with food you actually hate because it makes you fat, lethargic, miserable and unfit.
Do you think people love you for being stuck in the ‘crap-food’ circle, helping it spin around?
Remember everybody is in the same boat. I know from experience. I have done research regarding this by talking to a large group of different people, and they have all told me the same story. It is a vicious circle that does not make people happy in the end!
On the other hand, people will love you for doing something different — for stepping out of that circle. People are always looking for somebody who steps out and stands up for themselves, and has new ideas.
It doesn’t mean others will change themselves immediately. It doesn’t mean the rules will change immediately — and you should never push. But show by example — just do it!
Help yourself, your friends and family by stepping up and doing something different. It’s your choice what you put into your body. Why not go for the healthy and happy way of life — feeling lighter, happier and enjoying life to the utmost.
Life is not about stuffing your body with food that kills you. Having a meal is a wonderful part of your life and you should enjoy it. But that means enjoyment without regretting what you have eaten the minute after you have stuffed it into your body, or the morning after when you step on the scales.
By the way — do you think thin people are always better off? Research on heart disease, stroke, diabetes etc shows, that thin people can also have these health problems. You just don’t see it on them. It’s all about what we stuff into our bodies and for thin people who choose to eat processed and for the body toxic food, it also clogs up their veins and arteries. You may not see the killing process as much, but it is certainly there.
The same process is happening with smokers. Smoking is a different subject and I won’t talk about it right now. I do have some ideas about it though, as I used to be a heavy smoker myself a long time ago.
There is something else I want to talk about. For some people all this nibbling at parties, and eating cakes seems to be more of a ‘female’ thing, and some blokes may say: “I don’t do this! I don’t fit into this category. I might just have a little ‘tummy’ (That’s what blokes usually call their basketball shaped abdomen that over time gets worse and flops over their pants because it doesn’t fit inside them anymore.) But they have no idea where this tummy comes from.
There is this thing about males. They are strong. They work hard to feed the family — even if they sit on their bum all day at the office. They ‘need a big meal’ because they are working so very hard. And their wives usually support the idea because: “Of course, honey, you work so hard.”
I love going to truck stops. There you see the real blokes — Truckies. They are tough. They live the hard road life and really do work hard, that’s a fact. I regularly see them having these big, heavy meals; huge steaks with a mountain of chips, maybe one or two vegies (which are usually left on the plate). What about a big fried breakfast?
Yes, they work hard — but all day they work sitting in their ‘Truckie-chair’! Now guess how most of them look after a couple of years?
All that dead, poisonous energy from fried food and those huge, heavy meals can’t do anything, so it gets stuck as body fat and they carry it around for the rest of their life.
To finish this off, let’s look again at the real blokes; hardworking and after their hard work, of course, they need a good beer with their heavy meals or maybe two or three or more.
~ So where does the ‘basketball-belly’ come from? ~
Money and Health
HOW MUCH MONEY do people pay for their health?
You go to the doctor. You spend hours of your life in the waiting room. How much do you pay for the pills and medicine that are prescribed for you?
How many people these days take a tablet for almost everything?
Tablets for high cholesterol, high sugar levels, constipation, tablets to keep your blood thin, to control high blood pressure, heart conditions, renal failure, depression, gout, tablets for the side effects from all these tablets and this list goes on and on.
What is the cost of having diabetes, a heart attack, a stroke or cancer? It can cost you a fortune, plus time in hospital and maybe a long rehabilitation. You might lose a limb, your eyesight, your job, or the function of one side of your body. You may even lose your life.
Everyone of us usually denies that this can happen to us. “Everybody else gets sick — not me.” That’s what we usually think — isn’t that true?
Unfortunately, if you are overweight, the likelihood of getting a disease like that greatly increases. I see it all the time. Everyday there are people sick in hospitals — sad, frustrated, in pain and helpless.
~ These people thought exactly the same as you before they were proven wrong. ~
Who’s going to be there to help you? Will it be your partner, your kids, maybe your parents or friends? Do you want them to suffer because you say “NO”? “No” to taking care of your own body and your own health? Wouldn’t it be so much better if you could enjoy your life with your partner, with your friends, play with your children and grandchildren and do this with a healthy body?
By the way, I used to think heart attacks and strokes were only a problem of the older generation. Wrong. I have seen many people in their 30s and 40s who have a heart attack or strokes. These days, even children are being diagnosed with the beginnings of heart disease. Think how much money you could save — it is time and money. It is time of your life and the life of your kids and grandkids.
Think about what else you could do with all that money and the time. Think about how different your life could be without having to take tablets three times a day. Research has shown that diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and many more problems can be prevented or even resolved by changing the food you put into your body and by exercising.
It is a fact that a change in diet will show massive improvements in health. Reports say the risk of stroke, heart disease and heart failure can decrease by 50–80%. The risk of getting cancer decreases gradually depending on what people choose to eat. Diabetes 2 can be prevented and treated with a good diet and exercise only!
According to the Heart Disease Prevention Manual from ALSA, a vegetarian or vegan diet is seen to be possibly the best diet for treating coronary disease, angina or high blood fats and can even reverse existing heart disease conditions.
A Diabetes NSW research publication titled Vegetarian Diet Protects Against Type 2 Diabetes from Loma Linda University of California revealed that a vegetarian diet considerably reduced the risk of type 2 Diabetes and states that vegans had a 49% lower risk of developing diabetes than non- vegetarians.
I know there are always people who say: “I don’t mind if I die.” But ask them: What if you get diabetes for example? You may lose a leg, you may lose your eyesight, or your kidneys may stop working. Do you really want to spend three to five hours four days a week connected to a dialysis machine?
What about a stroke? You may not be able to move half of your body. You may lose your speech? You might lose your swallowing function and won’t be able to eat at all … According to the latest research even dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are seen to be diet related.
To finish this off, I want to tell you a story.
I had an angiography when I was involved in an accident some years ago. Usually these investigations are carried out if you have coronary heart disease. In my case the medical team wanted to obtain information about the blood vessel conditions in my leg after the accident.