The Rules for Fat Loss

How many times have you tried to diet, but only to fail to lose the weight or you have lost the weight , but later gained the weight back? Well, you are not alone.  Many people do not meet their weight loss goals because they do not understand some basic  diet and weight loss principles.  knowing a few basic diet, weight loss and training principles can be the difference between meeting your weight loss goals or forever chasing weight loss goals. Why Most Diets Fail For many people diets continually fail to deliver results because they are either based on the wrong principles or because they do not address important underlying principles or address needed lifestyle changes.   Ensuring Weight Loss Success Long-term success with health and weight loss requires significant changes not just in how you eat, but in the way you live. The following diet and weight management tips can dramatically improve your chances for long term weight loss: Set realistic goals for diet success. An important component of diet success is setting a realistic goal. Failure to set realistic goals is a sure fire way to set you up for failure.  If you set unattainable goals, such as losing 50 pounds in two months, you are not just setting yourself up for failure but also putting your health at risk too!  You will be more likely to stick with a diet if you create realistic goals based on sensible eating strategies combined with daily exercise.   Establish measurable goals. I mentioned that it is important to have realistic goals for weight loss so you do not get disappointed and set yourself up for failure.  It is equally important that your goals be measurable. Studies confirm that you have a much better chance at reaching your goals if your success can be measurable. A measurable goal might be to lose 6 inches in your waist in six weeks, lose 6% body fat in 8 weeks, or to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks, etc. Studies have proven that having measurable metrics is essential for reaching your weight loss goals. Setting smaller, attainable benchmarks, like losing 1 to 2 pounds a week, will reinforce your motivation and give you the confidence to continue. Do NOT crash diet. Numerous studies show that the best way to lose fat permanently without muscle loss is to lose weight slowly (1 to two pounds a week) with a focus on exercise rather than severe calorie cutting. Severe calorie cutting is not effective for several reasons. When your body senses a severe reduction in calories, the body responds by reducing its output  of active thyroid hormone. This results in a decrease in your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories at rest) and fewer calories burned. When you drop your calories too low, your body will also produce more lipoprotein lipase (the body's chief fat storing enzyme) and less fat burning enzymes. In other words, if you starve yourself, your body will adapt by not only slowing your metabolism but also by changing its chemistry to burn less fat and make it easier to store fat in the future.  When your body goes into starvation mode it also triggers increased appetite and cravings for bad food in an attempt to get you to eat more food with higher calories. This can cause you to binge. Bottom line: When you lose weight rapidly your body thinks that it's starving and reduces its metabolic rate, which makes it harder for your body to burn each calorie (they burn at a slower pace than they normally would). Then when you start eating normal again your body stores food, burns less fat, in case a "famine" hits it again. Gradually ease into your diet if possible. Many diet programs allow you to do this.  Remember that small changes are easier to stick with than drastic ones. Start by always leaving a little extra on your plate, or drinking water instead of soda. Smaller changes are also more likely to remain with you when the duration of your diet is complete. Aim for behavior-change goals that you know you will be able to maintain over years, not just weeks. Clean out your fridge and food pantry. Failure to "snack proof" your home can sabotage your dieting attempts. Replace high fat, and highly processed foods with healthy alternatives.  Use the Buddy System. It is hard to make major lifestyle changes for many people when they are doing it by themselves. Many people lack the motivation to start something that seems insurmountable.  For many, their poor eating habits have become just those habits. To break a habit it requires dedication, commitment and a desire to succeed. The best way for many to do this is to have a partner, someone to rely on, someone that helps motivate them, and most importantly someone who will also hold them accountable. Several studies regarding weight loss has shown that finding other people with similar goals can greatly improve yours odds of diet success. Having a buddy can also provide the support you need to exercise, diet, and also help steer you away from the many temptations that are present that can derail you from your weight loss goals. Prepare your food in advance. Many studies show that be preparing your meals in advance you are less likely to reach for processed, high sugar, high fat foods that derail many good diets and the best of intentions.   Preparing your meals in advance also allows you to weigh and measure foods your foods, track what you are consuming.   Keep a food Log. Keeping a food log can be a huge asset in successful weight loss. A food log can provide a large amount of self-awareness. A food log can help you understand more about what you are eating, track your food better, identify any emotional triggers that trigger overeating, foster greater awareness of portion sizes, and help you discover your personal food triggers. Study any patterns that emerge from your food log and identify where you may be able to make more healthful changes. Trust me, the sheer act of tracking your food will increase your chances of dieting success. A food log also provides an added benefit of keeping you focused on and committed to your goals! Know your calories. No matter what other people may tell you, calories do matter. Losing weight is simply burning more calories than you are eating (consuming). It takes a deficit or surplus of 3,500 calories to lose or gain a single pound of body fat. When you simply just reduce calories your body will adapt and slow your metabolism, so just reducing calories will not work for long term effective weight loss. The key to success weight loss will be to know your calories so you can burn more calories than you are eating. The more calories you burn the more fat you will lose. Read and understand  food labels. It is very important to understand what you are putting into your body. Many people unknowingly consume foods that have hidden fats, or are loaded with high processed ingredients that can be stored as fat quickly, as well as negatively impact the body's hormonal system which can result in slowing down or stopping the body from burning fat. Learning how to read food labels in very important for fat loss. Failure to understand food labels is like trying to get somewhere that you have never been without directions. Yes, you can get there, but after considerable more effort and more time. Start eating early in the morning and eat your last meal at least two or three hours before bedtime.  Ideally, you should begin eating early, so you can fit in five to six meals and your last meal falls two to three hours prior to going to sleep. Do NOT skip breakfast. Breakfast is an easy meal to miss by many busy people. While cutting out one meal may appear to be a simple means to cut daily caloric intake, research indicates that this meal is the one not to be missed since missing breakfast may increase your hunger throughout the rest of the day. Focus on breakfasts that delay stomach emptying to increase satiety and control calorie consumption. Skipping meals also cause the body to slow down, burn less fat and burn muscle; all undesirable states if your goal is to get leaner. Eat small healthy meals every three hours.  Studies show that by eating small regularly scheduled meals keeps hormone levels (e.g., ghrelin, leptin, enterostatin, insulin and cholecystokinin) steady and reduces hunger.  By eating small meals of low fat high quality protein with small portions of low glycemic carbohydrates will also keep metabolisms higher, minimize fat storage, and will promote a better fat burning environment since less insulin is produced. According to a 2005 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, when researchers asked women to eat at regular, fixed times or to break their usual amount of food into unscheduled meals throughout the day, they made a startling discovery: the women actually burned more calories in the 3 hours after eating the regular meals than they did after the unplanned meals. The women produced less insulin, too, potentially lowering their odds of insulin resistance, which is linked to weight gain and obesity. Your goal should be to eat approximately every three hours. Establish scheduled meal times and stick to them. Regularity in your eating habits is critical for maintaining energy levels, and for creating the proper hormonal environment for burning fat and maintaining lean muscle mass. Cycle your calories. Cycling your calories (i.e, 1600 on day 1, 800 on day 2, 1200 on day 3, 2000 on day 4, etc.) is an effective way to keep your metabolism from slowing down while dieting.   Plan your days to include a low calorie day following a day of unusually high calories. By "cycling" calories this way your body works more efficiently to burn fat. Eat slowly. For more than 35 years, dieters have been told to eat slowly to reduce their intake of food. The reason: it takes a while for the brain to realize that the stomach is stretching and allows the body time for the development of satiety [fullness]. Eating slowly gives the brain time to catch on.  A 2006 study reported at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity proved that it takes time for the brain to know that the stomach is full. In a study lead by Kathleen Melanson, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Food Science at Rhode Island University, 30 women made two visits to Melanson's lab, and each time they were given a large plate of pasta and told to eat as much as they wanted. When they were told to eat quickly, they consumed 646 calories in nine minutes, but when they were encouraged to pause between bites and chew each mouthful 15 to 20 times, they ate just 579 calories in 29 minutes. "Satiety signals clearly need time to develop,"Melanson concluded. "Not only did the women take in fewer calories when they ate more slowly, they had a greater feeling of satiety at meal completion and 60 minutes afterwards, which strongly suggests benefits to eating more slowly." The women also judged themselves as having enjoyed the meal more when they ate slowly than when they ate quickly, Melanson added. Because the study proves that it does takes longer for satiety signals to reach the brain letting the brain know the stomach know that it is full, it is recommended that people should eat slowly, pausing between bites and chewing each mouthful 15-20 times. This simple act can help reduce overeating. Drink lots of water. Many people underestimate the importance of water to the body and are not aware of the numerous health benefits of water. Water is also the single most critical nutrient for health, growth, and development. It is not only the most important nutrient in the body, but also the most abundant. Water is critical to the balance of all the body's systems, including the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys and muscles.  Last, but not least, water is the medium for various enzymatic & chemical reactions in the body. It moves nutrients, hormones, antibodies, & oxygen through the blood stream & lymphatic system. Drink at least 12 glasses a day. Increase your fiber. Fiber increases satiety (the feeling of fullness) by adding bulk to foods without additional calories Fiber can also help stabilize blood sugar levels by delaying stomach emptying which slows the rate of carbohydrate absorption, improves the body's regulation of blood sugar, reduces the risk of insulin resistance/sensitivity and lowers insulin needs. Fiber also has many health benefits. Increasing your consumption can also help decrease blood cholesterol levels, and therefore, reduces the risk of heart disease. Fiber can also decrease the risk of colon cancer by increasing the speed of elimination; reducing the amount of time harmful toxins are in contact with the intestinal cells. The recommended dietary fiber intake is 14g per 1,000 calories consumed. This can be achieved by eating more vegetables (broccoli, carrots and Jerusalem artichokes), legumes/beans, certain fruits (e.g., prunes, rubus berries, plums, bananas, and the insides of apples and pears) , root vegetables such as potatoes, yams and onions, whole grains (oats,barley, chia, and barley), and whole grain cereals.  Increase your fiber gradually to minimize the side effects of fiber, such as cramping, diarrhea, and intestinal gas. It is also very important to increase your fluid intake as you increase your fiber intake.  Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages. They are just empty calories. Keep your blood sugar balanced. To do this eat smaller meals and eat frequently (small meals every three hours). Also eat protein at every meal: One of the most important ways to keep your blood sugar balanced and energy levels high is to include protein at every meal, breakfast and snacks included. The best protein sources include fish, organic meat, chicken, eggs, yogurt, and whey protein powder. Insufficient protein is a common reason for fatigue. Pack some almonds and nuts for a quick and convenient protein snack. Minimize the consumption of high glycemic foods. Consumption of high glycemic carbohydrates (which to some people's surprise include, white rice, white potatoes, sugar) results in surges of blood glucose and insulin that, derail diets, zap energy, hamper training gains and over time, can lead to the development of Type 2 Diabetes in carbohydrate sensitive / insulin resistant individuals. Studies have also shown that those who reach for highly processed foods and/or foods comprised of simple sugars also tend to gain more weight because this type of meal also does not increase satiety levels (fullness) optimally. Why?  Because simple sugars are rapidly digested by the body as opposed to complex carbohydrates, such as starch. This causes a person to feel hungry sooner. If carbohydrates are to be consumed they should be of the low glycemic kind, or they should be consumed with protein which increases satiety because the addition of protein delays stomach emptying and promotes the feeling of fullness. Ct out the sugars and processed foods. Minimize the consumption of breads, pasta, white rice and other processed, low-fiber carb sources and instead eat lower glycemic carbohydrate foods such as yams, oatmeal, lentils and brown rice. Reduce processed food and simple sugar. Reducing processed food and simple sugar intake can help control appetite. Studies have also shown that those who reach for highly processed foods and/or foods comprised of simple sugars also tend to gain more weight because this type of meal also does not increase satiety levels (fullness) optimally. Why?  Because simple sugars are rapidly digested by the body as opposed to complex carbohydrates, such as starch. This causes a person to feel hungry sooner. If carbohydrates are to be consumed they should be of the low glycemic kind, or they should be consumed with protein which increases satiety because the addition of protein delays stomach emptying and promotes the feeling of fullness. Avoid saturated fats as much as possible.  Eating too many foods rich in saturated fats has been associated with the development of degenerative diseases, including heart disease and cancer.  Eating saturated fats also cause weight gain. If you want to get leaner you need to eliminate saturated fats as much as possible from your diet. The only saturated fats you should take in are the small amounts that will come from your turkey breast, chicken breasts and from the occasional eating of lean red meat meal, and the occasional egg yolk. Avoid trans fats at all costs.  This is not as easy as it may seem. You need to be aware of how trans fats can sneak into your diet. Trans fatty acids are primarily found in margarines and spreads, baked goods and fried foods, but can also be found in many other products that you would not expect them to be in. Many products that are labeled with terms like "low saturated fat" or "no cholesterol," are actually loaded with harmful trans fats. Additionally, food manufacturers are not required to list trans fats on their labels when they are under a certain amount. This amount can add up when the serving size they are using is actually artificially low compared to what a normal person would use (like say 1 teaspoon of margarine) Most margarines are actually full of the "phantom" trans fats! Incorporate "good" fats into your diet.  Know the difference between "good" fats and "bad" fats. Most people don't get enough good fats, called essential fatty acids (EFAs).  Omega-6 (along with omega-3) belongs to a family of fats called essential fatty acids. These EFAs are found in polyunsaturated fats. Incorporating EFAs, such as those that contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 EFAs will improve fat loss as well as health. Good food sources of Omega-3 include the following fish: tuna, salmon, red snapper, flounder, cod, haddock, and sea bass. Food Sources of Omega-6 Essential Fatty Acids Include: Safflower oil - the richest natural source, Sunflower oil, wheat germ, etc.  For optimum weight loss, your overall fat consumption should be approximately 15-20 percent of your total calories. Check out the following article: http://www.mybesthealthportal.com/health/fitness/nutrition-tools/nutrition-tools-tables-and-resources/good-fats-and-bad-fats.html. Also check out this article, http://www.mybesthealthportal.com/nutrition/general-nutrition-articles/what-is-the-skinny-about-saturated-fats-trans-fats-polyunstaurated-fats.html Control your food portions. Researchers at the National Institute on Aging Studies found that men and women who ate their daily number of calories in one supersize supper produced more ghrelin, a hormone that causes hunger, than when they ate the same number of calories in three square meals. To minimize hunger, burn more fat, and keep energy levels steady eat small meals frequently.  Stop grazing. Unlike eating small meals at regular planned intervals, grazing is the act of eating small unplanned portions throughout the day without regard to regularity. Studies show that grazing often leads to mindless eating; a known source of weight gain and risk factor for obesity. Never eat carbohydrates without protein. Including protein in a meal can influence satiety by affecting insulin activity. By consuming some high-quality protein at every meal/snack your blood glucose and insulin levels are more stable and appetite is minimized compared to a carb only meal. There have also been several studies that indicate that high-protein meals are more effective than a high-carbohydrate meals in decreasing serum ghrelin levels after the meal. Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates hunger. Ghrelin levels increase before meals and decrease after meals and is considered the counterpart of the hormone leptin, produced by adipose tissue, which induces satiation when present at higher levels. High-protein meals delay stomach emptying and thus create a longer-lasting feeling of fullness. Another benefit of adding protein to a meal, is that protein contributes to thermogenesis, the process whereby the increases the metabolism of the body's adipose tissue (fat), generating heat. The bottom line: because protein is more satisfying in regards to fullness to your body than carbohydrates or fats, protein can be a powerful weapon in weight control. Getting enough protein also helps preserve muscle mass and encourages fat burning while keeping you feeling full. So be sure to include healthy protein sources, like chicken breast, turkey breast, low fat cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, healthy nuts, or beans, at meals and snacks. Reduce the intake of "fat-Free" foods. Reducing fat free food consumption can help control appetite. One weapon Americans have pinned their hopes on is fat-free foods, but the reliance on fat free foods has been shown in study after study NOT to be effective in helping people battle the bulges. The reason eating fat-free foods won't necessarily make you lose weight is because it's the amount of calories you take in, not the amount of fat, that determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain weight. Fat free foods are often very high in calories and simple sugars. Used in moderation, though, fat-free foods can help reduce your daily calorie count. Another problem with fat-free foods is their low-level of satiety, which is why it's so easy to eat larger portions of fat free foods. a lot of them. The lack of fat doesn't satisfy hunger. Fat in food creates a feeling of fullness-the sense that you've had enough to eat. If there's no fat, it's more likely you will keep on eating until you're stuffed, ending up with many more calories than you would have gotten from eating a smaller serving of a food that contained a little fat. Several recent studies have shown that by choosing a fat-free breakfast, satiety is often reduced. In addition, many people consume larger quantities of low-fat or nonfat foods than they do of regular foods, thinking because the foods are fat free that they will not cause weight gain. Choose foods that are filling and low in calories. This means meals and snacks made with whole grains, such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread, fibrous vegetables and oatmeal, as well as legumes, such as lentils and other beans. Regarding the veggies, start by focusing on getting the recommended 5-9 servings each day. This may sound like a lot of food, but eating this many servings of fibrous veggies (or low glycemic fruits) will help increase your dieting success, because at the same time you are meeting your fiber goals and feeling more satisfied from the volume of food. You're also less likely to overeat because fibrous veggies and low glycemic fruits typically displace fat and processed foods in many people's diets. Pump up food volume. Several studies over the past two decades have shown that expanding food volume with non-caloric ingredients, such as air and water, offers a means to control appetite. How does this work?  By adding VOLUME in the form of air, water and fiber the calorie density of your diet can be reduced. By lowering the calorie density of your diet you can eat more food, and lose weight. Thinning out your oatmeal, eating snacks like air popped pop corn, are two example of incorporating this approach. Understand Protein Timing. Protein timing means choosing the right proteins to eat at the right time. Believe it or not, the best protein you should eat in the morning upon waking, before lifting, after lifting and before bed are not all the same. If you want to maximize fat loss, and muscle gain understanding the principles behind protein timing can give you an edge. Knowing which protein to eat and when to eat it can help optimize muscle development and fat loss. Check out this great article on protein timing  Change your afternoon snack. By the time 3 pm, or 4 pm rolls around, your lunch has probably worn off and you're ready for your afternoon snack. Instead of reaching for a Red Bull, a soda, or a candy bar, try replacing these highly processed high glycemic snacks with a complex carbohydrate low glycemic snack.  Sugary snacks produce an instant rush and increase in blood sugar, supplying you with more energy. However, this affect is short lived and as your blood sugar levels come back down, the result is a feeling of extreme tiredness. A snack low on the glycemic index will keep energy levels stable, and not result in an energy crash. An even better choice is to incorporate some protein into your snack plans which will help maintain muscle, and will not raise insulin levels. (Note: for more about the glycemic index, and to see a long list of the glycemic content of various foods, check out the nutrition section, and diet tools area at www.MyBestHealthPortal.com). Curtail mindless eating. Sitting down with a bag of chips or a box of bon bons in front of the TV is an example of mindless eating, where you mindlessly eat without being hungry, but out of habit. Do NOT eat while watching TV! Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress. Stress causes many people to eat. It also raises certain hormones that stunt fat burning. Everyone is faced with stressful situation; many of us daily.  Instead of turning to food for comfort, be prepared with some non-food tactics that work for you. Tactics may include meditation, message, exercise...just to name a few. Focus on whether you are truly hungry. Many people are emotional eater s and not truly hungry when they start chowing down....or a specific time of day triggers a meal. Hunger is your body's way of telling you that you need fuel, so when a craving doesn't come from hunger, eating will never satisfy it. Whenever you feel like eating, look for physical signs of hunger, rather than just eat to eat. To lose body fat, there must be a calorie deficit. Such are the laws of thermodynamics and energy balance. However, there's more than one way to create a calorie deficit. One way is to decrease your calorie intake from food. The other is to increase the amount of calories you burn though exercise. Of the two ways to create a calorie deficit, burning the calories is the superior method. This is because large calorie deficits cause muscle loss and trigger the starvation response. Ironically, most people do the opposite: They slash their calories to starvation levels and exercise too little or not at all. This causes a decrease in lean body mass and invokes the starvation mechanism. Exercise. To lose body fat there must be a calorie deficit. Most people focus on decreasing their calorie intake from food. This is one way to lose weight, but not the most effective way to lose weight. A second way to lose fat/weight is to increase the amount of calories you burn though exercise.  Of the two ways to create a calorie deficit, burning the calories is the superior method because large calorie deficits cause muscle loss and will trigger the starvation response which will result in a slower metabolism and an unfavorable hormonal environment that will burn less fat.  Study after study has shown that very low calorie diets without exercise will always cause 40 - 50% of the weight loss to come from lean tissue. Many diets, especially those that are low in carbohydrates, cause large losses in water weight. Between the loss of water, glycogen and muscle, fully 75% of the weight you lose on these type of diets is not fat! Becoming more active has several benefits. (1) It creates a fat burning environment hormonally (2) It helps rev up your metabolism and keeps your metabolism from slowly during dieting (3) Reduces risk for chronic diseases (4) Increases your energy levels (5) Improves mobility and (6) Raises serotonin levels; hormones that increase your sense of well being. (7) Most people also eat out of boredom, so just the act of being busier by implementing consistent exercise into your daily routine will help you lose weight too!  In order for exercise to be helpful in weight loss, you should strive for a minimum of five 30 minute sessions per week. The good news is that recent research has shown that three 10 minute sessions in a day are as good as one 30 minute session. This helps many in combating the old "no time for exercise" excuse.  If you hate to exercise, start slowly, and consider starting your exercise program with fun ways to stay in shape and feel good, such as dancing, gardening, cutting the grass, and swimming, walking, or jogging. The most important thing is to just start moving!  Make a commitment to get active today.  It doesn't take a lot of time or money to increase your activity, but it does take commitment. Incorporate weight training into your daily routine. The best way to burn fat and get in shape in the fastest way possible is to incorporate weight training into your weight loss program.  Many people underestimate the importance of weight training for fat loss. Lean muscle raises your body's metabolic rate. Therefore people with more lean muscle burn more calories, and can burn more fat. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest and even while you sleep. With a higher lean body mass, you'll also burn more calories during exercise. Many people instead focus on cardio, and do not include weight training in their weight loss program. Others include weight training in their weight loss program, but they incorporate weight raining after cardio, when they have less energy and therefore their weight training program is not as intense as it should be to maximize its effectiveness for fat loss.  The best approach is to perform cardio after weight training, because at this time your body is more apt to burn more fat, because the weight training has burned calories and put the body into a better state to burn stored fat, rather than glycogen (stored carbohydrates).  Optimally you should incorporate weight training into your weight loss program by exercising at least 3 to 4 times a week, for at least 45 minutes each day. Be an early bird. Exercise in the morning rather than the evening. When you can exercise earlier in the day, you not only ensure that you do not miss your training (because sometimes things come up later in a day or you just get too tired) but studies show that you may also burn fat quicker as your metabolism is usually higher in the morning than in the evening. Also, if you exercise in the morning before breakfast, you will burn more stored fat, since sleeping is a form of fasting to the body. Get intense. Make sure your workouts are intense. Too many people work out, but the exercising is not intense. This severely limits the results you will get from the weight training. There are many ways to make sure a training session is intense. Ways to increase intensity include performing more sets, completing the workout in less time (meaning less rest between sets), performing more repetitions, adding more resistance (weight), etc. The best routine incorporates and alternate all these methods to increase intensity in the gym. Always try to limit your workouts to one hour to keep anabolic hormones high and catabolic hormones low. If you work out hard enough, one hour will be plenty. Overtraining will burn muscle as well as fat, and eventually lead to retaining fat. Incorporate advanced weight training techniques into your exercise program. Using advanced weight training techniques 2-3 times a week can be a good way to stimulate fat loss and keep your metabolism from slowing down. One such technique to consider is called High Intensity Training (HIT). HIT is a form of strength training that focuses on performing weightlifting repetitions with a high level of effort, or intensity, to the point of momentary muscular failure to maximize muscle fiber recruitment.  Other advanced techniques include circuit training, supersets, drop sets, giant sets, etc. Incorporating advances techniques a couple times a week is a good way to stimulate the body to burn more calories and to prevent training and weight loss plateaus. Keep Your Eye on the Prize. The success of any long term weight loss plan in is your ability to set manageable and achievable goals, track your successes (regardless of how minute they may be), readjust when necessary and stay committed to your long term goals. I guarantee you that if you follow these principles, the tips above, and keep your eye focused on your goals you will be successful in your body transformation goals. About the Author Jeff Behar Jeff Behar, MS, MBA Jeff Behar, MS, MBA is a recognized health, fitness and nutrition expert, regularly writing about hot topics in the areas of health, fitness, disease prevention, weight loss, nutrition, anti aging and alternative medicine. Jeff Behar's work also often appears in several of the major health and fitness newsletters, health and fitness magazines, and on major health, fitness and  weight loss websites.