Bugra was a university student in Turkey weighing over 350 lbs when he decided he needed to make a change. He moved to America to begin a masters degree program and started to count calories and exercise to lose weight.

While he was able to lose some weight while dieting, he eventually realized the changes he’d made were not sustainable and that his poor nutrition was costing him energy and mental focus. His grades suffered and he gained much of the weight back before discovering Real Food.

There have been many bumps in the road for Bugra, but today he is down 168 lbs while eating more. He’s also getting a 4.0 in his Ph.D program while studying less than before. He focuses on the quality, not the quantity of the food he eats, and says his mental focus is so much better that he can learn more with less effort.

He even reads more and is slower to anger than he was in the past. To use Bugra’s words, “Everything changed.”

Links from the show:

Robb Wolf – The Paleo Solution podcast

Mark Sisson – Mark’s Daily Apple

Tim Ferriss – blog, The 4-Hour Body (Slow Carb)

Ben Greenfield podcast

Dr. Rhonda Patrick – FoundMyFitness podcast

Listen:

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If you’d like to be a guest on the show, please fill out the form here and tell us your story.

For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup. 

This week nutrition facts are BS, 1 minute to better health, and how fructose alters brain genes.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

If you follow me on Delicious you’ve probably noticed the site has been down all week. I have no idea what’s going on, but hopefully they’ll have it resolved soon. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

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For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup. 

This week how to keep your brain 10 yrs younger, the future of food tech, and why nursing moms should eat spicy foods.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

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For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week learn how to avoid a cold, motivate yourself for exercise, and stop procrastinating.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

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For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week how to preserve your aging brain, vegetables are the new bacon, and how to stay motivated to achieve your goals.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato,  Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (Yes, I took that picture of the pepper heart myself.)

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For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Before we get started I want to let you know about an exciting new project I’ve been working on.

To help you jumpstart your fall cooking habit I’ve partnered with PlateJoy to deliver the ingredients for some of my favorite Summer Tomato recipes right to your door. PlateJoy will deliver a week’s worth of ingredients for the recipes of your choice (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) so you can easily create healthy and delicious meals at home.

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

I was traveling last week so included 15 links today instead of the usual 10 in order to catch up.

This week vegetables don’t protect against cancer, how food tricks our brains, and the magic of Mondays.

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato,  Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (And yes, I took that pepper heart pic myself).
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Photo by Humphrey King

Weight loss is tricky business. Obviously what you eat has a huge impact on your health and body weight. But anyone who has ever tried to modify their diet for the sake of losing weight knows it isn’t so simple.

Most of us understand intuitively that broccoli is healthier than cookies. We can talk about sugar, fat, gluten and antioxidants all day, but that doesn’t change the fact that cookies taste good and you still want to eat them. Any weight loss plan that simply tells you what to eat and neglects why you make the choices you make is unlikely to help you in the long run.

Nutrition knowledge is important, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. The real secret is understanding your behaviors and motivations at their roots, and using this information to have a meaningful impact on your health. In this sense, good health starts in your brain, not on your plate.

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For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week multivitamins are under attack, the truth about gluten and Alzheimer’s disease, and why you don’t know how many calories are actually in a pound.

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato,  Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (And yes, I took that pepper heart pic myself).

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For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week exercise is better than drugs, organic, full-fat milk attains nutritional superiority, and how dad’s diet affects baby’s health.

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato,  Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (And yes, I took that pepper heart pic myself).

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