How Defense Soap helped improve my skin

For many years I've had problems with acne, and have tried everything like Clearasil, anti-bacterial soap, Neutragena, Stridex pads, Noxema, and other anti-acne products.  Although some of these products did reduce or even eliminate the acne completely,  it would always in turn come back stronger and more resistant making it much harder to get rid of.  Fast forward to 2013 when I started eating whole foods and consuming coconut oil my skin started clearing up and eventually cleared up completely.

However, early this year acne started coming back under my chin and around the jaw line.  Some of it was cystic acne.  It also started appearing on the back of my head leaving me with bald patches.  I was able to get rid of the bald patches by using medicated shampoo but this did not prevent the cystic acne from returning. 


I found out about defense soap watching one of Joe Rogan's podcasts.  He stated that alot of MMA fighters use it to prevent ringworm and that it smells great.  So I googled it, read reviews on it, and saw a youtube video that praised it.  So I bought myself a 5 pack off their Amazon page and it came the very next day.

The makers of Defense Soap do not specifically state on their website that it is an anti-acne product but site product reviews  mention that it does help with acne problems.  Also I've read elsewhere that Tea Tree Oil’s natural anti-bacteria properties have long been used to naturally treat acne and other skin conditions

Ingredients:  Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palmate Kemelate, Water, Tea Tree Oil, Eucalyptus, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodlum Etidronate.

So far after using this product the acne is starting to go away and it also helped with my athletes foot problem. This soap is also supposed to prevent and eliminate ring worms, herpes, staph infections, MRSA, Athletes foot, and jock itch.

Below are before and after pictures.  I have been using this soap for a month and so far it's been working.  Acne is not complete gone but almost.

Before

After a month of use

Defense Soap Website

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Remember stay confident and believe in yourself

One thing I did to lose and maintain the weight

One of the things I did to lose and maintain my weight as shown in the video above was to take a tablespoon each of Extra Virgin Coconut oil,  lard, and Raw Butter.  I do this twice a day, once in the morning and then once before I go to bed.  I know this sounds crazy but this really worked for me.  I started consuming these products back in March of 2013 but did not become a daily ritual till the middle of 2013.  Since then, I have not looked back.  The reason for this blog entry is to let people know how it has helped me and why I feel it will help others out there.

The reason this works so well is because you are giving your body what it needs.  All 3 of these products contain healthy saturated fat.  The more real fat you give your body the easier it is to burn it off.  Your body will no longer feel the need to conserve fat it since it's getting more than enough of what it needs. 

So all that stuff you hear about low fat or non fat foods will actually make your body conserve the fat which in return makes it harder to burn off any excess weight.  In this blog I will explain why Extra Virgin Coconut oil, Lard, and Butter are good for you.

The Benefits of Extra Virgin Coconut oil

Coconut oil is a healthy medium chained fatty acid which will increase your energy, help boost your metabolism, and has been known to kill sugar cravings.  It is a great weapon in your ongoing battle with weight gain.  It helps with digestion and also helps build up your body's immune system.

You can cook with it as opposed to cooking with Vegetable oils which contain deadly Trans fat (avoid trans fat!)  You can put it in your coffee or tea instead of sugar as well as your favorite blended shake.

The brand I use is Natures Way Extra Virgin Coconut oil so beware of brands that actually process the oil.  Make sure it says Virgin or Extra Virgin and look for reviews online if you're unsure.

Coconut oil is one of those products that is good for a lot of things (not just for weight loss) like Hair growth,  and skin care,  the brand I usually buy is Natures Way Extra Virgin Coconut oil.   

The Benefits of Lard

Lard has been given a bad rap because of it's high fat content by many people out there myself included prior to 2013.   Lard has the most fat out of all 3 products mentioned in this blog entry.  Many people that I know think I'm crazy for eating lard straight out of the bucket as shown in the video.  It has but a slightest porky taste which is what adds a lot of flavor when cooking.  When consuming it straight out of the bucket it immediately melts in your mouth and goes down easily.

Like Coconut oil Lard contains saturated fats.  Lard is hard to find but you can render your own or buy it from your local meat market.  I buy mine from Northgate Market here in Southern California.  It's a Mexican market and it's labelled as Pork Lard/Manteca.

Cooking with Lard really is the best!  Another thing I like to do is grab a tablespoon full of lard and put it in my Broth like Chicken Soup, Menudo, Posole, or Beef stew.  It gives your broth a thicker richer flavor.  Try it out and let me know what you think.

The Benefits of Butter

Butter is loaded with vitamins like A, D, E, and K.  Buter is also loaded with good cholesterol which is vital for brain and Nervous system function.  Butter also has iodine which helps your thyroid.  I usually use Organic Pastures Raw butter which contains no salt.  I buy it at Sprouts Farmers Market but I aslo consume Kerry Gold Irish buter which does contain salt when I can't find Raw butter.

My experience with this daily ritual has had very positive effects.  From time to time I do drink the occasional soda or eat cake loaded with sugar and this has helped me stay in control.  In the past I have tried taking weightloss pills that supress hunger and drinking lots of water and it did not work. Most likely due to the fact that in my head I still craved soda, snacks, and fast food despite feeling stuffed.  All 3 products combined has killed the cravings for snacks in between meals.

Prior to do doing this I would eat snacks all day long while at work then at home while watching TV or surfing the net.  With other diets that I've tried in the past snacks were the hardest to put down.  With these 3 products in my arsenal it has made it alot easier to let go.

In the old days people cooked their food with lard and butter not knowing what we know today.  Today we are told that lard and butter are bad for us because of their saturated fat and cholesterol content.

As I mentioned before I do not claim to be a professional nutritionist or a health expert.  I'm just showing what has and continues to work for me in the hopes that it will help others out here who have struggled with weight loss.  There is plenty of articles online and also you tube videos you can look up on these 3 products so I recommend you do more research before diving in and judge for yourself.

Remember stay confident and believe in yourself

Tabata Intervals

One of the exercise routines that I started doing are Tabata Intervals.  Tabata Intervals is the most intense 4 minute workout that you'll ever do.  The key is to go as hard as you can 8 times for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest time after each rep.  You can do this with a variety of exercises such as Jumping Jacks, sprinting, Knee Highs, Jumping rope, dead lifts, mountain climbers, and Burpees.

Tabata Intervals will help you raise your heart rate and Metabolism.  You'll burn fat during and even for many hours after the workout during rest. This high intensity workout originally designed for professional athletes to burn as much fast as fast as possible while not losing any muscle mass as opposed to tradition methods of weight loss such as long distance cardio that eat up more muscle than fat in the long run.  That is why you see so many joggers (especially long distance runners) who are not over weight but have no muscle mass or definition.  This is a good exercise if your a person who's short on time.

The workout I will be doing will consist of Burpees, Knee highs, Jumping Jacks, and Moutain climbers as shown in the video below.  You can mix and match any routine you'd like.

Update this my 2nd attempt at tabata intervals

Good Luck, stay healthy, stay confidnet, and believe in yourself

The Benefits of Pho

One of my favorite things about Saturday is hanging out with  a good friend of mine who is Vietnamese.  We almost always meet up at a restaurant in Little Saigon in Orange County where they serve the delicious and incredibly healthy Vietnamese national dish: Pho! I have been eating Pho for the past 2 years and still enjoy it to this day.

Pho, besides being a complete meal in itself with its perfect balance of protein, healthy carbs and packed with nutrients and minerals such as calcium, magnesium and B vitamins. the antioxidant effect can also be enhanced with  basil, culantro, lemon and bean sprouts that always accompany it as sides.  A big secret is that you can ask for a side of nuoc beo, which is the rendered  beef fat (suet) left over from simmering the bones to make the Pho broth.  It gives it a thicker, rich flavor and keeps the broth hot longer. And as the Mexican I am,  I always put a lot of blended chili!

Here is a list of Vietnamese herbs.

The full meal pictured above contains:

Bone Broth

Beef

Tripe

Tendon

Beef Balls

Rice Noodles

Onions

Green Onions

Cilantro

Basil

Culantro

Bean Sprouts

Lemon

Rendered Beef Fat

Blended Chili

Remember stay confident and believe in yourself

The Journey to self improvement

 

 

 

Hi,

 

 

My name is Frank Lopez and I had been obese since early childhood up until I age 40.  For all of that time I lived in crippling depression while struggling with social anxiety. I was bullied throughout all my school hood years and was withdrawn and full of hatred toward life and everything it denied me.  It didn't help that my family moved around so many times throughout my childhood.  I attended 8 different schools before I got to high school.

Starting from the 11th grade and on I was able to lose weight on 4 separate occasions but on 3 of these occasions I managed to gain the weight back faster than I had lost it but this last time I kept it off!

At age 19 I started smoking, drinking and using marijuana (which was my escape from reality).  I also drank a lot of soda and ate a lot of fast food during this period as well.  Even though this way of life made my depression and anxiety worse it kept me going through out my twenties.  When I got to my 30s I started slowing down and I quit smoking cigarettes which sky rocketed my appetite making me gain over 60 pounds within a 2 to 3 month period putting me over 270lb at 5’9  I cut down on the drinking and marijuana use as well but food binges continued.  I was so miserable that I felt I couldn’t live with myself anymore.

The year was 2004 and this is when things started to turn around.

In that summer of 2004 I started a daily routine of walking, (you have to start somewhere.) At first it was just 4 laps around a track 5 days a week.  I increased it to 8 and then 12 laps and 2 months later I started running a little bit and gradually ran more as the weeks went by.  I lost 40 of the 60 pounds I had gained after quitting smoking and even though I was running 8 of the 12 laps I remained between 230 - 240 pounds but my confidence had started slowly going up and by Summer of 2007 I stopped using marijuana completely.

Around this same period I developed constant migraine headaches that would not go away so I went to see a doctor and was told that I could have diabetes.  I was told to come back the next morning on an empty stomach in order that my blood sugar levels could be accurately measured. I did not go back for frankly. I was too damn scared. I knew I would test positive for diabetes and that the medication I would be prescribed had lots of adverse side effects that I had seen family members suffer through.  At this point I started eating less and tried running more which made the migraines go away but from time to time they kept coming back. Through the 90s and 2000s I was also plagued with severe insomnia.  I was once again, miserable.

During this period I started listening to self-help hypnosis CD’s to help boost my confidence.  At first I didn't notice any significant improvement but they were at least helping me sleep so I kept them playing overnight as I slept.

Life stayed that way up until the beginning of 2013 when I decided to enter “The Biggest Loser” contest at work.  Starting out at 226 pounds and by the time the contest ended in Mid-April I was at 192 pounds and had won the contest but the weight loss did not end there.  By August 17th 2013 I reached my goal weight of 170 pounds but decided to drop another 5 pounds as a cushion and since then I have been hovering at 160/170lbs and felt much more in control than my previous attempts at losing weight.  A co-worker, who once was a professional athlete, coached me on proper eating and revised my exercise routine to something which was totally different than what I have previous known and believed about weight loss and exercise.

I quit eating sugar, corn and potato products, stopped cooking with vegetable oils, and stopped eating foods with trans-fat, artificial colors and flavoring.  I began cooking exclusively with lard and raw butter and started taking extra virgin coconut oil. I started taking whole food vitamins, kelp, ayuvedic herbs, Cod Liver oil, and Magnesium and other supplements (all on which I will fully detail thoughout this blog)

To my surprise it's been a smooth ride.  I went from a size 42 to a size 32 waist.  I am in no way a medical professional nor a nutritionist but I do however, feel a lot better after going through all the lifestyle changes.  Back problems have almost completely gone away, I'm more positive and energetic, and food tastes so much better.  I've learned to only eat when I'm hungry and don't count my calories or worry about my cholesterol intake.  I bought me a bike as well and started hitting the nearby trails.  My confidence level is at its highest ever and slowly my shyness and social anxiety is starting to fall away

So now in 2014 I'm where I need to be weight wise but still have “Man Boobs” and a belly which has been hard to get rid of.  Shyness is slowly going away and confidence has also improved but still not quite there.

As I've been struggling with this part of the plan and have decided to document the rest of the journey through this blog to motivate myself and to be of as much help to others who are also going through this uphill battle.  I will post pictures, videos, and tips along the way.

Objectives

Get a Flat stomach

Lose the Man Boobs

Fix Posture

Improve Confidence

Remember stay confident and believe in yourself