“Television viewing has a fairly profound lowering effect of metabolic rate and may be a mechanism for the relationship between obesity and amount of television viewing.”
And what do we do at the same time as watching TV? Yep—eat. Not only do we eat, but we tend to eat more when watching TV than at almost any other time. According to Dr. Aric Sigman, author of the excellent book Remotely Controlled, watching television makes children and adults eat more, even if they are not physically hungry. This is borne out by a study entitled “Television Viewing Nearly Adds an Additional Meal to Daily Intake.” So our metabolism is slower at the very time we consume more food. Another study showed that people who ate their food to calming music and no TV ate much slower and had much less food than those who watched TV while they ate.
TV Can Make Your Kids Hyper!
Not only can the simple act of watching TV make you fatter than if you sat and did nothing but apparently it can turn your kids hyper too. It seems it is not just sugar and caffeine that can make your kid look like he or she has just swallowed a bucket of Prozac—it’s TV too. In August 1999 a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) showed that early TV exposure is associated with problems at age 7 that “are consistent with a diagnosis of ADHD” (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). They concluded that the banning of all TV time during the formative years of brain development “may reduce children’s subsequent risk of developing ADHD.”
There is no question that a combination of junk TV, junk food, and junk Internet watching (same as TV just a newer version) has a profound effect on children’s behavior and development. There is also no doubt that this same combination has a similar effect on our behavior and our development as adults. Clearly getting rid of the junk food and replacing it with the finest juices on earth will have an incredibly beneficial effect on your body shape and overall health. However, if you get rid of junk TV as well as junk food and replace it with increased physical movement, you will find it has more of an impact on your mental and physical health than you could possibly imagine.
Life = MovementMovement = Life
Without movement there is no life. In fact, if you aren’t moving at all you are DEAD! It is no surprise that with such a small amount of physical exercise going on and so much sitting on furniture watching other pieces of furniture (TV), so many people do feel, well … dead.
The average person spends less than three hours a week doing physical exercise. I don’t mean walking up the stairs or getting up to put a DVD on. I mean real exercise—the sort that makes you sweat. At the same time, the average person spends over 34 hours each week watching TV.
One of the many benefits you will find on this program is that when you are no longer numbing yourself with “food” you won’t want to “slump” in front of the TV. You will find, like the vast majority who do this program, that as your body becomes cleaner and your energy level increases you will actually want to exercise more (as unlikely as that may sound to some at this stage).
The Gift of Movement
As with juices we can also use the “attitude of gratitude” with exercise in order to enhance and enjoy the experience. I am extremely fortunate to have all of my limbs in good working order, but there are many people who don’t. I can honestly say that whenever I ever think I have to exercise I soon change my approach so I get the opportunity to exercise. I feel it an insult not to exercise and eat and drink well. It’s an insult to have the gift of movement and not use it and it’s an insult to have fresh produce available and the opportunity to extract the fine juices from it and not do it. It’s even more of an insult not to eat it and then complain about eating too much of the other stuff.
When it comes to exercise, again the excuses start, but we can all do something. My motto is simple:
If you can move—then move!
I love using my mini-trampoline. It’s a soft-bounce trampoline and very different from the usual ones you find. I stock up my MP3 player with some good pop music and I’m bouncing like a crazy thing. I also love soccer, tennis, swimming, and just about any game. On the retreats I always introduce some kind of physical activity—it just makes it more fun. I want people to think, “I get to play today,” instead of thinking, “I have to exercise.” Remember, when you make life a “get to” rather than a “have to,” true joy and fulfillment are yours for the taking. You get to enjoy the journey too.
At the retreats we have group mini-trampolining sessions. It’s such an amazing way to get into shape and other than swimming it’s the only exercise on the planet that uses every single muscle! Rebounding even has NASA approval:
“Rebound exercise is the most efficientand effective exercise yet devised by man.”
But that’s my bag—you may choose something completely different. I know a lot of people who hated running but now love it. It’s amazing what some good music and an attitude of “running is a wonderful opportunity to have some me time and let my thoughts just run away” can do. They now think running is a get to and not a have to—and that’s the key to whole program.
I have done all I can do. Now it’s your call. You have the opportunity to read the rest of the book and do a program that could well change more things in your life than just your stomach. I love to hear the feedback, so please let me know how you do. Whether it’s via e-mail, letter, or video diary, the juicy team never tires of the inspirational stories. So until I either read your letter, see you on video, or meet you personally at a retreat, I will leave you with some final words. Most people talk a great life, but very few act in order to change. If you are going to do it, then do it—don’t talk about it. When I hear people saying, “I’m thinking of doing …” my eyes just glaze over—it means nothing. But when I hear someone saying, “I’m in the middle of …” or “I’ve started the …,” I’m all ears. On that note I’ll leave you with the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who puts the whole thing in a nutshell:
“Whatever you CAN do,or dream you can do, begin it.BOLDNESS has genius,power and magic in it.Begin it NOW.”
NowREADtheRESTof theBOOK!
12
All Will Be Smooth … if the Prep Is Right!
Years ago, I used to be, among many other things, a painter and decorator. The one part I hated more than any other was filling the holes, sanding down, stripping old wallpaper off the walls, and so on; in other words, I hated the preparation. However, if I didn’t spend time preparing correctly I would never get the result I was looking for.
The best part of decorating is in the application—watching the paint go on and seeing the transformation from old to new. The worst part is seeing the lumps, bumps, and cracks coming through if you didn’t prepare properly.
The same applies with this program. The best part is the application—the feeling and seeing the transformation from old to new. And without the right preparation, you simply will not do the program to the letter and, as with decorating, you’ll soon see the lumps and bumps! This 7-day program requires the right application:
And this will only happenwith the right preparation!
“One of the most important rules of Personal Effectiveness is the 10/90 rule.” This statement comes from the excellent book Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy:
“The first 10 percent of time that