Archive for Exercise

Want To Be Lean & Healthy? Get Normal!

0422161434aQuestions I’m often asked:

“How do I ramp up my metabolism?”

“How do I make my immune system strong?”

“How do I get a flat stomach?”

“How can I have more energy?”

(BTW, that’s Shelby and I on Marco Island a couple of weeks ago )

These questions are expressed from the perspective that if we could take a special supplement, cut a bunch of calories, walk a certain amount of steps, or find the right exercise, the things we hate about ourselves would go away and we’d be golden.

Really though, what we need to do is become normal.  God made our bodies spectacular; we just need to eat the right foods, think the right thoughts, sleep, and move often, to keep it so.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s tricky, because we’ve been inundated with terribly bad advice on diet and health for several decades now.

All those words of wisdom from our doctors/government/pharma, along with commercials and advertising, have us sicker, fatter, and more depressed than ever.

How to pull yourself away from 40 years of being told you need to count calories, shun fat, and take pills to feel good?

Educate Yourself!  We’re a chemistry set, not a math equation.  Work with your chemistry, and you become NORMAL (lean and healthy).   Here’s some wisdom:

Read here to learn how excessive Stress Hormones mess up your gut, your immune system, your sex hormones, your brain, and cause heart disease and weight gain. (Manage Your Stress = Think About What You’re Thinking About).

Read here about studies showing that Rosemary is effective against estrogen dominant breast cancer, and here to learn about studies showing how much more effective Turmeric can be than radiation and chemo, with none of the side effects.  ( Eat medicine foods daily!)

Read here to learn why award-winning cardiologist, Dr. Assem Malhotra, says we need to watch our sugar instead of fat when it comes to heart disease and weight.  (It’s not about the calories.)

Read here to learn how a lack of iodine can cause cancer and disease in many parts of our body.

Please, read, invest your time in learning about how your body works and what it wants. None of us are “low in medicine”; but we’re often full of crappy food, crappy thoughts, and lack of movement.  That’s all poison to the body, and your body will respond accordingly.

Eat Real Whole Foods, control your thoughts/manage your stress, move a LOT, get regular sleep.  It’s truly that simple.

Don’t Give In Just Because It’s December!

elf eating spaghettiI’ve heard this more than a few times in the past couple of weeks: “Forget trying to be good.  It’s the Holiday’s.  It’s impossible! Can you help me lose weight in January?”

My answer:  Sure I can help you in January, but, GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF.  Having a specific date when you’re going to be “good”… that’s crazy talk.  That’s kickin the can down the road, like our government does with the federal budget (which keeps our debt constantly growing. Make the analogy).

When we pacify ourselves with promises to compensate later for over-indulging today, we actually reinforce the habits and desires that got us either overweight or unhealthy or both.

Here’s some blasts from the past to help you stay committed to Real Whole Food, and making good choices, even in December.  It’s critical to change our thoughts about food; food is medicine, or food is poison.  Food brings us energy and healing and beautiful skin, or food brings cancer, fatigue, gut issues, headaches, diabetes, and heart disease.

Fill your mind with thoughts that make you powerful.  Be purposeful about what you allow your brain to dwell on.

Click on the highlighted link to read the whole post, or just read the displayed paragraphs. Santa-Paws-Christmas-card-holiday-dog-pet-funny-hilarious-saying-sayings-500x338

From December, 2013:

I’ve heard from more than a few people expressing sadness about weight gain, specifically, weight gain since Thanksgiving. You’ve got a choice here, you either go with the line, ” I’ve already blown it, New Years Day is right around the corner, I’ll start then.” or this line, “More vegetables, more fruit, more healthy fats and proteins; I’m going to plan the next few days well and get back on track because I don’t like feeling this way.”

Pick a line and go with it. If it’s the second line, MEDITATE ON IT. Choose your thoughts; quit letting a momentary whim lead to actions that make you feel horrible later. Do this for me: next time you want some food that’s not healthy, set a timer on your phone and see how long the desire lasts. Unless you’re genuinely starving, Hunger Is Temporary. Seriously. If you turn out to still be starving in 15 minutes, evaluate what you ate at your last meal. Was there enough fat, enough protein, enough vegetables, enough Real Whole Foods, or did you do the “diet” thing and now you’re hungry? Give your body the nutrients it needs, and that compulsive desire to eat will start to fade away. Weight loss (if you need it) is a side-effect of eating healthy.

Reasons to be scared of Flour and Sugar:

I’m going to blast some facts at you, because : All Behavior Is Belief Driven. Think it’s hard to walk past platters full of doughnuts, cookies, or bagels without eating any? It depends on your belief: do you believe that flour and sugar are literally toxic to your brain and body, or do you still look at food as calories that you can work-off or starve-off later?

Fact: flours that contain Gluten (a group of proteins that are in grains) have ADDICTIVE properties, they literally stimulate pleasure centers in your brain that make you want more.

Fact: no human being on earth has the digestive enzymes to break down glutens from wheat, barley, or rye. Think you don’t have a problem because you’re not a Celiac? Celiac disease is an AUTO IMMUNE reaction to the glutens. That happens to some people. For the rest of us, the damage accumulates over YEARS: the undigested proteins leak thru the gut wall, inappropriately; our immune system responds to the foreign objects, and wherever we’re most vulnerable (joints, brain, nervous system, thyroid, etc) gets attacked.

Fact: sugar has addictive properties. Studies show that it’s more addictive than Cocaine! In 1700, the average American ate 4 lbs of sugar a year; in 1800 it was 18 lbs; in 1900 it was 90 lbs, in 2009, it was 180 lbs.

Read the details of this Post for supplement and exercise tips; here’s the gist:

Three emails this weekend about Holiday Weight Gain are prompting a Post. Don’t Diet In December; don’t despair if you’ve gained a few pounds since Halloween; don’t “throw in the towel and restart in January”; and don’t kill yourself with extra hard workouts.

All that stuff would be SHORT TERM THINKING, and short term thinking never produces good Long Term Results.

What should you do instead? CHILL. Honestly. It’s the holidays and we’ve all got about 50 extra things on our to-do lists. Stressing about it = CORTISOL, which = WEIGHT GAIN and ILLNESS ( come January or sooner).

In addition to all our “extras”, is the assumption we’ll eat more just because it’s the holidays; constant indulgence = CORTISOL + INSULIN, which = WEIGHT GAIN AND ILLNESS ( come January, or sooner).

Blood sugar becomes a complete mess, and the impulse to soothe stress with food or alcohol feels irresistible. Here’s what to do instead-

And finally, from Holiday Eating Gone Bad, 8 Facts To Scare You Straight:

It’s the holiday season, you’re busy, you’re struggling, you want motivation, so I’ll be fast and effective.

I’ve had several emails and comments in the past two weeks full of regret and remorse over Eating Gone Bad. There’s definitely the sense of, ” I couldn’t help myself because…”

A client friend said to me yesterday, ” I want to become scared of flour and sugar, like you are.” I want ALL OF YOU TO BECOME SCARED OF FLOUR AND SUGAR, like I am! Let me scare you straight, quickly.

Simple carbs from Grains and Sugar cause high levels of sugar and insulin in your blood/arteries/veins. The negative health effects from this are PROFOUND:

1) Excess blood sugar ( from sugar and grains) is converted to Triglycerides and stored in our fat cells.

2) Excess blood sugar “GLYCATES” proteins and lipids in our blood and body. EXAMPLES OF GLYCATION ARE WRINKLES, AGE SPOTS, AND IMPOTENCE. Alzheimer’s is being called Diabetes Type 3 because of the plaques/glycation of the brain, which is composed of fats and proteins.

3) Alzheimer’s, Migraines, Dementia, and all sorts of Neurological Conditions, including ADD and Mood Disorders, are highly associated with high blood sugar and insulin.

4) Cancer cells are covered with Insulin Receptors. Cancer cells eat SUGAR. The insulin receptors that cover cancer cells make sure those cells get all the sugar they want and need to grow and thrive. APPLY THAT THOUGHT TO YOUR KIDS THE NEXT TIME YOU FEED THEM MAC N CHEESE WITH A SIDE OF BREAD. Seriously. That stuff is poison!

5) Heart disease is caused by several conditions initiated by sugar and insulin: excess sugar thickens the blood; excess sugar robs the heart of it’s favorite mineral – Magnesium, and it’s favorite vitamin – the Bs ( that’s because digesting/metabolizing sugar requires an enormous amount of Magnesium and B vitamins ); and excess sugar and insulin severely damage artery walls, in several ways.

6) Damage to the artery walls ( whether those arteries are near your heart, in your neck, or MEN: IN YOUR FAVORITE ORGAN THAT FILLS WITH BLOOD!!) means they need to be “fixed”. In an effort to mitigate the damage we do, the liver puts together PLAQUE patches, and sends them to the sites of the damage. This keeps us alive for years, but eventually, the high blood pressure, the thick blood, the extra stress on the heart, comes back to Bite Us In The Butt.

7) Excess sugars can completely change the Bacterial Composition of your entire gut: from the stomach, which needs to have just a tiny bit of H-Pylori and a TON of acid to be optimal, to the small intestine, which should be intact but more often then not is “LEAKY” or plagued with SIBO ( small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. If you bloat badly, ask me about this.), to the large intestine, which should house at least a few POUNDS of beneficial bacteria that perform literally THOUSANDS of jobs for our bodies. Constipation, Bloat, Reflux, Diarrhea: NOT NORMAL! It means you’re not breaking down and absorbing your nutrients which sets the stage for all sorts of disease and dysfunctions.

8) Excess sugar and insulin suppress your immune system, IMMEDIATELY, for up to 24 hours. This means if you let your kid eat a breakfast of pop tarts or crappy cereal, and then send them to school to sit by someone on the bus or in the classroom who’s coughing or sneezing, they’re an EASY TARGET for the germs to set up house and proliferate. Same for you: a quick muffin or sugar/chemical drink at Starbucks, then off to an office/gym filled with bad germs? You’re a sitting duck!

I could go on and on, but say this to yourself: Food Is Medicine, or Food Is Poison; for me, and for my kids.

Then, delete the ancient notion that eating well means Dieting; eating low fat/no fat chicken and steamed broccoli is a recipe for a Rebound Binge.

That’s why I love the Paleo Diet: Real Whole Food with plenty of good FAT, good meats and proteins, TONS of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and GOOD dairy if you can tolerate it. The Paleo Diet even includes Real Whole Food DESSERTS, what’s not to like? ( Christmas Paleo Party at my house, 12/12/14, from 12 -2. Everyone’s invited, and you’ll get to see just how good Real Whole Food is!)

If Food Addiction is your struggle, then all the common sense/information in the world doesn’t help too much. Read my last post. If you have trouble staying away from grains and sugar, know that they contain compounds that trigger addiction centers in your brain, and your child’s brain. That doesn’t happen with Real Whole Food.

Finally, in this stressful, busy season of the year, acknowledge that “eating for stress relief” doesn’t actually Relieve Your Stress, it makes you MORE STRESSED afterwards. Just the opposite of sitting down to a Real Whole Food meal, which actually satiates your mind and body.

Change today. Don’t wait til the season is over. We’re talking about your health, your mind, and the example you’re instilling in your kids. The food you put in your mouth matters. I’ll say it again: Food is Medicine, or Food is Poison.

Do You Ride The Diet Roller Coaster, Weekend Binge, or Punishment Exercise?

Two big steps to weight loss are at the end of this Post, but I want to start with a client email.

Most important lesson I have learned is I now have a more balanced life w/ exercise and eating. Always needed to have both diet and exercise to feel good.

Now, if I don’t make the gym, I don’t feel guilty, just make sure I am eating good food. And the scale is not topsy curvy on me. So used to gaining extra weight over the weekends. Now eating mostly at home, the scale is my friend on a Monday morning. Might be up very slightly, but due to maybe eating bigger portions on Sat and Sunday nights vs weeknights. Between hearing it from you, and also reading it in more than one article, I was able to put it into practice.

Beautiful weather yesterday, skipped the gym, we went for long walk around the neighborhood, then cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill, w/ salad and tons of veggies. A nice relaxing night before another busy weekend.

Alan’s still amazed at all the good food we are eating, not hungry and he no longer has his sugar cravings.

So glad we decided to do this w/ you, and not doing it on our own. Well worth every penny. You make it so easy.

I’m a recovered Chronic Dieter-Weekend Binger-Punishment Exerciser; that whole “so used to gaining weight on the weekends/ balancing my eating and exercising”, spoke to me.

Can you relate?  Maybe you have a touch of my old diagnosis, here’s some clues:  The scale goes up and down, a lot.  You convince yourself you “need” a treat because you’ve been so “good”/you have major craving/ or after all, it’s the weekend.

You wake up mornings determined to (1) barely consume a thing, and (2) burn thousands of calories via workouts.  You believe this will burn butt or belly fat.

You LIVE by the 80-20, rule, which only makes sense because since calories rule, and weight is a math issue; a 20% indulgence can easily be nullified by starving/excessive cardio.

I could go on and on, but you get it, right? It’s a miserable way to live, it’s ineffective – especially long term – and consuming.  Who wants to be consumed with their weight or their body?  Not me!  Thank goodness for wake up calls, of which I had many.

One of them was when Mark gave me Dr. Perricone’s book, The Wrinkle Cure, for my 40th birthday. (Don’t judge – that’s my kind of book and Mark knows it.) The book preached eating fats for good skin. That was a conundrum for me as I thought fat was the devil.  At 40, I was deep, deep into chronic dieting and excessive exercise. It seemed to be working, except for the constant bloat, stomach problems, asthma, blood clots, varicose veins, and total disgust I had with myself after the weekend binges.

Dr. Perricone had a lot of science in his book, and the whole “eat fat” message was being preached more and more.  It was getting hard to ignore.

Next wake-up: The “eat fat” paradigm was joined by the “eat Real Whole Food” paradigm.  Another shocker! And scary. I loved my Diet Foods.  I couldn’t imagine life without Diet Ice Cream, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Crackers, Diet Pizza, Diet Cereal, Diet Wraps, or Diet Desserts. (They’ve been gone for years now and I could care a less. Shows how wrong our thoughts can be.)

Further fueling my fire: I was a devout reader of all books and magazines Diet, like Oxygen/Muscle&Fitness Hers/Shape. All those women exercised like crazy, starved themselves for days, and had a cheat day.  They looked amazing and were definitely my role models.

I was brain washed.

I dropped all my subscriptions a few years ago. (Another thing I don’t miss – at all.)

Thank you God!

Thank You for the multiple wake up calls, because I’m someone who apparently only learns the hard way.

If you’re stuck in this vicious pattern, here’s a wake up call: Dieting doesn’t work.  Science and studies show that almost 99% of everyone who Diets gains their weight back.  99%!

Exercise – which is WONDERFUL – doesn’t take weight off.  Sucks, but true.  If it did, I’d weigh 50 pounds instead of 130.

Want to lose weight? Or at least get off the Roller Coaster of weight up and weight down?

Stop dieting, and stop the punishment exercise.  Eat Real Whole Foods, exercise smarter (not more), prioritize sleep, and put effort into managing your stress. Really.  But I said I’d give you 2 specific steps to weight loss.

1) Drop the grains.  White, whole wheat, quinoa, whatever.  If you have weight issues (and health issues) stop eating them.  You’ll live without your sandwich, your cereal, or your pasta.  Honest. I thought I’d die without those foods, but they’re not even a blip on my memory radar.  Try it for 3 weeks and see how you feel; watch your stomach flatten; access your energy levels/skin condition/immune function.

2) Quit the excessive exercise.  Studies have shown that it’s counter-productive for weight loss as excessive exercise (and punishment exercise) raises cortisol, and cortisol makes belly fat and prevents fat loss from fat cells. Besides, it’s impossible to out exercise a bad diet, impossible.

Lift, practice yoga, limit HITT workouts to a few a week, walk with a friend/dog/sister, or compete in your favorite sport because you love it.

Punishment exercise doesn’t work.

Two more tips:   Drop the unrealistic images -that we all hold- of what we should look like.  Magazines are photoshopped.  Actresses and models go through herculean efforts to be skinny because their living depends on it.  It’s not natural nor healthy.

Let’s be natural and healthy!

Finally, Action and Effort are necessary.  We’ve got to Plan, and then Stick To Our Plans.  Plan our shopping, cooking, packing, and workouts.

Got kids? Got a job?  Got a commute? Hormonal Issues?  Those are just details to be factored into your Plan, not excuses. They’re like the zombies on Walking Dead: we have to work around them.

That’s all for now.  If you want help, get in touch with me.  I LOVE this stuff!  You’re not doomed. You’re not destined to be overweight, or sick, or tired.  If you are, it’s just where you are right now, now where you have to be in a few months.

You could be a whole new you by Christmas!

Poop’s on Beards, Computers, Desks, CounterTops..Better Build a Healthy MicroBiome!

family

Family get together last night:)  That’s my dad, my mom, and my Uncle Fred, my 3 sisters, 2 of my daughters, and a few nieces and nephews.

Recently, Consumer Reports came out with data that had many people scared to eat meat.  The Report found that beef does indeed contain bacteria that can become pathogenic, like e coli and salmonella.  The report also found pretty big differences in the amount of bacteria, and anti-biotic resistant bacteria, in CAFO cattle (cattle raised in feed lots), compared to cattle raised on grass;  grass fed steers had less bacteria in the finished product.

Comments at the end of articles and on social media had people claiming that this would be the end of their meat eating as obviously, meat was just crawling with germs.

Hold on.

Meat accounts for about 20% of all food borne illness;  fruit, vegetables, and nuts accounts for almost 50%.

More bad news:  beards are loaded with poop.  Actually, germs are literally everywhere: our kitchens, our phones, our toothbrushes, toys, sponges, towels..From Philip Tierno, a microbiologist at NYU, and author of The Secret Life of Germs:  “To focus on beards is to miss the point. We, as a society, are literally bathed in feces,” Tierno said. “Wherever a man touches, there are feces and fecal organisms present.” Even to focus on toilets is to sort of miss the point: One study compared surfaces in the bathrooms and kitchens of 15 homes and found that the toilet was among the least bacteria-laden places tested.

Here’s the bottom line, bacteria are EVERYWHERE.  We have a few pounds of it on ourselves, and in ourselves.  It’s time to quit being scared of germs, and instead make sure our MicroBiome is healthy and cared for.  Apparently, our personal ecosystem is like a garden, and we either feed and water it correctly and give it plenty of sunshine (yep!), so it works for us; or we ruin it with a diet of sugar, processed food chemicals, and a bad lifestyle (no sleep, no exercise, no sun) and get sick, sad, and fat.

(Scientists say our inner bacteria play a role not just in our immune system, but our personality, temperament, and mood. )

Hopefully, you’ve been convinced that we don’t need to starve ourselves in order to avoid bad bugs.

We also shouldn’t be using hand sanitizers (plain soap and water suffice), or keeping our homes too clean.

So, what can we do to strengthen our immune system?  Lots!

1) Don’t eat Sugar or Processed Foods.  Sugar suppresses white blood cell function, destroys bacterial balance in our gut and feeds both bad bugs and cancer cells.   Emulsifiers in processed foods, such as Polysorbate 80 and Carrageenan, also cause damage to our eco-system.

2) Open the windows in your home.  We’ve got bad stuff floating around, don’t keep it trapped.  Have you ever heard of the book, Slow Death By Rubber Ducky?  Scarier than than beef, I promise you.

3) Eat more plants, not just for their vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, but because they feed our good bacteria, they make them strong!

4) Eat your probiotics: kim chi, saurkraut (fermented, not vinegar), kombucha, keifer, good yogurts, fermented veggies…  these foods are loaded with beneficial bacteria.

5) Avoid antibiotics unless absolutely necessary, they wipe out everything, the good and the bad.

*******Use your common sense here.  If you have an obvious bacteria infection, they’re probably necessary.******   Overuse is famously common.

6) Consciously develop a lifestyle that’s Immune Strengthening, instead of Immune Weakening.   Get to bed at a decent time, don’t over-do alcohol, get sunshine, exercise, pray, meditate, develop and nurture relationships.

7) Eat plenty of garlic, onions, ginger, and other foods that are, literally, powerful medicine.    Real Whole Food is our life’s blood.

Want to learn more?  Read this, and this.

Back to the beef:  the boogy-man is us.  Really.  For the most part, we either make ourselves strong, and help our children develop habits and patterns that make them strong, or we make ourselves weak.  The choice is ours.

5 Love Languages, Greens, Chocolate, & 10,000 Steps: The Heart Weekend!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMark and I are on a Healthy Heart Weekend:  paddle-boarding, sight seeing, and a Marriage Conference with Dr. Gary Chapman of the 5 Love Languages.  We’ve slept in 2 different hotels in 2 days, but we packed all our food, so we’ve managed to eat well, move a lot, and do some Positive Thinking.  In other words, we’re traveling healthy.  I get a lot of emails and questions about traveling, and I want to answer them with a leaning towards Heart Health.

Heart Disease is the #1 killer in America, and it’s something we should all be working to prevent.  It’s showing up in children now – moms, here’s where we step in.

Heart disease is a LIFESTYLE DISEASE.  High blood pressure, plaque, heavy-dense cholesterol, high blood sugar, hard arteries….. these are caused by the what we put in our mouth, the exercise we don’t get, and the stress we don’t manage.

No one has heart disease because they’re low in statins.

Whether we’re traveling or home, it’s important to take the steps to make our body healthy.

Let’s start with food.  Our heart primarily runs on fatty acids for fuel.  Surprising? It’s the truth, so feed your heart healthy fats!  Have you read that the new Dietary Guidelines will “un-vilify” cholesterol as a cause of heart disease?  It’s true!

“Previously the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 mg/day. The 2015 DGAC (Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee) will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol, consistent with the conclusions of the AHA/ACC (American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology report. Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”

What about the fact that Saturated Fat has NEVER been scientifically proven to cause heart disease?

“Saturated fat has remained the main dietary villain for heart disease for over 50 years. Last year a meta-analysis of 72 studies with more than 600,000 participants determined that there was no association between how much saturated fat people ate and their risk of having a fatal or nonfatal heart attack (Annals of Internal Medicine, March 18, 2014).”

This isn’t carte blanche to eat any thing we want.  Fats are very unique and different; some are great, some are good, and some are horrible.

Stay away from vegetable oils, margarines, and trans fats, they’re always bad, always.

Eat up grass fed butter and ghee, extra virgin olive oil, coconut butter, avocados, and nuts.  Bonus: these fats have anti-fungal/bacterial/viral properties, immune boosting properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and are even healthy for our brain.

The heart also loves amino acids/protein (it is a muscle after all, and needs to rebuild it’s cells), and vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.

You know how I always say “eat a TON of vegetables”?  Herbs and spices too;  Moms, stay strong when it comes to vegetables and picky kids.  You’ve GOT to win this battle.  Here’s why.

The heart (and the arteries in the penis, the neurotransmitters in the brain, the lining of the gut, bone remodeling, and white blood cell function) heavily depends on Nitric Oxide (NO).  NO is a vasodilator that relaxes the lining of the arteries and increases blood flow.  If there’s any damage to the arteries at all, which is where a lot of that NO is made, then there’s NO deficiency.

Here’s a list of foods high in natural nitrates ( which convert to NO):

*Garlic
*Beets
*Greens
*Walnuts
*Cranberries
*Honey
*Black Tea
*Pistachios
*Salmon
*Animal Organs
*Shrimp
*Onions
*Peanut Butter

Cool fact: chew your food well, because it’s the bacteria in our mouth that convert the nitrates to NO – who knew!!!

We want to leverage all the colors of the vegetable (and fruit) kingdom, because they have nutrients, besides their vitamins and minerals which are vital, called phytonutrients, that scientists are really just beginning to discover.  Nutrients called lycopene, lutein, alpha carotene, and beta carotene.

Studies show that bodies with higher levels of these nutrients have less stroke and heart attack.

What’d we pack to eat this weekend?  Chicken (already cooked), eggs, salad greens, zucchinis, cukes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, sea salt, EVOO and balsamic, roasted potatoes (left over from Wednesday- so I just warmed them) dates, peaches, nuts, Jay Robb protein powder, raw milk, raw cream, and kerry gold butter.  Oh, plus organic chocolate and coffee!  We stay in Residence Inns whenever we can because they have kitchens.

Exercise: almost as critical for the heart as food.  Have I told you I LOVE MY FITBIT??  Even on days like yesterday, where we were in a seminar from 9 to 3:30, we managed to get over 10,000 steps in.  We walked on each break, plus lunch, and again after dinner.  Had I not had the Fitbit, we’d never had taken that many steps. Most phones have counters on them if you don’t have a smart watch yet.  Friday we paddle boarded a few miles, and then walked a battlefield and Civil War Park.  Links are attached if you’re looking for fun in Richmond, Va.  Today:  lifting with Macy at the VCU gym!

5 Love Languages – for heart health?  YES!  Have you ever read the book, The Blue Zones?  It’s about the 4 places on earth with the largest populations of centenarians, or people who live past 100.  I’ve been obsessed with it for years, the same with any story I see of a Centenarian, or studies on Centenarians.

What do these people have in common, is it Kale Smoothies or Cross Fit or Veganism?  NOPE!  The biggest common link is community, usefulness, and purpose.  In other words, they’re fulfilled and happy. They have love in their life.

That’s where the 5 Love Languages comes in.  Mark and I are regular pursuers of both Happy Marriage and Happy Minds.  I say “pursuer” because happiness doesn’t just drop on our heads, it’s something we have to focus on and work for.  That’s really what “stress management” is about, right?  It’s how we handle life that matters, and the 5 Love Languages has great advice for communicating and getting along.

On that note, our heart apparently THRIVES on happy hormones and chemicals, and can be destroyed by destructive hormones (cortisol and insulin) and chemicals.  This is a big deal, and an area of growing research.

Meditation is part of progressive heart disease reversal programs because it’s been proven again and again to work.  There’s too much evidence to ignore: if leading with our negative emotions is our normal go-to, then all the good food and exercise in the world could be negated when it comes to heart health.

I’m leaving you with a few really great heart health resources, please check them out.  What we hear in our doctors offices often doesn’t correlate with the latest in the scientific research.

Most research on reversing heart disease, (not merely managing symptoms) is based on Life Style answers, like food, exercise, stress management, and sleep.

NO ONE’S MAKING MONEY OFF THOSE REMEDIES; the likely hood of a stress management rep, or a Real Whole Food rep, walking into our doctors office to sell him/her on the latest and greatest reasons to use these tools isn’t going to happen.

We’re going to have to do this on our own.

Dr. Mercola/fats/heart health.

Dr. Davis/fats/heart health.

Dr. Wortman/fats/heart health.

Podcast/Dr. Kahn/heart health and testing – FASCINATING & INFORMATIVE.

Did the dog eat your workout shoes? Scarred from Gym Class?

acroI’m a tough love – no excuses type person when it comes to doing what I’m supposed to be doing.  If you need a kick in the pants and some “how-to’s” to make Daily Workouts a part of your life, this Post is for you.  (FYI: I LOVE kicks in the pants, and make sure I get one most days of the week.  The ability to be consistent doesn’t just happen, you know.)

(That pic is Macy and her boyfriend Will practicing Acro Yoga.  Don’t try this at home without a professional!  Other pics: Amanda and Ian ending summer soft ball season; Shelby and friend Christy just climbed a volcano mountain; Meg doing a handstand; Mark lifting.)

When it comes to working out, the facts are, most of us don’t, and it’s killing us.  Here’s some stats:

* only 1 in 3 children get any physical activity in a day

* less than 5% of adults get 30 minutes of physical activity every day

* the CDC predicts every single chronic disease measured will increase in numbers between now, and 2030.  we’re talking heart disease, diabetes, cancer, auto immune, neurological, everything.  every chronic disease is positively impacted by regular exercise.

* body weight, which has climbed for decades, is predicted to continue escalating through at least 2030.

In other words, it’s time to get serious about making exercise, or movement, as normal and routine as brushing our teeth, because our life, and our children’s lives, depend on it.

Don’t worry, I know you’re busy! I know you have jobs and commutes andmanda ian sb kids and injuries.  I know some of you hate exercising, or getting sweaty, or having other people see you exercising or getting sweaty.  That’s okay!  That’s a little hurdle to jump over, and you can do that!

I had a nutrition client who told me we could never, ever talk about exercise, because she had “exercise induced anxiety”, and the mere mention could send her into a panic attack.

I got her moving, I can get you moving too.

Did you catch the word, “moving”?  Because that was important.  Start using that word, because it’s more important that we move every day than that we do formal exercise.  Our body was created to move and be physically active, not to do Dodge Ball or Hip Hop or run an Ultra, although, if you love doing those things – Good For You!  Keep it up, that’s great!

I brought up Dodge Ball because it’s from Gym Class, and Gym Class creates a lot of nightmares, or permanent brain scarring, for many.

volcano boardingIf that’s you, work on deleting those memories.  Moving every day doesn’t mean shame, embarrassment, and being the last one picked.  Moving’s just moving, and it feels so good!

Here’s some suggestions:

* Buy a Fit Bit, Up band, or any of those great trackers.  It’s so fun to watch your steps accumulate!  If I get towards the end of the day and I’m not at 10,000 steps, my brain clicks on to “solutions to get to 10,000”.  Seriously.  I jog in place while I’m walking my little dog, I water my plants, I walk down the driveway and back, I suggest a walk after dinner;  I’ve even run in place in the bathroom because I’m at 9800 and I have to feel that 10,000 buzz on my wrist before bed.

Apparently, I’m not the only one.  One consistent statistic that’s come from the trackers is that they do inspire people to get up and move more.  I think they’re worth the investment, which at this point, isn’t that big.  The cheaper bands start around $50, which is a lot cheaper than the average Northern Virginia hospital stay, which is around $9,000, or paying for statin or diabetes drugs every month.

* Find something that’s fun. Please, don’t life weights (yet!) if you hate to lift weights.  You do need muscle resistance, but there’s always yoga, pilates, biking or spin, home videos or You Tubes with planks and wall squats.   Does boxing look fun?  Marshal arts? Zumba?  They are fun! You can even do them with your kids – bam!  2 birds with one stone.

* Make a date to workout with a friend.  Call her/him, state a time and a place, and then put it on your calendar.  When we make a commitment to someone else, we’re more likely to follow through.

* Too tired to workout?  Listen:  Working Out Gives You Energy – Honest.  It’s so hard to convince people who don’t workout that this is true, but it is.  Here’s the trick:  find something Fun, and Not Too Hard.  That’s how you start.

Heck, even for fit and trained people, we need to have days of “Not Too Hard”.  What does that mean?  It’s different for all of us, and it’s different for individuals on a day to day basis.

“Not too hard” for a Professional Athlete is completely different for the meg handstandrecreational athlete.   “Not too hard” for anyone can be a day to day determination.  Quit stressing about definitions; it’s not Gym Class and no one’s judging you.  Focus on yourself, and doing what’s good and healthy for your body and mind.

Didn’t sleep last night?  Feel a cold coming on?  Better work out “not too hard”; but don’t skip moving!  A little movement or exercise stimulates our immune system.  Too much suppresses it, which isn’t always a bad thing unless you’re on the verge of getting sick, or you’re exhausted.

Feeling blue? Studies show that exercise is just as effective as medication for Major Depressive Disorder. Bonus?  No bad side effects and no withdraw symptoms.

I finished a great book called SPARK, and the author presents very compelling evidence that for some, depression/anxiety is actually CAUSED by not exercising.  He presents studies that show our brain and body were created to thrive through movement.

* Harness the power of group energy, or in other words, join a gym or a club.  Keep Reading!!  It’s not scary – honest.  I’ve worked in gyms for 28 years now, and I’ve heard it all:  everyone’s looking at me, everyone’s got friends, there’s too many cliques, blah blah blah blah blah.

Stop it.  You’re wrong.  (And if you’re actually right and you’re at the rare Snobby, Unfriendly gym, find another one!)  Here’s the facts:

Most people at the gym are getting in and getting out asap.  There’s a nursery. There’s trainers to teach you how to use the equipment. There’s several activities to chose from.  Some people use the gym as their social scene, but not most people, but so what?  NO ONE is judging you.  Everyone’s there just worrying about themselves, like you should be.

Fear of judgement or looking dumb is a personal insecurity that’ll keep you from doing many fun things in life.   Don’t allow it.

* Group classes or small group training are incredibly beneficial:  you get to absorb and use the energy of the other people and/or the instructor.

I give off a ton of good energy!  So do a bunch of people who take my class.  Energy is very real; we’re made out of protons and electrons which are atoms with negative and positive charges.

Quantum physics tells us – through very real, quantifiable science – that our personal energy is real. Ever walked into a room and known immediately that “something was wrong”?  Or conversely, felt someone’s joy?  Of course you have!

That’s what it’s like in a group fitness room, or in any fun group, even a group in someone’s home or a church or a community center.  Throw off your fear ( you are a grown-up now, right? ) and join in!

* Pack your bag the night before.  For some, this is critical.  Mark and I do this every single night, and we’re dedicated exercisers.  We do it because we know our mornings are busy enough; taking 5 minutes to gather our workout clothes, and anything we need for a shower and to change into afterwords, really makes a big difference.

* Sometimes, my daughters have slept in their workout clothes!  That way they can just roll out of bed and get to it.

* Tell yourself Positive Statements about exercising:  “I can’t wait to feel good and alert and ready for my day.”  or  “That lunch time walk/workout will make me so awake in the afternoon.”  or  “I can’t wait to walk/workout after work today, I’ve been sitting so long, and I’ll avoid the rush hour traffic.”  or “I’m setting a great example for my kids.”

* If you like to “go it alone”, either on walks or stationary machines, then read a book, listen to music/podcasts/radio shows, study, or watch movies or TV series. (We have a guy at our gym who uses bungie cords to strap a DVD player on the cardio machines, and he just goes to town.)  Look forward to the time because you “get” to do these things.

markbicepcurlHere’s the bottom line:  Sitting’s the New Smoking.  Inactivity is literally killing us.  Our kids are predicted to be even bigger and sicker than we are.  Moving, every single day, is undeniably vital to our physical and mental well-being.  We’re grown-ups.  We can make ourselves do what we know we’re supposed to do.  We have a brain: we can make ourselves enjoy exercise if we choose too, so choose to.

If you can fit in something formal, like a class, do it.  If you can fit in walking up and down the stairs in your building 3 times during the day, do it.  If you can take your dog on 2 big walks, do it.  If you need to strap a baby on your back and push more in the stroller, do it.  Just quit letting your days go by without moving.  Pledge to yourself right now, that TODAY, you move.

Mark has a great phrase:  “No one ever regrets a workout.”  That’s so true!

Summer Shape Up Part 4: You Don’t Deserve A Treat/Moral Licensing/Tomorrow Logic.

20150620_125014 (1)Hello from Aspen, Colorado!  Mark and I lived here in the early 90s, and we’re back for a long weekend.  I’d forgotten how majestic the Rockies are!

Pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with this Post will be randomly sprinkled throughout:)  You’ll see Maroon Bells, Ajax Mountain, and a 20150619_195723Food Festival – OMGosh.  Grilled Gizzards are now my new favorite food.

Did you catch my title?  If you take my group fitness classes, you’ve heard me say this a 1000 times at the end of the class.  Then I usually say, “it was just a workout, we didn’t do anything to make the world a better place.”  And therein lies my purpose in today’s piece.

There’s a theory called the “Moral Licensing Loophole”;  I learned that term in Gretchen Rubin’s book on Habits, called Better Than Before.  ( I’m ALL about habits.)  The Moral Licensing Loophole means that we give ourselves permission to do something “bad”, because we feel we’ve been “good”. (This is a continuation of my assertion that our thoughts are more important than a food plan.)

In my 28 years of working in health and fitness, I see this theory used all. the. time.  Heck.  I’ve used this theory!

Here’s some examples:

*That class was so hard, I can definitely afford wine tonight.

* That run was so long, I deserve ice cream.

* I just did 100 lunges! The french fries and cookies won’t even register with my body!

* I’ve worked out every day this week – I must have Calorie Deficit going on, potato chips and beer won’t even bring me back to normal!

* I’m going to overeat today and just work it off tomorrow, and probably the next day too.  So this doesn’t really count.

20150620_171446(0)Actually, that last one also falls under the “tomorrow logic” category.  As in, Now doesn’t matter because I’m going to follow good habits Tomorrow.

I’ve even fooled myself into thinking that extreme indulgence today will give me extra self control tomorrow.  Does that sound familiar?

Here’s some facts, followed by thoughts we need to cement in our brain:

1) Studies show that Rewards inspire TEMPORARY behavior.

2) Everything we do counts. We are the culmination of our every day habits.

3) Tomorrow-logic doesn’t work, because our actions and behaviors cause brain chemistry that perpetuates more of the same behavior, not different behavior.

Let’s look at these points a little deeper.

“Rewards only inspire temporary behavior”.  That’s a well studied, well 20150619_203249documented fact, yet rewards are used so often to motivate behavior change that you’d never know it. Think about all those 12 week weight loss contests.  Or attempts at losing weight before a wedding or a beach vacation. Who do you know that’s actually kept the weight off once the designated time frame is over?  I have to keep beating this drum:  weight loss is NEVER a big enough motivation to eat healthy and exercise forever.  If it was, 95% of everyone who goes on a diet wouldn’t gain their weight – plus a few extra pounds – back.

A “reward” implies an “end”.  When this is about weight loss, that translates to a temporary, and often heroic, effort at Deprivation, feelings of Sacrifice, and a sense of Hardship.  All of these are Negative Values.  They make us feel as if we deserve some sort of Prize at the end, usually a food prize.

SOLUTION:

20150619_200732Change your thoughts about the food you eat.  This was what my last Post focused on, but there’s more.  In addition to looking at Bad Foods as potentially cancer causing, or migraine causing, or heart disease causing, what about framing Good Foods and Good Choices in a positive light.

*”Thank goodness I don’t eat after dinner anymore, I sleep so much better now.”

*”Thank goodness I don’t drink alcohol every night, I sleep better, my face isn’t puffy, and I have better energy in the morning.”

*”Thank goodness I started packing lunch every day.  I can’t remember the last time I felt sleepy in the afternoon.”

*”Thank goodness I’ve gotten rid of the starchy and sugary carbs, my stomach is so flat!”

Positive Assertions!  Friday night we went to a food festival, which was amazing!  We both ate a lot of food, and felt pretty full.   Alright, we probably ate too much, BUT, no bread and no pasta.  ( there were no desserts, so that wasn’t even a temptation)  We got back (walked home up a mountain!), feeling stuffed, but our stomachs looked fine – honestly.

Not being bloated and sick and gassy, it’s WONDERFUL. That’s our motivation for not eating grainy, sugary carbs.  We Feel So NORMAL and good that it’s worth it.

“Everything we do counts. We’re the culmination of our every day habits.” 20150620_171508 This is why I counsel my clients to start eating well RIGHT NOW.  Don’t wait for Sunday, or the 1st, start now.  It’s not about weight, it’s about whether you’re putting foods in your mouth that make you feel good or make you feel like crap – in the long term.

No fooling ourselves that a little bit of poison doesn’t matter.  Or that falling off the wagon won’t hurt.  Everything counts.  Look down at your stomach – is it flat or puffy?  Are you energetic and clear thinking, or tired and foggy?  How’s your skin?  How’s your sleep?  Do you digest without bloating, farting or burping?

Everything counts, and here’s why:

“Tomorrow-logic doesn’t work, because our actions and behaviors always cause brain chemistry that perpetuates more of the same behavior, not different behavior.”

When we tell ourselves that we’re not going to drink the wine or eat the pasta or have the chips, and then we do, we STRENGTHEN the habit in our brain.  We don’t weaken it with our actions or our pledge to be better tomorrow, ever.  The action creates chemicals that create substance -matter- in our brain. The action makes it harder to resist next time, not easier.  If over indulgence was a deterrent, we’d have no obese people, no alcoholics, no drug addicts, no gamblers, etc.  

Indulgence begets more indulgence.  Always.

Solution:  In addition to changing your thoughts about what makes you feel good and happy, access your circumstances and surroundings.  What do you need to change there?

Could you:

*Keep your home a junk free zone.

*Pack a lunch every day.

* Make enough dinner that you have leftovers for lunch.

*Pledge to quit depriving yourself, and eat 3 meals a day of Real Whole Food.

*Make butter, olive oil, and coconut oil regular additions to each of your meals so that you’re not starving.

*Set aside time to plan your whole week, so you can schedule grocery shopping, packing, and cooking, and power cooking.

*Want a sweet or a salty?  Make It Yourself.  Learn how to bake cookies with almond flour, honey, and dark chocolate.  Learn how to bake homemade french fries in your oven. Learn how to make homemade ice cream, with real cream, swerve, and vanilla or cocoa powder.

Back to the word “deprivation”, that’s not what being healthy is about, but that’s the term and the attitude that’s been instilled in all of us since the 1970s, right?  “If you want to be healthy, you need to eat boiled chicken and steamed broccoli.”  That’s such bull crap!

I still remember Mrs Poland from my high school saying, “if you’re not hungry, you’re not losing weight”.  I believed that for decades, and it’s so wrong! Hunger and deprivation set us up to Fail, not Win.

Hunger’s the enemy, and we can keep it at bay by having hearty meals full of good fats, good proteins, and a TON of vegetables; not over exercising, and working hard at getting enough sleep.

Those are the secrets and the tricks to being a Normal Weight, feeling good, being healthy, and having nice skin.  Honest.  Get in touch with me if you need help. 

Do You Have “Weight Loss Resistance”?

20150322_174519I have really interesting information today that relates to your weight, your energy, and your risk for disease, but first, a little info on where I’ve been the past week.

See my lead picture?  That’s me, with Mark, 2 of my sisters, 1 brother in law, and my parents.  My dad threw a big – super fun – party for my mom down in Florida, where they live half the year.  Pretty weather, fun in the sun, lots of dancing – it just messed up my writing schedule!  It didn’t however, mess up my learning schedule, as I’m obsessed with reading and listening to anything and everything about health.

Then, I spent 2 days in Hampton, Va at a Joyce Meyers convention with Mark.  Wow.  That woman’s amazing and inspiring, check her out.

Weight Loss Resistance:  This past week there’s been a Diabetes Summit on line, and if you haven’t been listening and you have diabetes, high blood sugar or just can’t lose weight, you should buy this summit.  Why?  The docs on this summit have a LOT of new info, holy smoly – tons, seriously it’s the best summit I’ve heard in a while.

In light of how many people actually have diabetes, and how many are predicted to develop diabetes, this is a condition that will literally touch ALL OF US in one way or another.  CDC predicts that by 2020 – 6 years from now – half of all Americans will be either diabetic or pre-diabetic.  MOMS, OUR KIDS ARE AT RISK HERE.  

The good news?  DIABETES TYPE 2 IS BOTH PREVENTABLE AND REVERSIBLE.  You don’t have diabetes because of genetics. Sorry. Diabetes rarely affected our grandparents when they were young, and our great-grand parents (in their younger years) possibly never even heard of it.  Type 2 diabetes is a LIFESTYLE disease of High Blood Sugar, and Insulin Resistance.

It’s fixable; and we want to fix it, because high blood sugar and insulin resistance lead to many many disease states other than diabetes.

Weight Loss Resistance is one of them; here’s why it happens.  When we have high blood sugar, insulin is released to the blood stream.  Insulin’s job is to lower blood sugar, because high blood sugar wrecks havoc on our arteries (high blood pressure, ED, etc), our skin (wrinkles, age spots), our nerve endings (hello neuropathy), our brain – Alzheimer’s is being called Diabetes Type 3, and I could go on and on.  The weight connection:  when excess Insulin is in the blood, FAT BURNING AIN’T HAPPENING. PERIOD PERIOD PERIOD.

If you eat a breakfast of “healthy whole grain” oatmeal and a banana and go to the gym to “burn fat”, you won’t; you’ll just burn the sugar/glucose in your blood stream.  It’s science: when insulin’s in the blood stream, our “fuel burners” aka mitochondria, burn glucose, not fat.  It’s a rule, and we can’t change it.

What about Weight Loss Resistance?  I’d never heard that term before I heard one of the summit’s docs coin it, but I sure do know people who have it, including some of my clients who literally do everything right and still can’t lose weight.  This explains it!

First, a review of what “Insulin Resistance” is, and how that leads to “Weight Loss Resistance”.  The hormone Insulin can be Caustic and Irritating.  In NORMAL amounts insulin is wonderful and necessary.  In EXCESSIVE amounts, say, the amounts required to store all the excess blood sugar consumed today, Insulin is DANGEROUS.  Our cells and our body, knows this; so the little doors-receptors on the cells that happily open for NORMAL amounts of insulin, close and say NO WAY to excessive amounts of insulin; they’re self-preservating. When receptor doors close, there’s inflammation, there’s a shut down of cell function, and **** other hormones, like Thyroid, Sex, and Leptin (which tells our brain we’re full) are prevented from entering and delivering their messages.   

A whole bunch of dysfunction is happening, right?

Two more points about Insulin Resistance:  1) if you have this, you’ve become a Fat Making and Storing Machine.  Long chemistry explanation, but true.  2) Insulin Resistance begets MORE insulin resistance; the lack of insulin in the cells sends a signal to the pancreas to spit out more insulin.  It does, but the insulin has no where to go, because the doors are shut.  So the pancreas makes even more, which irritates more doors to shut.  It’s a vicious cycle.

What about Weight Loss Resistance?  What if you just quit eating refined grains and sugars, everything should go back to normal, right?

Sometimes; most of the time. Sometimes not.

Here’s a great point brought to light via the summit’s speakers:  Insulin Resistance isn’t only caused by excess insulin. The cells doors/receptors are bothered and irritated to closing by TOXINS also.  What toxins?  Crap in our water, foods, cigarettes, personal care products, cleaning products, pesticides, herbicides, etc.  We have tens of thousands of irritating chemicals in our life every day, and they’re so completely hidden from view that they’re mostly invisible.

Removal of toxins and refined sugar and grains are the first step to healing Insulin Resistance.  Healing the cell so that the doors/receptors open normally to insulin and all our other hormones, is the next step.

This is trickier, and it involves both correct nutrients, and great digestion.

The exterior of our cells is made from Fats and Cholesterol, and believe it or not, SATURATED FAT, is WAY preferred over POLY-UNSATURATED fats, or even mono-unsaturated fats, for building the cell wall. ( Hmmmm. NOT THE MESSAGE WE HEAR FROM OUR DOCS OR THE GOVERNMENT.)  Why?  Sat fats are structurally neat and tidy, like a brick wall.  Nutrients get in easily, and trash gets out easily, like it’s supposed to.  Saturated fats are the most stable and durable in the face of Free Radicals, Heat, and Oxygen of all the fats.

Remember I said that we burn sugar instead of fat if Insulin’s in the blood stream, it’s a rule?  Well, the fact that saturated fats and cholesterol make the best cell walls is another Rule like that one.  It’s just science.  What happens if you don’t eat saturated fat or cholesterol, but like me, you went years eating vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils, like margarine or Crisco?

Your body will use those weak, damage prone fats to build your cells.  Nutrients won’t get in well, and trash won’t get out well.  Not only that, but those cells are now prone to inflammation and dysfunction;  think: INSULIN RESISTANCE.

One more fact about saturated fat and cholesterol:  it doesn’t make your blood sugar rise AT ALL.  ZERO insulin is released to take care of it, zero.

Cells need to be healed if Insulin Resistance is going to be reversed. Obviously, we need good fatty acids to do that, and to breakdown and absorb and use those fatty acids, we need good digestion.  If you bloat, belch, fart, have reflux, or GERD, you don’t have good digestion.  That has to be fixed using supps like DGL, aloe vera, digestive enzymes and more.  There’s specific nutrients that target the cell receptors, like Berberine and ALA, and there’s spices and herbs that repair cells and reduce or reverse inflammation, like turmeric and garlic.

Food Is Medicine or Food Is Poison, right?

Exercise helps reduce Insulin Resistance, because it makes muscle cells have more mitochondria, so the cells have the capacity to accept more sugar/glucose.  Burst training/HITT/intervals/plyometrics and weight training have the most positive effects on Insulin Resistance, much more than long cardio, which can actually make things worse. (long explanation)

If the term Weight Loss Resistance caught your eye, because you think that applies to you, get in touch with me.  We can come up with a plan to get you Burning Fat instead of Storing Fat.  Our bodies want to be healthy and normal, we all have the capacity to change and heal and feel great.  Take control of your life today; eat Real Whole Foods, prioritize sleep and stress management, schedule exercise into your week.  This is doable, and you’re fixable.  I promise.

2015-03-29 08.56.13I’m ending with a picture of my mom and dad at the party, you can see where I get my bent for health from!

 

To check out the Diabetes summit, go here.

 

Want to Be Lean and Healthy? Train To Be A “Wow” Brain. Success Story Inspiration!

Ernestine-ShepherdOww Brain or Wow Brain; Mark and I heard that phrase in a talk describing two types of people:  1) those who balk at change/effort/organization because it’s too hard, so their life is one big excuse; and 2) those who accept change/effort/organization, despite that it’s hard, and actually embrace it.

If you want to lose weight, get healthy, and have a fit body, it’s not about luck, or having the time.  If you think that way, you’re an Oww Brain, that means YOU MAKE EXCUSES.  Practice being a Wow Brain, practice being organized, practice sticking to your schedule.  Other people do, you can too!

You don’t need a secret sauce or great genetics to be healthy and fit.  You just need a plan, and then, you need to stick to the plan.  The plan needs to be sustainable, forever.  The resolve to adhere to the plan comes from the Wow Mindset.  If you don’t have that, then develop that. Other people do, you can too.

Need to lose weight?  Want great legs?  Tired of having your stomach sticking out?  Tired of being sick and tired?  Other people change, you can too.

Hate to cook, bad at scheduling, think your kids or your job runs your life? That’s an Excuse Train/Oww Brain Mindset.  Other people change that, you can too.

Want some motivation to jump off the Excuse Train, end the Diet Roller Coaster, and start living the life you want?  Look at some of the Other People:

Maynard_7_t900Read about Kyle Maynard, a Professional Athlete who has no arms and no legs.  This guy kicked my butt in Burpee Tabatas at a conference once.  It was humbling.

 

 

maxresdefaultRead about Willie Murphy, who’s 77 and can do 1 handed push-ups in addition to squats and dead lifts!

 

 

 

masters_kathymartinRead about Kathy Martin, a Master’s Runner who didn’t even start running until she was in her late 40’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

fran-miller-91-year-old-yogaRead about Fran Miller, the 91 year old Yogi, who never took a yoga class until she was in her 50’s.

 

 

 

DUNK360-Featured-Image-vince-400x242Read about Vince McMahon, who’s 69 and owns the empire – and still runs – the WWE.

 

 

 

tina armetRead about blind Ironman Tina Armet, who qualified then ran, biked, and swam at Kona (that means she made it through all the smaller races first).

 

Oh, what about my lead photo, the gorgeous body builder?  That’s 77 year old Ernestine Shepard, who didn’t start working out until she was 56.

To quote 2 Timothy 1:7:  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.  (I love this verse.)

That doesn’t apply to some of us, it applies to all of us.  All of us are capable of taking the steps and living the life of fitness and health and purpose.  All of us.

Are you going to waste another day being an Oww Brain, or are you going to be like these Other People, and develop your Wow Brain?

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/