Archive for September 30, 2014

Want To Gain Weight? Go On A Diet, It’s a Sure Bet.

mark tmNOTHING guarantees weight gain better than Diets. Nothing. The studies show that if you go on a diet, there’s a 95 – 99% chance you’ll gain back all the weight you lost, and for many, a few pounds extra.  Unfortunately, the belief that dieting can make you skinny is so engrained in the psyche, that it’s a hard concept to set aside. Low calorie, low fat foods just sound like they should make us thin, right?  Wrong, wrong wrong wrong.

( PS – that pic on the left – that’s my husband Mark, who’s 50, after he finished a Tough Mudder two days ago.  Here’s a link to his Man Post. )

Interesting facts:

1) Small portions and diet sized meals leave you hungry; hunger always leads to overeating. We’re NOT designed to enjoy or tolerate hunger, it goes against our normal survival instinct and our brain won’t allow it. Unfortunately, since the Diet Industry was born, and people dove right into mini meals of processed diet food with maybe a boring side of steamed broccoli, people can’t quit eating. A whole slew of hormones and chemicals that drive us to literally seek out food are coursing through our bodies.

2) Wheat is an Opiate;  there’s a protein in wheat called GLIADIN; gliadin binds to the opiate receptors of the brain, but it doesn’t make us high. It makes us hungry.  Has wheat always had this effect?  No.  Just since the 1970s when geneticists created modern Semi-Dwarf, high yield wheat. Now, it’s the only wheat available.  So those low calorie, low fat crackers/pretzels/tortillas that are touted as a safe snack because they’re low in fat and calories??  They just send your blood sugar and insulin way up (inflammation and belly fat), and trigger addiction in the brain. They don’t make you thin.

2) Gluten-Free food products are made with High Glycemic flours from GRAINS which convert to blood sugar and send your insulin skyrocketing.  Excess blood sugar is EASILY and quickly converted to Body Fat (triglycerides).  Drop the idea the “Gluten-Free” products = healthy and skinny.  They don’t.

4) People who eat Low Fat Dairy weigh more and are sicker than people who eat Full Fat Dairy.  This has been proven in study after study after study.  The reasons are profuse; but know that there are crucial fatty acids in dairy that inhibit cancer, insulin resistance, weight gain and more.  Quit feeding the skim to your kids, and don’t delude yourself into thinking diet ice cream or low fat cheese will take off the pounds.  Read this link for more information.

5) There’s actually Crucial Nutrients in ALL Real Whole Food that our cells use to be healthy and functioning and normal.  Diet foods loaded with carbs, artificial sugars, chemicals and bad fats RUIN OUR CELLS.  The cells don’t form correctly, they don’t function correctly, they don’t communicate correctly when they don’t have their necessary nutrients.

There’s been so much bad information in the past 50 years and all we have to do is look around and use common sense to see that Main Stream Diet Dogma is a complete failure.  The Diet Industry is a Business; it’s out to make money by promising us Magic that will help us lose weight.  The reality is that dieting has made us bigger than ever, and very sick:

Heart Disease, Cancer, and Diabetes numbers are out of control;  livers have become fatty and dysfunctional due to constant high blood sugars and chemicals; thyroid function has decreased from yo-yo diets; sex hormones are totally askew thanks to chemicals and sugar that create an Estrogen Dominant environment in both men and women; muscle tissue is regularly consumed for energy slowing down metabolism even more; neurotransmitter balance in our gut and brain is totally out out of whack; and we have more people burning predominantly SUGAR for fuel as opposed to FAT for fuel than ever.  (That’s why so many people work out for HOURS and can’t lose weight, they never tap into their fat stores!)

What’s the Solution?

Real Whole Foods.  Too simple?  It is. Sleep, movement, and stress management are just as important.  But we’re talking about food here.

For our body to hum, we need NORMAL cells, that have NORMAL function and NORMAL communication.  We’re a Chemistry Set, not a Math Equation.   Food is medicine, or food is poison, honest.  Sugar, grains, and chemicals are toxic for our body, even when they’re packaged in “diet food”.

Good fats (from CLEAN animal sources, butter, coconut oil, olive oil, pastured dairy, avocado oil) are GOOD for us:  every cell in our body incorporates fats and cholesterol into it’s membrane so that it’s function and communication can be NORMAL.  Fats comprise our sex hormones, and anti-inflammatory hormones; cholesterol is an anti-oxidant and healing molecule.  Our brain is 60-70% fat and cholesterol!!

One of the best things about fat, other than it tastes delicious and keeps us full, is that there NO INSULIN RESPONSE. None.

Insulin drives disease and inflammation, we need a tiny bit released from the pancreas to be healthy, but American’s ( and now much of the world) don’t have a tiny bit coursing through their body;  they have way too much.  Inflammatory conditions are RAMPANT, even in our children.

Good fats, clean proteins, and TONS of vegetables need to be the bulk of our diet.  Some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and some good whole fat dairy if you tolerate that.  Eat 3 meals a day and quit snacking.  Snacking is horrible for blood sugar, which drives insulin, which drives inflammation.

This is the Magic Formula, honest.

After saying all this, I want to acknowledge how difficult it is to rid the mind of deeply entrenched beliefs ( low fat/ low cal foods are good for me ) that have now led to physical addictions   (grains, sugars, and chemicals are absolutely addictive).

This is why you have to work on your Mind if you want to change you Body.  The Mind has to come first, because you’re controlled by your subconscious thoughts.   What to do?

(1) Fill your mind with current science:

Post:http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2014/06/grains-endocrine-disrupters/

Post:http://authoritynutrition.com/12-graphs-that-show-why-people-get-fat/

Podcast: http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/10794/864-dr-william-davis-keto-clarity-expert-interview/

Podcast: http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/10827/865-nora-gedgaudas-keto-clarity-expert-interview/

Podcast:http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/10863/867-dr-david-perlmutter-keto-clarity-expert-interview/

2) Focus on implanting New Thoughts, which are productive and positive, into your brain.  Most of us run on Auto-Pilot, ….Stop!  Auto-Pilot’s a terrible way to go through life;  look at the results you’ve been getting from your habits and patterns and beliefs so far.  Evaluate.  There’s ALWAYS room for improvement and change, we’re never finished ( til we’re actually “finished”).

Read my last two  Posts;  there’s links to books and You Tubes on creating new thoughts and patterns.  And remember my new favorite phrase:  You can’t have a “10” body without a “10” mind. 

 

 

Our Weight and Health are Ruled by our Thoughts

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn my last Post, I said you can’t have a “10” life/body without having a “10” mind.  Not my quote, but I LOVE it!

What would make a mind a 10?

– That you’ve PRACTICED right thinking so diligently, that there’s very little stress involved in making healthy choices.

– That most of your CHOSEN thoughts lead to Positive Long Term Benefits.

– That instant gratification is NOT a practice you engage in, or even think about very often.

– That you’re able to “capture” any thoughts that are unproductive, or contrary to our health or normal weight, and reword them so that they are productive.

 

Not a week goes by that I don’t get an email detailing someone’s weight or health issues, and often it includes statements like, ” I know I shouldn’t eat _____, but sometimes I can’t help it.” Or, “I know I should not snack/get to bed earlier/not drink so much/remember to take my supplements/etc”

I’ve been there.  I struggled for decades with issues I KNEW could be resolved if I gave up grains, sugar, and artificial sweeteners, but honestly, I seriously couldn’t imagine a life without them. One part of my brain understood all the reasons they’re not good for me, but another part of my brain was aghast, sad, depressed, and pretty determined to get what it wanted. That part of the brain was the winner for years.

“How do you live without grains or sugar?”  “How do you not snack?”  I’ve heard these questions a million times, 500,000 times from MYSELF to Myself. For a long time, I thought Will Power was the answer.  It’s not.  All of us have a very tiny, finite supply of Will Power; and if you DO successfully muster some up, there’s usually a “rebound effect”.  That’s best illustrated by the Diet example:  try to eat Low Cal/Low Fat for a few days, and you’ll rebound with a Binge.

That’s why statistically, almost 100% of EVERYONE who goes on a diet gains their weight back. It’s the same for people with health issues who try to muscle their way through food cravings that impact their heart/headaches/joints/bloat/blood sugar etc:  the rebound effect happens, even when the health issue is serious and advanced.

Rebound even happens when you can’t stand yourself for giving in over and over.

What’s the answer?  You’ve Got To Work On Your Mind, because your thoughts control your actions.

Remember that podcast by Hal Elrod I mentioned the other day? Listen to it.  He gives great advice on training your mind to work for you, and not against you. He quotes Jim Rohn:  “Your level of success will NOT exceed your level of personal development.”

Have you given much thought to your thoughts?  Because most people haven’t.  Most people don’t even realize their thoughts are a choice. If your thoughts are statements about what you could never do ( I could NEVER give up sugar/wine/pasta/cereal/bread/diet coke…I could NEVER take that class, ..I HATE cooking, .. I’m TOO busy to pack…), then your thinking has doomed you when it comes to your Health and your Weight.

What if every time a counter productive thought popped in our head, we captured it, and changed it?  We HAVE to do that, because our thoughts become actions, always.

Real Health only happens with CONSISTENT productive habits.  Not most of the time, not 80/20, not weekdays or when we have time.  Losing weight, sleeping well, great energy, lowering blood sugar, ridding our arteries of plaque, supplying our skin with the nutrients it needs to look good, …… happens when we so firmly wrap our mind around the ACTION STEPS necessary that consistency is second nature, instead of an enormous effort.

If you haven’t listened to Hal Elrod yet, please do!

Here’s another amazing source:  Dr. Caroline Leaf.  Dr. Leaf is a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology specializing in Neuropsychology.   HOLY COW IS THIS WOMAN AN AMAZING SPEAKER.  She’s all about the SCIENCE of Quantum Physics, which is the SCIENCE of how our Thoughts Control Our Brain on a PHYSICAL LEVEL.  Thanks to MRIs, and new blood tests that look at different neurotransmitters, and more, scientists have so much insight into how the brain actually works.  Hint:  it never stops changing; and we have power over those changes.

If you’ve been trying for years to diet or exercise and had no lasting results, open your eyes.  It’s your Brain you need to change.  Invest time and energy on your THOUGHTS, and you will FINALLY have the body and health that you want.

Critical Resources:

http://drleaf.com/about/toxic-thoughts/

YouTube – this is LIFE CHANGING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZczIP_79jXs

Book: http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Your-Brain-Happiness-Thinking/dp/149151874X,   by Dr. Leaf

Book: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Mind-What-Brain-Living/dp/1626340587,  by Steven Fogel

 

A “10” Life and A “10” Body Happen When You Have A “10” Mind

Read this great quote from Facebook:

changeThat’s good, isn’t it.  I work with a lot of people who desperately want to change their weight or their health.  They want to look good and feel good, and they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Maybe that’s how you feel.  Well, you CAN lose weight and you CAN get healthy, but you are where you are because of the habits and life style you’ve developed and nurtured.

A “different” you is going to take a Plan, and then the Mindset to follow through with that Plan for the rest of your life.

This week I’ve been able to listen to a podcast that might be the most inspiring talk I’ve ever heard when it comes to creating change in your life, it’s by Hal Elrod.

He said something that really stuck me:  If you want to have a life that’s a “10”, you have to have a mind that’s a “10”.  He said you have to work on your mind every single day, or your dream life ( or dream body) won’t happen.

WOW!  He’s so right!  Most of us just float through life trying to keep up with our busy schedules and before you know it, we’re older, sick, on meds, and weigh more than we’d like. Depression, anxiety, worry, and stress are part and parcel of the package; so common they seem normal.  What happened?  Who Cares!!  Dwelling on what you don’t like will just get you more of the same.  That’s what’s happened so far, right?

If you want to Change, today’s your day, not tomorrow or the 1st or Monday; those are excuses, and they’re self-defeating.  Quit waiting for the Right Time because your life is not going to get easier, or slower, or more manageable until you MAKE it the Right Time.  We’re not Jelly Fish;  God gave us a brain and choices.  Our current life is the result of our choices.  Our FUTURE life will be the result of our choices.  If you want your future to be BETTER than today, MAKE BETTER CHOICES. 

Too tired, too beat, too busy?  Then get ready for a life of steady weight gain, accumulating chronic diseases with their side-effect laden meds, and growing unhappiness.  Oh, and you’re TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN BY YOUR EXAMPLE.

Ready to rise above the fatigue and the schedules?  Good!  Other people have!  You can too!  TODAY start a running grocery list; TODAY pack your lunch, TODAY get your rear to the gym, TODAY make a plan for eating Real Whole Food for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, TODAY determine that you’re not going to “de-stress” with bad food and alcohol, TODAY take your supplements; TODAY make a plan that has you in bed at a decent time; TODAY talk to God;  TODAY focus on positive thoughts about yourself; TODAY determine that your “unavoidable triggers” don’t have magic power over you; TODAY decide that your health and your weight and your attitude are from your actions.

I’m closing with Hal’s “5-Minute Rule”:  if something makes you mad or sad, go ahead and brood about it for 5 Minutes.  Set a timer.  After that, move on.  Ruminating about your situation does NOTHING to remedy it, it only makes it worse. If your health and weight have you feeling sad/mad/depressed/upset, stop ruminating, make a plan for change and then focus on your plan.

I love to tell my clients that they can be a whole new person in a year, or they can be exactly the same or worse.  It depends on the choices and action steps we make.

Listen to that podcast!!

 

Weight Loss, Food Cravings, Leptin Resistance, Insulin Resistance – What Applies To You?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis post is about Weight Loss, Food Cravings, Leptin Resistance, Insulin Resistance, and Being A FAT BURNER OR A SUGAR BURNER;  it’s all coming together!

Here’s some biology to explain how a VERY high fat, low carb diet eliminates cravings, despite:

bad sleep/fatigue( situational);  stress;  actual hunger;  worry over kids;  fights with the hubs;  over-exercise;  hanging around the house. ( do they sound like typical excuses to you?)

I always say a Calories In/Calories Out model doesn’t work because we’re NOT a math problem, we’re a CHEMISTRY SET.  Our HORMONES RULE, and a low fat, low calorie, high carb diet RUINS OUR HORMONES.  It also causes a condition of Metabolic Damage that takes a period of serious consistency to reverse and fix.  Anyone can lose weight by starving themselves, but that causes a lot of damage to our metabolism, hormones, and cells. To be a healthy Fat Burner, you need to have cells and hormones that work correctly.

I’ve been mostly Ketogenic, and consistently High Fat Low Carb for a few months now, after years of what I considered HFLC diet;  with the addition of a LOT of fat ( up to 5 tablespoons at dinner ALONE ), really positive changes have happened, and it’s inspired some research.  Why?

Because after a few months of VERY HIGH FAT/low carb,.. my brain has changed!  Thoughts of food, of eating, have STOPPED.   Seriously, I have to remind myself to eat lunch and dinner (sometimes) because I’m not really hungry.  And sometimes when I am actually hungry, i.e., I feel a lot of hunger in my stomach, I oddly am not rushing to eat food.  I’m okay.  I didn’t realize this until the other day when I’d had no sleep and felt no desire to comfort myself with food.  Not even a second of a thought about it!

What’s happening?  It’s so interesting!

In addition to a High Fat diet’s role in building and nourishing the brain, which is 60 to 70% fat, a HFLC diet repairs and reverses LEPTIN Resistance.  If you’re overweight, or normal weight but struggle with food cravings, or either normal or overweight and exercise but don’t use your fat stores for fuel, you’re probably Leptin Resistant.  Let me back up.

You know that Insulin Resistance  (IR) plays a key role in cravings; IR is a result of the high blood sugar and corresponding high Insulin levels necessary to reduce the blood sugar.  Insulin is a “Master Hormone”, and other hormones are released – or NOT – in response to Insulin being present in the blood.

Remember, as long as Insulin is in the blood, FAT WON’T BE BURNED FOR FUEL.  Fat will just be stored.  When Insulin is in the blood, a lot of our excess Carb/glucose is converted to TRIGLYCERIDES. 

Leptin.  Leptin regulates ALL the hormones of the body:  Insulin, thyroid, sex hormones, all of them.

Leptin Resistance means the cells don’t accept Leptin inside; the cell doors are shut.  If the cells don’t get leptin INSIDE, correct messages don’t get sent out.

Which messages?  After we eat, our fat cells should spit out leptin and that leptin should go to our hypothalamus and deliver the signal that we’ve had enough to eat and it’s time to turn off the hunger.  Excessive simple sugars ( from carbs) destroy the cells ability to “receive” leptin, because INSULIN blocks the Leptin receptor.  Remember: high carbs ALWAYS mean high Insulin. Always.

Triglycerides, made from EXCESS CARBS, also block leptin receptors!!!

When the leptin can’t get INSIDE the cell, the signal to shut off hunger doesn’t happen.  Another link in the cravings chain: when we eat food, the neurotransmitter DOPAMINE is released, and dopamine makes us feel pleasure when eating.  Leptin, when it gets inside our brain cells, stops the release of dopamine, which stops the pleasurable feelings associated with eating.  If the cells are Leptin Resistant, the dopamine keeps flowing, the good feeling/desire to eat overrides a full stomach, and we eat too much.

What else?

Leptin INSIDE our brain cells UP-REGULATES the thyroid; that means metabolism turns UP.  Leptin RESISTANT cells DOWN-REGULATE thyroid, that means a slower metabolism.

More?  Our MUSCLE CELLS HAVE LEPTIN RECEPTORS TOO.  When there’s leptin resistance in MUSCLE CELLS, fat is not burned in those cells, fat is stored in fat tissue instead.  Sugar/Glucose is the only fuel left for the muscles to burn.  A damaged/closed cell can’t even do that.  CHRONIC FATIGUE sets in due to lack of actual “energy”.  This happens EVEN IF YOU RUN MARATHONS but live on a HIGH CARB diet.  Sound familiar?  You exercise a ton but can’t lose weight?  You don’t have correct cell function, all over your body.  You MUST have CORRECT CELL FUNCTION TO BURN FAT.
More?  Insulin Resistance and Leptin Resistance are a guarantee you have a FATTY LIVER.     Our LIVER controls what fuels get burned; our LIVER is the LARGEST SOURCE OF CALORIE BURN IN OUR BODY, our heart and brain are next, and then our muscles.  You want a perfectly functioning liver.  Trust me.

How does a HIGH FAT LOW CARB diet – with a TON of vegetables, some fruit ( maybe, depends on your blood sugar), healthy proteins, some nuts and seeds, and maybe some high fat dairy ( blood sugar/allergy) affect these conditions?

First, Insulin is immediately lowered, because there’s less SUGAR in the blood.   Less Insulin means less TRIGLYCERIDES, LESS INFLAMMATION, LESS CELL DAMAGE (from the insulin and glucose), and less sugar turning into fat(triglycerides), and stored in the liver or fat cells.

Less Insulin and less sugar mean the LEPTIN RECEPTORS in the BRAIN will become NORMAL and accept the Leptin.  Dopamine production and use will REGULATE, and be NORMAL.  You’ll – eventually – start to feel NORMALLY satisfied after a meal.  The NORMAL amounts of dopamine will also mean you’re not constantly searching for “more pleasure” from your food, which causes you to eat when you shouldn’t.

A HFLC diet means that Insulin Receptors and Leptin Receptors will – eventually – return to NORMAL, and functioning.

The high fat, and the anti-oxidants, the vitamins the minerals the phytonutrients ( from cholesterol – which IS an anti-oxidant, and the protein/vegetables/fruits/nuts/seeds) will eventually repair damaged cells ( 100% of EVERY CELL MEMBRANE IN OUR BODY IS MADE FROM FAT AND CHOLESTEROL), and reduce and eliminate INFLAMMATION.

We don’t burn fat calories, lose weight, build muscle and GET HEALTHY until we have NORMAL, HEALTHY, CELL FUNCTION.

How?  A Real Whole Food diet that’s high in fat, low in carbs, and high in nutrients; good exercise, stress management, and sleep.  Lack of sleep creates a hormonal situation, as does stress, that also block Insulin and Leptin Receptors. Oh, and you must be CONSISTENT in your efforts.  Too many people I talk to are so on and off the Healthy Train that results are small or non-existent.

Time and consistency matter, because it takes LONGER for our muscle cells to be leptin sensitive – and use fat for fuel – than for our brain to become leptin sensitive. Isn’t that interesting??

Want to learn more?  Invest yourself!!  I’m attaching some links to articles written by a brilliant Neurosurgeon who’s done a TON of research on leptin, and an Endocrinologist who’s also done a ton of research on leptin, and a podcast by a leader in the Leptin field.

Read, listen, and learn.  Apply what you hear to yourself.  Take notes, think about it, if you’re a client, let’s talk about it.  If you’re not a client yet, and want to be, get in touch with me.  You can change your body, you can lose weight, get healthy, and become NORMAL; sometimes this happens easily, and sometimes you’re so metabolically damaged, that it takes a while, but it will happen, I promise.

Here’s the Resources:
http://jackkruse.com/my-leptin-prescription/

http://jackkruse.com/how-does-the-leptin-rx-work/
http://jackkruse.com/the-leptin-rx-faqs/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2255442/The-REAL-reason-eat-New-theory-revolutionise-way-lose-weight.htmlhttp://jackkruse.com/leptin-part-deux-the-liver/

Podcast: http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/9647/789-llvlc-classic-dr-ron-rosedale-on-low-carb-leptin-and-lipolysis/

How To Avoid Fatigue Induced Food Cravings; and more Food Pics

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERALast night I had a very rare bad night’s sleep.  Normally, I’m the type that when my head hits the pillow, I don’t slowly drift off, I plummet into oblivion.  I don’t even move very much and some mornings my hair’s perfect 🙂

Anyway, something went wrong last night, and I couldn’t get to sleep until around 3:30.  I get up at 5, so clearly, I been “off” today.

What wasn’t off?  MY EATING.  Honestly, a few years ago a bad night like that would of had me snacking or binging on and off throughout the day.  I would have gone from feeling bad to feeling miserable.

These past few years of eating more fat, and these past several months eating GOBS of fat, and …. nothing.  No desire, no cravings, no inkling of an idea that eating might make me feel better.  What a relief!  I wish I had known about this when all my kids were little and I had over a decade of interrupted sleep, but better late than never.

Food cravings strike for many reasons; and food cravings can strike for absolutely NO REASON AT ALL.  You just want the food,.. because.  I think the science is pretty clear that CRAVINGS are a symptom of a high carb diet.  Here’s a line from a study published by the NIH, comparing Low CARB diets (LCD)  with Low FAT diets (LFD): Compared to the LFD, the LCD had significantly larger decreases in cravings for carbohydrates/starches and preferences for high-carbohydrate and high-sugar foods. The LCD group reported being less bothered by hunger compared to the LFD group.

Exactly!  Our body is made out of Water, Fat, and Protein; a little bit of mineral, even less vitamins, and just a teeny, tiny bit of Carbohydrate. ( Most carb is converted to fat and stored.) For the past several decades, during the Low Fat push, our dietary fat’s decreased and our carb consumption has increased, greatly.  What’s been the result?  Obesity and disease, with the CDC predicting NO END IN SITE TO THE RISE OF EITHER.

(When they talk about statistics in 2030 or 2040, they’re talking about what OUR KIDS will be facing.)

Eating disorders, food compulsions, they’re also on the rise.

A day of cereal or toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, pasta for dinner, and carby snacks in between are a recipe for exactly the health and weight situation we’ve got.  It’s also a perfect way to create food addiction.  Substances in grains and sugar trigger the addictive pleasure centers in our brain.  The glucose nature of grains and sugars causes them to quickly be digested and absorbed into the blood, sending blood sugar HIGH, along with the Insulin necessary to lower it.  High Blood Sugar and High Insulin lead to:  Inflammation, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Auto-Immune, Migraines, and I could go on and on.

It matters what we eat; stay away from the Cereal, the Bread, the Pasta, The cookies/cake/croissants/muffins/pretzels/crackers/waffles.  Load up on good meats and eggs, healthy fats, TONS of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and some full fat dairy if you tolerate it.  You’ll say good by to health issues, good by to excess body weight, and good bye to cravings, I promise.

Meals for the past two days:

Smoothie Tuesday: water w/flax and chia/Jay Robb protein/2 raw eggs/MCT oil/frozen spinach/frozen banana/cinnamon/ginger/coconut flakes/pumpkin seeds

lunch 9:10Lunch Tuesday:  sardines/basil/tomatoes/S&P/balsalmic   and a coconut oil fat bomb.  It doesn’t look very good but it tastes fine – honest.

 

dinner 9:10

 

 

 

Dinner Tuesday:  ground sausage and liver fried in butter topped with a little cheese;  roasted potatoes;  and in the bowl:  cauliflower, tomatoes, mushrooms in butter, w/ thyme and oregano.

Today / Wednesday:

Smoothie: I KNEW I NEEDED TO EAT VERY HIGH FAT TO GET THRU THE DAY:  a cup of full fat coconut milk ( can, not box), flax, 2 raw eggs, vanilla and stevia, MCT oil, raw greens powder, coconut flakes, blueberries, nutmeg, and mace.

Lunch:  out to eat:  a big cobb salad with salmon, olive oil and vinegar.

And that’s it so far.  Oh, Tip For The Day:  Plan.  Did you think each day would be a different tip? Planning is EVERYTHING.  Plan your lists, plan your meals, plan around your schedule, plan when you’re going to chop and cook and pack.  The busiest people in the world get the most done because they Plan.  Eat well!

How To Get Healthy and Lean With NO RECIPE PALEO MEALS. Food Pics!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m about to embark on a whole week of posting What I Eat, the How To’s of making it, and the Why’s of what I’m cooking.  Frequent complaints I hear are “I don’t know how to cook, I don’t have time to cook, I get confused in the grocery store, I don’t know what’s healthy, I’m too busy to cook, No one likes my cooking and I feel like it was a waste of time and effort.”

These negative thoughts pony on the back of massive amounts of advertising convincing us that frozen food, processed food, and fast food are PERFECT for each of these situations, and look:  everyone in the ad is slim and beautiful!  What could go wrong??

A lot:  a nation that’s 70% overweight, tired, sick, and stressed, and kids who take more drugs to control their behavior and moods than ever imagined.  Its time to take back out health, and that only happens by eating Real Whole Food.  

To all of you who are either intimidated by cooking or always looking for ideas, this week will be for you.  If you check out my What I Eat page, you’ve noticed that most of our dinners are just meat, vegetables, fats, herbs, and spices, thrown together without a recipe.   Honestly, I rarely even get out a measuring spoon; most of the time I either pour spices into my hand, or chop and throw herbs right into my pot, depending on my mood.

If you’ve been obsessed with the Food Network, or Food magazines, you’ve been convinced that Cooking Is A Science for the Gifted In Cooking.  I’m here to tell you, it’s not.  Honestly.  Throw a bunch of Real Whole foods together, and it ALWAYS comes out good.  But food, food is a science;  Food is Medicine, and it’s important to learn the benefits of particular foods, and then use that knowledge to lose weight, stay lean, get healthy, boost energy, recover, repair, and sleep well.

Food can also be Poison; feeding your kids Pasta and Chicken Nuggets is a really bad idea.   True it’s fast and easy, and they’ll LOVE it, but the Simple Carbs, the Gluten, the Chemicals, and the total LACK of any nutrients, will set your kids up for a life of poor health, weight issues, foggy thinking, fatigue, and learning problems.

All week I’ll be giving tips that are tailored to you overcoming all those typical excuses for why cooking just isn’t possible.  Today’s tip:  Plan.

Get out your day timer, look at your schedule and your kid’s schedule.  When are you home? when are you working/driving/working out/activities/sports etc?  Write it down.  If you’re in the car from 3 to 7, you need to either pack dinner, or have something ready in a warm over (175*) for when you get home.  You might have to make dinner in the morning or early afternoon, if that’s when you have time.  Dinner doesn’t have to be prepared right before you eat, dinner needs to be prepared WHEN YOU HAVE TIME TO MAKE IT.   If you leave for work early in the morning and don’t get home til late, you need to have food already prepared in a crock pot, or refrigerator via Power Cooking. ( I’ll do a Power Cook this week, for now, read this post for an explanations/how-to’s.  )

Really, there’s very few surprises in life, and I’m saying that as a working mom of 4, one of whom’s epileptic.  Life is pretty routine;  if you want to accomplish much, plan around your routine.  This takes attention, effort, and practice if you’re used to winging life by the seat of your pants.  If you’re a parent, choose what you want to teach your children:  planning or winging.  Which do you think will be more helpful to them?

On to Today’s Meals:

I always start the day with Intenzyme ( anti-inflammatory enzymes), Bromelein ( enzymes for my sticky blood), and Tyrosine ( amino acids for energy).  I take digestive enzymes with my meals, and a good fish oil,  and a vit B complex after breakfast, along with HCl ( stomach acid).    Shelby takes Primrose oil ( good for fluctuating hormones), Fermented Cod Liver Oil ( all my girls are on this, it’s good for the immune system), and B complex.

FYI, all my water has Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar added, I love the taste, and all those live enzymes are good for me.

Breakfast for Shelby ( she’s my only kid home right now. )

banana & egg pancake

 

This is a big pancake made out of a mashed ripe banana, 2 eggs, cinnamon, mace, and ginger, then cooked in coconut oil.  She tops it with butter.  This has been her breakfast for the past 8 days.  I’m expecting it to change soon, but we’ll see.

 

9:8:14 smoothie

 

 

 

 

To the right is my breakfast:  a Smoothie.  In the glass:  water with chia/flax/hemp seeds, a scoop of Jay Robb protein, and my newest find:  Amazing Grass Raw Reserve.  Then I added some of the frozen collard greens ( from last nights dinner), a few chunks of frozen avocado ( baggy ), a raw egg, some frozen blueberries, a little MCT oil, and ice.  Also: cinnamon, mace, and cloves.  I measured NOTHING, and there’s no recipe, but there are reasons for choosing my ingredients.

The seeds are high in Omega 3 and phyto nutrients, and great for pooping.  Flax seed is also good for eliminating old estrogen from the body. The Grass, well, check out how many nutrients are in there. Jay Robb:  easy, clean, quick digesting whey protein; I’m lifting in less than 2 hours and I want amino acids in my blood, ready to be used by muscle cells.  Collards: greens are Nutrient Bombs, and I had leftovers.  Avocado:  great source of mono-unsaturated fat.  Raw eggs:  where do I start?  MCT oil: great for producing Ketones.  Cinnamon/Mace/Cloves:  spices are NUTRIENT BOMBS.  Check out Worlds Healthiest Foods to learn about these spices, and why you should incorporate them.  Blueberries:  vein health, heart health, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, phyto-nutrients.

Lunch for me:  Sardines w/ tomatoes, basil, S&P, olive oil and vinegar.  Shelby took a Cliff Bar, a big apple, and some nuts.

Dinner:  Pictures tomorrow, but cod, and spaghetti squash loaded with a vegetable tomato sauce, topped with cheese.

Start making your plan now, and let me know what you come up with.  Cooking is NOT rocket science, you can do this!