AdvoCare Products on the Golf Course

With Spring upon us, many of us will spend our weekends hitting the links at a nearby golf course. So while you’re cleaning your spikes and hitting the range, don’t forget about taking a few nutritional steps toward a better game. Here are some key AdvoCare products to have on-hand while you’re aiming for the fairways.At the course:

Proper nutritional preparation starting a couple hours before you tee off can be a big help. See the AdvoCare Performance Elite Timeline for tips on that. But once you’re at the course, there are a few key products that can help you play your best:

• Before you tee off: Slam your favorite flavor of SPARK Energy Drink about 15 minutes before you dig in at the first tee box. You’ll obviously need the energy for your round, but the neuroactives actually help support your focus. And we all know golf is a mental sport.
• Watch out for the sun: Protect your face with Daily Protective Moisturizer with SPF 15. It’s not greasy like most sunblocks, and it will definitely do the trick.
• Stay hydrated: As Spring turns into Summer, the heat will take its toll. Have several packets of Rehydrate ready and shake it up in a bottled water.
• Gear up for the Back 9: Once your half-way through with your round, you might start feeling it a little in your muscles. Down a Muscle Fuel as you step up to the 10th hole and give your muscles the fuel they need to stay on top for the whole game.*
• Lunch, anyone?: 18 holes can take a little while to get through, and the cart girl doesn’t always have the most nutritious options for a good lunch. Keep a few AdvoCare bars on-hand to chew on during the day, such as the Fruit & Fiber Bar or a Meal Replacement Bar. The protein and balanced calories will do just the trick.
• Finish Strong: After sinking your last putt on the 18th, quickly chug down a Post-Workout Recovery shake. It’s unique formula helps enhance the muscle recovery process.

At home that night:
Many of us pay for a day at the golf course later that night. The aches and pains in our back, shoulders and legs can sometimes be more than we bargained for. Here are a few products that might help lighten the load:

• Sore back and shoulders: Rub a little SootheX on your back before going to bed. It’ll do wonders for pain relief . . . just be sure to wash your hands after using it.
• Blisters: It’s hard to make it through a full round without a blister or two. Many people use Vitamin C Reparative to help enhance the healing process of your skin.
• Ultimate recovery: Before you go to sleep, don’t forget your Nighttime Recovery. Your body’s natural recovery process is at its peak while you sleep, and this product helps make the most of that process.

Got tips and tricks on how you use AdvoCare products while hitting the links? Share them with us in the comments section below.

Top 20 Benefits of Exercise

  Top 20 Benefits of Exercise

1. Elevates your metabolism so that you burn more calories everyday.

2. Increases your aerobic capacity (fitness level). This gives you the ability to go through your day with less relative energy expenditure. This enables a “fit” person to have more energy at the end of the day and to get more accomplished during the day with less fatigue.

3. Maintains, tones, and strengthens your muscle. Exercise also increases your muscular endurance.

4. Decreases your blood pressure.

5. Increases the oxidation (breakdown and use) of fat.

6. Increases HDL (good) cholesterol.

7. Makes the heart a more efficient pump by increasing stroke volume.

8. Increases hemoglobin concentration in your blood. Hemoglobin is part of the red blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

9. Decreases the tendency of the blood to clot in the blood vessels. This is important because small clots traveling in the blood are often the cause of heart attacks and strokes.

10. Increases the strength of the bones.

11. Causes the development of new blood vessels in the heart and other muscles.

12. Enlarges the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

13. Decreases blood levels of triglycerides (fat).

14. Improves control of blood sugar.

15. Improves sleep patterns.

16. Increases the efficiency of the digestive system which may reduce the incidence of colon cancer.

17. Increases the thickness of cartilage in joints which has a protective effect on the joints.

18. Decreases a woman’s risk of developing endometriosis by 50%.

19. Increases the amount of blood that flows to the skin making it look and feel healthier.

20. Exercise, in addition to all the physiological and anatomical benefits, just makes you feel GREAT!

Author and exercise Physiologist, Greg Landry, offers free weight loss success stories and articles, and unique weight loss programs at his site.. http://www.greglandryfitness.com
Thank You Greg Landry!

100 Painless Ways to Cut Calories

“Losing weight can be as simple as cutting out a meatball here and an egg roll there.” ~~Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.

REACHING YOUR FAT-LOSS GOALS may be easier than you think. To lose a pound of fat a month, all you need to do is cut 100 calories a day from your diet, assuming the intake and expenditure of all other calories remains the same. That’s because a pound of body fat is equivalent to about 3,500 calories. So if you cut 100 calories a day for 31 days, you’re cutting 3,100 calories–or about a pound.

Wait…a pound a month? Isn’t that a little slow? Well, mounds of research indicate that you’re more likely to keep weight off if you lose it slowly. Besides, losing a pound a month doesn’t require drastic changes in your eating habits. It can be as simple as eating two egg rolls with your Chinese stir-fry instead of three. Here are 100 painless ways to cut 100 or more calories a day. As a bonus, they all reduce fat or sugar, which means, calorie for calorie, you’re getting more vitamins and minerals.

1. Spread 1 tablespoon of all-fruit jam on your toast rather than 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter.

2. Replace 1 cup of whole milk with 1/2 cup of nonfat milk.

3. Eat 2 poached eggs instead of 2 fried eggs.

4. Replace 1/2 cup of granola with 2 cups of Cheerios.

5. Instead of using whole milk and eggs to prepare 2 slices of French toast, use nonfat milk and egg whites.

6. Snack on an orange and a banana instead of a Snickers candy bar.

7. Munch on 35 pretzel sticks instead of 1 ounce of dry-roasted peanuts.

8. Replace 1 cup of sweetened applesauce with 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce.

9. On your lamb-and-vegetable kabob, replace 2 of the 4 chunks of meat with fresh whole mushrooms.

10. Dip an artichoke in 1 tablespoon of low-fat mayonnaise instead of 1 1/2 tablespoons of regular mayonnaise.

11. Steam your asparagus rather than sauté it in 1 tablespoon of butter or oil.

12. Instead of a 5-ounce glass of wine, opt for cherry-flavored sparkling water.

13. For a chewy snack, have 1/2 cup of dried fruit rather than 9 caramels.

14. Replace 3 slices of bacon with 3 slices of Light & Lean Canadian bacon.

15. Eat a Lender’s egg bagel instead of a Sara Lee egg bagel.

16. Select 1 cup of home-style baked beans instead of an equal serving of baked beans with franks.

17. Replace 2 biscuits with 2 dinner rolls.

18. When making a sandwich, use 2 slices of Roman Light 7-grain bread instead of Pepperidge Farm wheat bread.

19. Eat 1/2 cup of steamed fresh broccoli instead of 1/2 cup of frozen broccoli in cheese sauce.

20. Make a burrito with 1/2 cup of fat-free refried beans and 1 ounce of nonfat cheese instead of the same amount of traditional refried beans and cheese.

21. Replace an apple muffin with a high-fiber English muffin.

22. Reduce a typical serving of chocolate cake (1/8 of a two-layer cake) by one-third.

23. Switch from 1 cup of whole-milk hot chocolate to 1 cup of steamed 1% milk flavored with a dash of almond extract.

24. Replace 1 cup of caramel-coated popcorn with 2 1/2 cups of air-popped popcorn.

25. Switch from 1/2 cup of yogurt-covered raisins to 1/2 cup of plain raisins.

26. Snack on 1 cup of nonfat plain yogurt instead of 1 cup of custard-style yogurt.

27. Top your celery sticks with 2 tablespoons of fat-free cream cheese instead of 3 tablespoons of regular cream cheese.

28. Replace 2 fried-chicken drumsticks with 2 roasted drumsticks and a cup of peas and carrots.

29. Instead of eating 5 chocolate-chip cookies, savor the taste of 2.

30. Lighten your 2 cups of coffee with 2 tablespoons of evaporated nonfat milk instead of 2 tablespoons of half-and-half.

31. Replace a 12-ounce can of cola with a 12-ounce can of diet cola.

32. Thicken your cream sauce with 1 percent milk and corn starch instead of a roux of butter and flour.

33. At the appetizer tray, choose 4 fresh raw mushrooms instead of 4 batter-fried mushrooms.

34. Use 2 tablespoons of fat-free sour cream instead of regular sour cream (on baked potatoes or in stroganoff). If done twice in the day, 100 calories will be cut.

35. Reduce the size of your steak from 4 1/2 ounces to 3 ounces.

36. Grill a cheese sandwich with nonstick cooking spray instead of margarine.

37. Replace 1 cup of chocolate ice cream with 2/3 cup of nonfat chocolate frozen yogurt.

38. Snack on 2 ounces of oven-baked potato chips instead of regular potato chips.

39. Instead of topping your salad with an ounce of croutons, get your crunch from 1/4 cup of chopped celery.

40. Instead of 1 cup of macaroni salad, eat 3 1/2 cups of spinach salad with 2 tablespoons of low-calorie dressing.

41. Cut the peanut butter on your sandwich from 2 tablespoons to 1 tablespoon.

42. Serve your turkey with 1/4 cup of cranberry sauce instead of 1/2 cup.

43. Order a sandwich on cracked wheat bread instead of a croissant.

44. Complement your hamburger with 1 1/4 ounces of oven-baked tortilla chips instead of a side of fries.

45. Split an apple Danish with a friend rather than eat the entire thing.

46. Order 2 slices of cheese pizza instead of 2 slices of pepperoni pizza.

47. Grab a Dole Fresh Lites Cherry frozen fruit bar instead of a Sunkist Coconut frozen fruit bar.

48. Snack on 1/2 cup of fruit cocktail canned in water instead of 1 cup of fruit cocktail canned in heavy syrup.

49. Switch from 1 cup of fruit punch to 1 cup of sparkling water flavored with 2 teaspoons of concentrated orange juice.

50. Instead of eating garlic bread made with butter, spread baked garlic cloves on French bread.

51. Rather than snack on 1 cup of grapefruit canned in syrup, peel and section 1 small grapefruit.

52. Dip your chips in 1/2 cup of salsa instead of 1/2 cup of guacamole.

53. Switch from 1/2 cup of Frusen Gladje butter pecan ice cream to Breyers butter pecan ice cream.

54. Use 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise in your tuna salad instead of 2 tablespoons.

55. Hold the tartar sauce on your fish sandwich, and squeeze lemon on it instead.

56. Replace 3 fish sticks with 3 ounces of grilled halibut.

57. In sandwich spreads or salads, use 3 teaspoons of dijonnaise instead of 4 teaspoons of mayonnaise.

58. Use 2 tablespoons of light pancake syrup instead of 2 tablespoons of regular syrup.

59. Top your pasta with 1 cup of marinara sauce instead of 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce.

60. For each serving of pasta salad you make, reduce the oil or mayonnaise by 1 tablespoon.

61. Replace 1/2 cup of peaches canned in extra-heavy syrup with 1/2 cup of peaches canned in water.

62. Prepare 1/2 cup of steamed peas and cauliflower instead of frozen peas and cauliflower in cream sauce.

63. Cut back on sampling during cooking. The following “tastes” have 100 calories: 4 tablespoons of beef stroganoff, 3 tablespoons of homemade chocolate pudding, 2 tablespoons of chocolate-chip cookie dough.

64. At an Italian restaurant, snack on a large breadstick instead of a slice of garlic bread.

65. Eat a 3/4-cup serving of pudding made with skim milk rather than a 1-cup serving of pudding made with whole milk.

66. Choose 1/2 cup of brown rice instead of 1 serving of frozen rice pilaf with green beans or 1 serving of frozen Oriental rice and vegetables.

67. Compliment your sandwich with 3/4 cup of split-pea soup instead of 1 cup of chunky bean and ham soup.

68. Replace 3 tablespoons of strawberry topping on your ice cream with 3/4 pint of fresh strawberries.

69. Pass on the second helping of mashed potatoes.

70. Eat 3 grilled prawns with cocktail sauce instead of 3 breaded and fried prawns.

71. Make a pie crust with 1 cup of Grape-Nuts cereal, 1/4 cup of concentrated apple juice and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, instead of using a traditional graham-cracker crust. You’ll save 100 calories per slice.

72. Replace 8 sticks of regular chewing gum with sugar-free chewing gum.

73. Snack on a papaya instead of a bag of M&Ms.

74. Substitute 3 ounces of scallops for 3 ounce of lean beef in your stir-fry.

75. Rather than spread 4 tablespoons of cream cheese on two slices of raisin bread, dip the bread in 1/2 cup nonfat apple-cinnamon yogurt.

76. Munch on 1 cup of frozen grapes instead of an ice cream sandwich.

77. Rather than drink a strawberry milkshake, make a smoothie of 2/3 cup of low-fat milk, 1/2 cup of strawberries and 1/2 a banana.

78. Replace 2 brownies with 2 fig bars.

79. Eat 2 meatballs instead of 4 with your spaghetti.

80. On a hot day, quench your thirst with a glass of ice water with lemon or mint instead of a can of light beer.

81. Eat 1/2 cup of black beans instead of 3 ounces of roast beef.

82. Replace 1 1/2 tablespoons of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread with 1 1/2 tablespoons of Nucoa Smart Beat margarine.

83. Choose 1 serving of vegetarian lasagna instead of lasagna with meat.

84. Eat 2 Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain bars instead of 2 Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts.

85. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of low-calorie French dressing on your salad instead of 2 tablespoons of blue cheese dressing.

86. Replace 1 large flour tortilla with 1 six-inch corn tortilla.

87. Eat a turkey sandwich instead of a chicken salad sandwich.

88. Choose 4 1/2 ounces of tuna packed in water instead of 4 1/2 ounces of tuna packed in oil.

89. At Burger King, have a Whopper Jr. Sandwich with regular fries instead of a Whopper With Cheese Sandwich.

90. Order your Quarter Pounder without cheese.

91. At Jack in the Box, eat a regular taco instead of a super taco.

92. Fix 1 cup of turkey chili with beans rather than regular chili with no beans.

93. Use 1 cup of fat-free cottage cheese instead of regular cottage cheese.

94. Order a sandwich with barbecued chicken instead of barbecued pork.

95. Replace 1 cup of corn with 1 cup of carrots.

96. Reduce your helping of turkey stuffing from 1 cup to 2/3 cup.

97. Have a single scoop of ice cream instead of a double scoop.

98. Replace 2 ounces of corn chips with 2 ounces of SnackWell’s wheat crackers.

99. Eat 1 hot dog at the baseball game instead of 2.

100. Shred 2 ounces of fat-free cheddar cheese on nachos instead of regular cheddar.

Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., is a nutritionist in private practice and editor of the Nutrition Report. Her latest book is Nutrition for Women: The Complete Guide (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1993).

Submitted by Linda Roxbury.

Where Diets Go Wrong

When we discover that we are heavier than we want to be, we have a natural inclination to eat less food. We may skip lunch or eat only a tiny amount of our dinner in the hope that if we eat less our body will burn off some of its fat. But that is not necessarily true. Eating less actually makes it more difficult to lose weight.

Keep in mind that the human body took shape millions of years ago, and at that time there were diets. The only low-calorie event in people’s lives was starvation. Those who could cope with a temporary lack of food were the ones who survived. Our bodies, therefore, have developed this built-in mechanism to help us survive in the face of low food intake.

When researchers compare overweight and thin people, they find that they are roughly the same number of calories. What makes overweight people different is the amount of fat that they eat. Thin people tend to eat less fat and more complex carbohydrates.

Losing weight is not something one can do overnight. A carefully planned weight loss program requires common sense and certain guidelines. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformantion floating around and lots of desperate people are easily duped and ripped off.

Every day one can open a magazine or newspaper and see advertisements touting some new product, pill or patch that will take excess weight off quickly. Everyone seems to be looking for that “magic” weight loss pill. Millions of Americans are trying to lose weight, spending billions of dollars every year on diet programs and products. Often they do lose some weight. But, if you check with the same people five years later, you will find that nearly all have regained whatever weight they lost.

A survey was done recently to try and determine if any commercial diet program could prove long-term success. Not a single program could do so. So rampant has the so-called diet industry become with new products and false claims that the FDA has now stepped in and started clamping down.

Being seriously overweight and particularly obesity can develop into a number of diseases and serious health problems, and it is now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, some of the excess frequently is saturated fat.

The myth is that people get heavy by eating too many calories. Calories are a consideration it’s true, but overall they are not the cause of obesity in America today. Americans actually take in fewer calories each day than they did at the beginning of the century. If calories alone were the reason we become overweight, we should all be thin. But we are not. Collectively, we are heavier than ever. Partly, it is because we are more sedentary now. But equally, as important is the fact that the fat content of the American diet has changed dramatically.

People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.

Select an exercise routine that you are comfortable with and remember that walking is one of the best and easiest exercises for strengthening your bones, controlling your weight and toning your muscles.

Submitted by Joe R.

How To Lose Abdominal Fat

How to Lose the Last Few Pounds of Abdominal Fat

By Tom Venuto

Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and patience, especially when it comes to those last few pounds in those hard to lose places. The lower abdominal fat and “love handles” can be two of the most stubborn and exercise-resistant areas from which to lose abdominal fat. Some people slave away day in and day out on the latest new-fangled abdominal fat device or do countless sit ups, side bends, and leg raises every day, all to no avail. There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called “stubborn areas,” and that is with the correct combination of proper diet, aerobic exercise, abdominal training, and weight training.

The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to “spot reduce” fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can’t control where the fat comes from. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off. The reason everyone has those “stubborn” spots is because each of us is born with a genetic pattern of fat storage, just as we inherit hair color, eye color, and other physical traits. In women, the stubborn areas tend to be hips, thighs, and the waist. In men, the troublesome areas are usually the lower abs and the “love handles.”  

Many people labor away month after month trying to exercise specific areas of their body with the idea that fat will be burned directly off the area they are working. Training the abdominals every day with hundreds of repetitions will certainly tighten and tone the muscles, but it will do almost nothing to remove the fat obscuring the muscles. In fact, it is possible to have a great set of abs that you can’t even see because they are covered up with a layer of fat!

Contrary to popular belief, the best way to burn the layer of flab from your midsection is not to do more abdominal exercise, but to do more cardiovascular exercise. Aerobic exercise is the real secret to burning fat. Walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical exercise and stairclimbing are all great fat burners. Most people give up too early in the workout. During the first 10 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source. If you stop after 20 minutes, you’re only getting half of your workout done! You get the cardiovascular health benefits, but you don’t get much fat loss. Because you don’t burn significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted, the key to maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically for 30-60 minutes continuously per session. Don’t worry though every workout should be easy, like strolling around the shopping malls for an hour can be beneficial, although it would be best if you try not to stop moving!

Even if you’re doing cardio every day, without a good diet, you still won’t see results. Abdominal fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. A fat loss diet must be low in calories. Regardless of how much you workout, if the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn, you’ll still put on abdominal fat. Ideally, you should spread your calories out into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones so that you don’t overeat in one feeding. Eat a variety of foods that are all natural, low in fat and low in sugar, with about 55% of the calories coming from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 15% from fat. If you’re having a really difficult time losing the last few pounds, keep the protein up and decrease your carbohydrate intake, especially late in the day and at night.

 

WARNING!

If you possess a high number of fat cells you MUST exercise & diet using correct scientific principles in order to empty fat cells, any other way will result in water loss and potential regain after diet stops. Read more on Fat Cells here!

 

Next to “spot reduction,” the second most common myth about abdominal training is that sit ups and leg raises are the most effective exercises. Actually, these movements don’t even isolate the abs; they recruit the hip flexor muscles, which are the same muscles used to punt a football. The hip flexors attach the thigh to the spinal column, so working them with exercises such as straight leg raises creates a strong pull on the lumbar area, which is one of the most common causes of lower back pain. Safer, more effective alternatives are crunches, crunch machines (or ab rollers), hip lifts, and reverse crunches.

The final component of your abdominal fat-reducing program is resistance training. It is important to train the entire body. Working one muscle group to the exclusion of others is a common cause of muscular imbalance. Building strong abdominals without also developing the antagonistic spinal erectors of the lower back could easily lead to injury. Many people are under the impression that they should only do cardiovascular activities until the weight comes off, then add weight training later on. It’s true that weight training is an anaerobic exercise, so it burns more glycogen than body fat. However, working out with weights will increase your lean body mass, which in turn raises your resting metabolic rate. The faster your metabolism is, the more fat you will burn! A complete program should always include aerobic exercise and weight training for every muscle group.

Before you decide to resort to drastic measures, give these guidelines an honest try. Losing abdominal fat is not easy, but it is simple if you know the formula. To recap, the formula for losing the last few pounds of abdominal fat is as follows: (1) Losing fat takes time, so get started now! Be patient and don’t expect to get “ultra lean” overnight (2) Burn the fat off the abdominal muscles with lots of cardiovascular exercise or you won’t be able to see them. (3) Choose biomechanically correct exercises to train the abdominal area, including crunching type exercises and avoiding hip flexor exercises, (4) Eat natural, low fat, low sugar, low calorie foods in small servings throughout the day, and (5) Work out with weights; don’t just train your abdominal, train your entire body.

There’s no need to spend hours in a gym to train your entire body Tom shows how you can save time by performing the correct and most effective exercise plan for your individual body type!

Find out more info on how to Lose abdominal fat with fitness expert Tom Venuto

 

The Importance of Warming Up Before Exercising

To get that flat tummy and 6 pack abs you are pursuing, you will need to implement proper warm up and muscle stretching.
 
 Important: Please consult your doctor before doing any fitness routine, especially if you have heart, high blood pressure, lung conditions etc.
 
 A gradual warm up is very important before any exercise routine. We should not confuse warm up with stretching.
 
 The difference between warming up and stretching?
 
 Warm up – increases your heart rate and it brings blood to and increases your tissue temperature. When your tissues are warmed up, you can then do stretching. It will be more effectively and safely.
 
 Stretching – Helps to loosen the joints and helps with flexibility and strength. It is important to warm up and then stretch before exercising and can help prevent injuries. It will also reduce muscle soreness.
 
 Safety Tips
 
 * It is import to always make sure that your body is properly warmed up before you participate with any exercise or strenuous activity.
 * If you encounter any discomfort or pain rather consult a medical practitioner.
 * It is a good idea to stretch at the end of your warm-up and after you are finished exercising, to help prevent stiff and sore muscles.
 * Avoid stretching of cold muscle(s), since it can lead to injuries.
 * Proper posture is always good to have. A awkward back angle or position can cause discomfort.
 * Drink water to avoid dehydration.
 
 How to warm up:
 
 Gradually increasing your heart rate, body temperature and breathing rate. When your body is warmed up you will begin to feel warm and start to sweat. Start the warm up lightly and gradually increase the intensity.
 
 Your joints also need to be warmed up. Try jumps, knee lifts, squats, trunk rotations, bending, arm circles and side steps.
 
 Warm up for approximately 10 min.
 
 How to stretch:
 
 * A stretch should be done after a warm up, because the muscles will still be cold.
 * Focus on the muscles that you will be using.
 
 Stretch for approximately 5 min.
 
 After you have done a proper warm up and stretching routine you can now start training the muscles you want to focus on. In our case it will be the abdominal muscles.
 
 As we can see that proper warm up and stretching are important, to get a sexy flat stomach and six pack abs.

Hello world!

Losing weight.  For millions of people, it is the hardest thing you will ever try to accomplish.  I know.  I have battled with the fat monster for twenty years.  I have found help!  AdvoCare has given me a level a freedom in the headlock with the fat monster that I’ve never, ever had before.   AdvoCare’s line of Trim products in addition to AdvoCare’s Spark Energy Drink are helping me create the life and the body I want.

 I’d like to share my weight loss journey and wisdom with each of you.  And I’d love to hear your stories of battling the fat monster as well.