Back when I first started learning about diet and nutrition, I heard a lot about “good” carbs and “bad” carbs. Good means complex, bad means simple. The difference between the two lies mostly in how they are digested. Good carbs (such as vegetables) digest slowly, bad carbs (such as sugar) digest quickly.

In the war between good and bad carbs, something I came across over and over again were lists of which carbs were good, and which were bad. Back when the low carb diet was even more popular than it is today, everyone and their grandma wrote their own good carb/bad carb list.

For the most part, these lists were fine and good. People learned that brown rice is better than white rice. Sweet potatoes are better than white potatoes. And whole wheat bread is better than white bread.

Wait… hold it right there.

Upon learning that whole wheat bread was the better bread, I was first in line at my grocery store the next day to pick up some whole wheat bread. No more “bad” bread for me. So, I walked down the bread aisle… white bread, more white bread, more white bread, wait, here we go… whole wheat bread!

I bought it. I ate it. I bought more. I ate more. Every single piece of bread I ate from that point on was whole wheat. I felt good knowing I was eating the “better” food.

Cut to a little while later. Whole wheat bread wasn’t on the “good” carb lists anymore. See, it had now been replaced by “100%” whole wheat bread. Oh no, it seems as if the lists I’ve been reading weren’t specific enough. Apparently, the whole wheat bread I was currently eating may not have been 100%. Who knew there was anything less than 100%?

So, I went back to the store. White bread, white bread, whole wheat bread, ah, here we go… 100% whole wheat bread. NOW I got the right one. Screw you white bread, and screw you too ordinary whole wheat bread, you’ve both been replaced by the much more healthy 100% whole wheat bread.

Cut to a little while later. This was when I learned the point of this post. Just like there are “good” and “bad” carbs, there also happens to be “good” and “bad” whole wheat bread… and the “100%” has nothing to do with it.

In order to understand the difference, the first thing you need to do is ignore that “100%” part. Just ignore it completely. It means nothing to you. Think of it more like a marketing slogan than a nutritional fact. You know what, just ignore the entire front side of the package of bread altogether. There’s nothing important there anyway.

What you need to do is turn all of your attention to the back. Specifically, the ingredients. This is where you will find out if you really have selected the “good” whole wheat bread.

To help show the difference between “good” and “bad,” here is the list of ingredients on a package of Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Bread:

“Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Gluten, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast, Cracked Wheat, Salt, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Molasses, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Ethoxylated Mono-And Diglycerides Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Honey, Soy Lecithin.”

Here is the list of ingredients on the back of a package of another Arnold brand bread, this time called Arnold Natural 100% Whole Wheat Bread:

“Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Reduced Iron, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Folic Acid], Water, Cracked Wheat, Whole Wheat Flour, Yeast, Barley, Honey, Fructose, Wheat Gluten, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Wheat Bran, Malt, Ethoxylated Mono-And Diglycerides, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Caramel Color, Whey, Soy Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Soy Lecithin, Nonfat Milk.”

And now, here are the ingredients on the back of the package of whole wheat pita bread I ate today:

Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Calcium Propionate

Catch any differences? I bet you did. Some of the ingredients that stand out the most in the first two are High Fructose Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil. Both are junk. The second bread also lists Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour, which is almost like saying “Borderline Fake Whole Wheat Bread.”

These are things you do NOT want to see anywhere near the list of ingredients of the whole wheat bread you buy. This of course will eliminate about 90% of the whole wheat breads on the market for you, because 90% of them contain one or more of these ingredients. And, as you can see from the first two breads, the fact that it says “100% whole wheat bread” or “natural” on the package means very little.

In fact, I was in my grocery store yesterday, and knowing I was going to blog about this today, I took a minute in the bread aisle to check ingredients. Literally every single 100% whole wheat bread in the store contained High Fructose Corn Syrup.

So, now that you know all about the “bad” whole wheat breads, you may be wondering what brands make up the 10% of the “good” breads. Interestingly enough, I don’t have any brands to list for you off the top of my head. The brand I eat is just some small local brand that you won’t find anywhere else except for a few small stores in my neighborhood.

Now, while it’s possible that you may be able to find your own “good” small local whole wheat bread brand near you, there is one place where you’re almost guaranteed to find one… a health food store.

Most (if not all) of the breads you find in your grocery store will contain one or more of the “bad” ingredients mentioned before. The breads in a health food store are made specifically to be the complete opposite of those junky breads.

You’ll still want to double check the ingredients of the whole wheat bread before you buy it, but your chances of finding a “good” bread in a health food store are MUCH higher than finding one in a grocery store.

And, just so you know, your bread’s ingredients do not have to identically match my bread’s ingredients in order to be “good.” For example, some organic whole wheat breads will have a huge list of stuff in it that mine doesn’t have and it will still be perfectly fine.

You’re mainly checking to make sure certain things are NOT in it. Specifically, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, and any mention of the words “Unbleached” and/or “Enriched.” If you do spot something on there that looks a little funny, feel free to come home and look that ingredient up before you buy it or eat it. Or, leave a comment here with the ingredients and I’ll take a peek at it.

In conclusion (it took me 5 minutes to come up with a phrase to start this sentence with, by the way), whenever you see 100% whole wheat bread on some kind of healthy food list, just keep in mind that this is the additional explanation that is meant to go with it.

GNC is the leading retailer of nutritional supplements, vitamins, and other health food products. They have over 5000 stores in the US alone, and many others throughout the world

Chances are you’ve heard of GNC already. Heck, you probably even have one (or two) located not too far from where you live. And, since (I assume) you’re into diet and exercise, GNC is a store you may actually be thinking of going into at some point if you haven’t already done so.

However, before you take your first (or next) step through the doors of your local GNC, there are 3 very important things you should know.

1. Most of the people who work in GNC know NOTHING about diet, fitness, bodybuilding, weight loss or health, nor do they know anything about any of the supplements, vitamins and other health products they sell.

These are not doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, supplement specialists or personal trainers. There is no real training. There is no testing. There is no certification or license. There is as much knowledge required to work at a GNC store selling you supplements as there is to work at shoe store selling you shoes.

That’s not to say that the people who work there are stupid, but it is to say that the guy assisting you in buying shoes knows just as much about nutritional supplements as the guy assisting you in buying nutritional supplements.

So, if you walk into a GNC expecting to get anything even close to qualified advice and information, you will be very let down. But that’s not even the big problem. The big problem is… you won’t even know it.

That’s because the people who work at GNC care about one thing, and one thing only… selling as much as possible. They won’t say “I don’t know” when you ask them something they really don’t know. They will just do their very best to put on whatever act they need to put on in order to get your money in the register.

And as far as the supplements go, they don’t care if you need it, if it works, if it’s safe, or if it even does what you want it to do… they just know how much it costs and that you should buy it.

If you are fat, they will push whatever the popular fat burning supplements of that week are. If you are skinny, they will push the popular weight gain and muscle building supplements. That’s it… that’s the extent of their knowledge of nutritional supplements.

The fat person probably wants a supplement with words like “fat burner” or “ripped” on the label, and the skinny person probably wants something with words like “huge” or “mass” or “gainer” on the label.

Of course, it is entirely possible that someone working there has picked up some type of useful knowledge on their own time. Maybe they workout. Maybe they’ve lost weight. Maybe they’ve gained muscle. Maybe they have personal experience using some of the supplements you are looking to buy. While rare, I will admit it’s possible. But unfortunately, the rare GNC employee who actually knows something will sound exactly like the majority of the employees who know absolutely nothing.

I can fill a seemingly infinite amount of blog posts with hilarious tales of the misinformation I’ve heard first hand in a GNC store, not to mention the countless posts I’ve read on various diet and exercise forums from people who have experienced the exact same thing at their local GNC.

2. The only thing a GNC employee is trained to do is get you to buy things. More specifically, they are REQUIRED to do everything in their power to get you to buy their own brand of multivitamins, no matter how much they have to lie to do it.

Those of you who have already been inside of a GNC store are probably nodding in agreement right now. “Yeah… come to think of it… GNC seems to really push their Mega Man/Woman Multivitamin. What’s that about?” Let me tell you…

I have known people who work/have worked in GNC, and one of the more interesting things they’ve told me is that there is actually a quota they have to meet in regard to the sales of GNC’s own brand of multivitamins. Last I heard, a certain amount needs to be sold per hour. Seriously.

This is why when you walk into a GNC, there is usually a 100% chance someone will at some point do their best used car salesman impression and try to get you to buy their multivitamin. No matter what you came in there for, no matter what type of shape you’re in, no matter what you tell them… someone in that GNC store will practically demand you buy their multivitamin.

You can go in there for some protein powder, and an employee will actually say “You know, you should really buy our multivitamin if you’re going to buy this protein powder.” When you ask why, they will, with a straight face, lie their way through an explanation about how the protein powder won’t be as “useful” or “effective” without a multivitamin.

I’ve been a part of this exact conversation more than once.

The same thing will take place no matter what product you are in there to buy. No matter what it is, a multivitamin will somehow make it better. And not just any multivitamin, GNC’s brand of multivitamin. If you say you already take a multivitamin, they will ask what brand. If your answer isn’t GNC, they will then go into their speech about why their brand is somehow better than every other brand in existence.

If you’re overweight, you can expect to hear “You know, you’ll burn more fat if you take a multivitamin.” And if you’re skinny, look out for “You know, you’ll gain more muscle faster if you take a multivitamin.”

Basically, you can go in there with the sole purpose of getting change of a dollar, and they will probably say “You know, these 4 quarters will be worth more than 1 dollar if you buy our multivitamin.”

Another interesting thing I’ve heard is that (at least) some GNC employees are paid commissions. I’ve heard this varies from store to store. Some claim there are always commissions, some claim there aren’t, and I’ve actually heard someone claim that there are, and that you’re told to answer “no” if anyone ever asks if you get paid commissions.

Basically what this would mean is that the more supplements and vitamins the uninformed kid behind the counter can trick talk you into buying, the more money that employee will make. So, when the GNC employee is recommending products to you, it’s very likely because those are the ones they get the highest commissions from that month. This is a good thing to keep in mind when you think you’re getting helpful, qualified advice.

3. Just about everything in GNC is overpriced and can be found online for much cheaper.

But really, if you’re planning on shopping at GNC, the high prices are the least of your concerns.

Counterpoints and final thoughts…

• I just want to make it clear that I didn’t write this to portray GNC as the one evil company that only cares about making money. Really, every company only cares about making money.
• I also realize a lot of stores pay their employees commission, and that the staff of a completely different type of store is just as unlikely to have any real knowledge about the products they sell as the employees of GNC are to have any real knowledge about the products they sell.
• I do think there is a difference though. The person in the shoe store is only selling you something you’ll wear on your feet. The person in GNC is selling you something you’re going to put into your body. Not to mention, it’s pretty hard to get a customer to buy shoes they don’t want or don’t need because people tend to know enough about shoes to make good decisions. Nutritional supplements and vitamins on the other hand are things a lot of people walk into a store completely clueless about. These are usually the same people who aren’t aware that the person behind the counter of this store may know just as little as they do.
• I’m also fully aware that a lot of the products sold in stores are overpriced and can be found online much cheaper. It’s not just GNC. They just happen to be one of the many.
• And finally, like I said, I didn’t write this to get people to hate GNC. They are a store just like any other store. However, I did feel that there were 3 pretty important things everyone should know before they decide to walk into this specific store. And now… you know them.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one… if weight loss is your goal, one of the most important things you can possibly do is keep track of everything you eat each day.

Nothing new there, right?

The reason you’d do this is because, as you know by now, the key to a successful weight loss diet is eating the right number of calories (and getting those calories from good sources) and keeping some kind of log, list, or journal of what you eat every day is the only real way of doing this.

While I fully agree with everything above, I feel there is actually a completely different weight loss food log that should also be kept.

Like I’ve mentioned other times in this blog, most people fail to lose weight because of the mental aspect of weight loss. Knowing what to do and deciding to start doing it is easy. It’s the motivation, dedication, and will power to keep doing it, and doing it correctly, that causes most of the problems.

Keeping the type of food log I mentioned above and knowing exactly what you’re eating every day is really one of the keys for making the physical aspect of weight loss happen.

But, it does absolutely nothing for the mental aspect.

That’s why I’m proposing that everyone who’s ever had a diet setback due to a lack of will power or motivation should start keeping a SECOND log…

A log of everything you didn’t eat.

Everything you wanted to eat that day, but didn’t. Every bag of potato chips, every candy bar, every french fry, every cookie, every fast food hamburger, every can of soda, every food you wanted to eat but didn’t because you know you shouldn’t.

Each food in that log is one victory for your will power. Looking at a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly log of every piece of junk food you were mentally strong enough to keep out of your body would be nothing but motivating.

The next time your favorite junk food is just sitting there calling your name, instead of eating it, write it down. Write them all down. If you’re up to it, you can even take the time to figure out the nutritional information of it (calories, grams of fat, etc.) just to get an even better idea of the junk you just avoided eating.

As motivating as that would be, it will be even more motivating when you watch this log become smaller and smaller over time as your desire and interest in eating these types of foods gradually fade away.

Not to mention, the actual act of writing/typing the food down rather than eating it could act as enough of a distraction to make the desire to eat it just pass.

So, while adopting this idea won’t actually cause you to lose any weight, it will serve as a way of improving your will power and keeping you motivated. And, without that, you probably won’t be losing any weight anyway.

So, you finally decided you want to lose some weight. Hey, maybe it’s a lot of weight. Either way, you decided it’s time for it to go. And this time, this time you’re serious. You mean business. And to show just how much you want to lose weight, you’ve gone and made weight loss your 2007 New Year’s Resolution.

Congratulations.

Now, I want to help you succeed with this goal as much as possible, but I’m not going to waste your time and mine by writing up the type of top 10 list of “tips” that is going to literally be in every magazine and newspaper and on every diet and fitness website over the next few weeks.

“10 ways to lose weight in 2007!” “The 10 easiest ways to slim down in the new year” “10 tips for saying goodbye to 2006… and 50lbs!!”

And you know what comes next… those super useful tips like “set goals,” “take the stairs instead of the elevator,” “eat more fruits and vegetables,” blah blah blah.

I’m not going to bore you with that nonsense.

If you want to know what you need to do to make weight loss happen, then just take 20 minutes and read through the 3 phases of The Lose Weight Diet. It will tell you every single thing you need to know, for free.

But, this isn’t about knowing. This is about doing. New Year’s Resolutions are about doing. Knowing how to lose weight is simple and easy. I pretty much explained it all in 3 easy to understand pages. It’s doing it, and then continuing to do it, that tends to be a bit harder. After all, weight loss is the #1 New Year’s Resolution. It’s what most people want to do in the new year.

So, with this in mind, I was sitting here thinking about what to make my big “weight loss resolution” blog post about. I know this is the biggest time of the year for people to seek out diet and fitness information. How can I help these people, I wondered. What could I leave at the top of this blog so that it’s the very first thing these people see when they end up here in their search for accurate weight loss information.

I thought, and I thought, and I thought some more. What is the one single piece of advice I could offer to the people looking to lose weight this new year aside from the things mentioned in The Lose Weight Diet itself. And then, finally, it came to me.

DON’T make weight loss your New Year’s Resolution.

Did this one take you by surprise? I figured it would. It wasn’t a typo. Go ahead and read it again. And I’m being completely serious too. Let me explain.

I have always felt that turning something like weight loss into a New Year’s Resolution is a really bad idea. It’s the wrong way to start things off. Why? Because it makes failure a possibility. If you fail, you can always try to lose weight again as part of next year’s New Year’s Resolution. There will always be another January 1st to “try again” on. You’re giving yourself a way out, almost like a failure backup plan.

This is the complete opposite of the type of mindset someone should have when they decide they want to lose weight, and weight loss is just as much a mental thing as it is a physical thing (if not more so). The thought that there is even the slightest possible chance that you won’t reach your goal should not even exist in your mind. And, making weight loss your New Year’s Resolution does just that.

What, don’t believe me? Just ask the millions of people who have made weight loss there New Year’s Resolution this year… and last year… and the year before that… and the year before that… and the year before that… and hell, they’ll make it next year just the same… and the year after that… and the year after that.

Still don’t believe me? Ask anyone who has been a member of a gym for longer than a year. I happen to fit into this category, so I might as well be the one to tell you. Every single year, everyone in every gym knows that the first few weeks of January is when everything becomes a little… different. There are less parking spots outside. There are less available lockers in the locker room. There is more equipment in use. The gym as a whole becomes a little more crowded. Why? Because these New Year’s resolution people start showing up.

But… we only have to put up with them for a short period of time. Ever see The Shawshank Redemption? Remember that part when all of the long time inmates take bets on which of the new inmates will be the first to break down and cry? Well, the same type of bets are taking place in gyms around the world… which New Year’s Resolution person will be the first to give up and quit, never to be seen again.

Until maybe next January, of course.

Slowly but surely, it happens every single time. Within 1 full month, maybe even two or three, the gyms are less crowded. There are a lot more parking spots and lockers. Everything is back to normal again. And just like that, 99% of the people who made weight loss their New Year’s Resolution have disappeared. Don’t worry guys, you can borrow my parking spot for the first 3 weeks of next January too.

The reason I’m telling you this is to show you that the odds are against you. If you make weight loss your New Years Resolution, I have see enough proof with my own two eyes to know that the odds are not in your favor. The majority of these people will fail. This is an unfortunate yet proven fact.

So then… if you follow my tip and DON’T make weight loss your New Year’s Resolution… what the hell are you supposed to do? Just forget the whole thing and never lose the weight? Of course not. What you need to do is simple.

Lose weight because that’s what you want to do. Lose weight because that’s what you’re going to do. Lose it because you want to be healthier. Lose it because you want to look better. Lose it because you want to feel better. Lose it for all of these reasons… and more.

Work your ass off to reach your weight loss goal because that is just what you’ve decided you’re going to do, and not because it’s the first week of January, or because it’s 2007, or because it’s written down on a piece of paper titled “New Year’s Resolutions.” Lose weight because that’s just what you are going to do, period.

Like I said before, it’s the mental aspect of weight loss that causes most people to fail. A mental change as small as this one may just be the difference maker.

So, my tip to you… eliminate the term “New Year’s Resolution” from your mind. Ignore any and all mention of it. Instead, just lose weight because you will not accept or allow anything else.

Oh, and Happy New Year.

Ohhhh right. I knew I forgot to do something. See, due to how busy December can be with all of the holidays and shopping and everything, I knew in advance that I probably wouldn’t get to do much blogging or site updating for a while. I’m sure most people could understand that and forgive me.

The only problem is I kind of forgot to mention this a month ago back when, ya know, I last blogged. See, I knew I forgot to do something.

I’ve gotten a bunch of emails lately (which I just now got around to checking) from people wondering where I’ve been and that’s when I realized I forgot to make my “Have a Happy Holiday, I probably won’t get to blog for a while” post.

So… better late than never. Have a Happy Holiday (which is already over) and have a safe and happy New Year (still made it in time!).

I’ll be back to blogging and updating the site before you know it.