DietsInReview guest blogger, Rob Cohn is an ACE Certified personal trainer from the Los Angeles area. He has many years of personal experience with emotional eating and recovery from a binge eating disorder and is passionate about helping other people deal with their emotional eating with guidance and support. You can read more on Rob from his own personal blog.

Here is part 2 of Rob’s lifelong battle with his weight and health. To start from the beginning, read part I - Achieving Health by Listening to My Body.
In March of 2009, I was gaining weight like crazy and I was eating what I thought was healthy. What I didn’t realize was what I was eating was making me sick. I decided to call a friend of mine who is into holistic health and knows a lot about nutrition. When I told her that I was eating one pound of raw vegetables with lunch and one pound of raw vegetables with dinner, she couldn’t believe it. She asked me if I were a horse and commented that I was eating enough rough vegetables to feed for a small family.

Guest blogger Rob Cohn is an ACE certified personal trainer from the Los Angeles area. He has many years of personal experience with emotional eating and recovery from a binge eating disorder and is passionate about helping other people deal with their emotional eating with guidance and support. You can read more on Rob from his own personal blog.

I will never forget when I was 13, I was astonished how my uncle stayed so thin and he never finished what was on his plate. I remember saying to him, “How do you know when you are full?” He replied, “I eat until I am satisfied and then stop.” I remember thinking, “What are you talking about?” I have never understood that concept and I still don’t. I am a member of the “Clean Plate Club.” I feel like I have been out of touch with my body for a very long time, about 30 years since I was 13 when my mother passed away.

Today’s guest blog post comes from Bernie Salazar. Together with Rebecca Scritchfield, a weight management expert, he co-created. “The Nurture Principles” – Five mantras to help people change their lives and find wellness within. You’ll also recall Bernie as the Biggest Loser season 5 at-home winner.
I never realized exactly how much of an impact my relationships had on my overall health. Have you? Often times we forget to communicate to the people in our lives that we are taking the time to nurture ourselves and truly focus on getting healthy.
With the “old Bernie,” food was king! Almost all of my family functions revolved around food. Dates with my better half always included a restaurant, outings with friends consisted of drinks and appetizers, meetings with co-workers didn’t officially begin until the desserts were present, and my dog’s chubby figure was a direct result of me sharing my in between meal snacks with my “best friend.”

Joining us as guest blogger is Jill Knapp. Jill is from Idaho, where she lost 100 pounds after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes while pregnant. Today, she manages her diabetes with diet and exercise and without medication. Jill’s goal is to keep generating awareness about Type 2 diabetes and encouraging others to “Get Up and Get Moving.” I competed in the Mrs. Idaho pageant, made the top 5 and the reason I competed is to spread my message more.

Jill Knapp: Before/After Losing 100 Pounds
Like many other pregnant mothers, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes when I had my last child at age 37. I was suffering from fatigue and headaches after childbirth. My son was born very ill and I thought my own health symptoms were just the result of taking care of a sick newborn. My husband encouraged me to go see my doctor to find out what was causing the headaches. After taking a few tests, I was confirmed as a Type 2 diabetic.
Like anyone else hearing this new for the first time, I was in shock. It took about 24 hours for me to establish an action plan as I did not want this for myself nor for my family. So I gradually began to exercise and eat six small meals a day. Over time, I lost 100 pounds and successfully brought my diabetes under control.

This guest blog comes from Rebecca Scritchfield, MA, RD, ACSM HFS, a Washington, D.C. based dietitian and weight management expert. Together with Bernie Salazar, at-home winner of The Biggest Loser, she co-created “The Nurture Principles” – Five mantras to help people change their lives and find wellness within.
It’s no secret. We are all stressed out, whether it’s lack of personal time, work pressures, or life issues like the economy. There is no shortage of things to wig us out these days. While a little stress can be a good thing, too much can put your life out of balance. Work seems unmanageable, you can’t remember the last time you cooked a meal for your family, and your dumbbells are better utilized as paperweights to keep your stack of mail in place because you’re not even thinking about a workout. (Whew. That’s exhausting!)

The week of June 15 is Men’s Health Week at DietsInReview.com. Brad Powell joins as a Men’s Health guest blogger.
Brad Powell a.k.a. “Daddy Brad,” is the Chief Operating Officer, Producer and Co-Founder of DadLabs. Inc. He serves as co-host for two of the DadLabs weekly web shows and is an avid daddy blogger, accomplished parenting speaker and social media panelist. 
Powell is co-author of DadLabs Guide To Fatherhood, Pregnancy and Year One, and is a regular columnist for the web publication Destination Maternity.com and was selected as Dad of the Month by I-Parenting Media in May of 2008. He is an avid Tweeter and was recently named to Austin Social Media’s Top 100 list. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two children and has one more on the way.
Historically, it seems the only way that I successfully lose weight is to be in some kind of fat loss competition. Six years ago after the birth of our first child, I looked down and realized that I was fat. Really fat! Fat like an old school State Senator from Alabama. So I challenged my good buddy and colleague Daddy Clay, to see who could drop the most lbs in a given period of time.

Donny Claxton joins us as a contributor for Men’s Health Week. Donny is a public relations executive who has embarked on a new adventure for the benefit of himself, his wife, and their seven children. He recently completed the EA SPORTS Active 30-day challenge and continues to use it along with other healthy habits to regain his health. Donny regularly blogs at DadsCenter.org.
On April 3, 2009, I began a journey to change my life. In California to meet with EA SPORTS officials about the then soon-to-be released EA SPORTS Active, I made a commitment to my wife, Kari, and our kids, and the world, that I was going to change my lifestyle.
At the time, I weighed a staggering 369.78 lbs. That was too much. Way too much.
It’s now June 19, 2009, and I weighed in this morning at 340.65 pounds. I’m almost down 30 pounds in two and a half months and I’m still dropping. I’ve done one EA SPORTS Active 30-day challenge and I’m now doing a second.

The week of June 15 is Men’s Health Week at DietsInReview.com, just in time to celebrate the special men in your life. Bill Gookin joins as a Men’s Health guest blogger. Bill is a stay-at-home dad who has constantly struggled with his weight - he’s lost 115 pounds but keeps finding it again and having to re-lose it. This time, with the help of some friends, he’s back at goal and determined to keep it off and stay fit. You can find him posting at Daddy Is Tired among other places…as long as he’s gotten a nap.
That’s right, losing weight is fun and easy! It must be, because I’ve done it several times. In 1993 I got to my goal weight after losing 90 pounds. By 2002 I’d gained 115 pounds, so in 2002/03 I lost it again. Then by 2008 I’d gained 50 pounds, so lost it in 2008/09. Hmm…now that I think about it, it wasn’t much fun. And it’s lots of work. So what went wrong?
I tried to do it by myself.

The week of June 15 is Men’s Health Week at DietsInReview.com, just in time to celebrate the special men in your life. TB joins as a Men’s Health guest blogger. TB is a certified Music Therapist who decided to take on the challenge of being a stay-at-home dad after baby #4 arrived. Losing weight was easy compared to the challenge of maintaining over a 75 pound loss while watching his children and trying to keep peace in the house. 
Staying home with children makes for an interesting struggle when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The biggest challenges faced by this SAHD are finding time to exercise, being home all day, and lack of motivation.

This guest blog comes from Rebecca Scritchfield, MA, RD, ACSM HFS, a Washington, D.C. based dietitian and weight management expert. Together with Bernie Salazar, at-home winner of The Biggest Loser, she co-created “The Nurture Principles” – Five mantras to help people change their lives and find wellness within.
I have a new client - a very lovely 40-year-old female who regularly appears on national TV. She has so many great qualities she can’t see because right now she is overpowered by her excessive weight, food choices, and lack of exercise. She was convinced I was going to give her a gym workout to follow and she dreaded the thought. Imagine her surprise when I asked her to tell me exercises she thought would be fun. She responded with “I never thought about fun.” Right there is the reason she is not active. Why would you move your body if it is not fun? How likely will you be to repeat it if you don’t get the feel-good benefit? Not likely. Is physical activity you despise nurturing? No way.
