Fats | Rock Solid Over 50

Archive for Fats

Eat for Health, Weight Loss is a Side-Effect

August 29, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I received an email that I think expresses how a lot of people feel when they read my posts:

Hi Debbie,

I understand that you’re saying that there’s some nutritional benefits to eating Real Whole Foods, even if they contain fats, but if I do, I’m afraid I’ll gain weight, and I need to lose weight.

There’s more, but you get the point. Folks, we get fat from excess carbohydrates, vegetable oils and trans fats, artificial sweeteners, toxins/chemicals in our water, food, personal care products and the drugs we take, alcohol (excess carbs), and stress (cortisol compels glucose and insulin into the blood stream). We don’t get fat from Real Whole Foods I PROMISE!!! The whole Calories/Fat/Cholesterol/Diet Foods Stuff – it’s all wrong. We can just look around and see that Diets Don’t Work; about 50 million Americans go on a diet each year, many lose weight, between 1 and 4% keep if off. Weight: skyrocketing – we’re up to 70% overweight as a country now. Heart disease, Cancer, Stroke, Auto-Immune conditions, Mood Disorders, GERD/reflux, Migraines/Headaches: skyrocketing.

What causes all these health disorders? Excess carbohydrates, vegetable oils and trans fats, artificial sweeteners, toxins and chemicals in our water/ food/ personal care products and the drugs we take, alcohol (excess carbs and hard on liver), and stress (cortisol/glucose/insulin). These things impede our livers, cause inflammation throughout the body, and stimulate addictive pathways in our brain.

When you eat Real Whole Food for your health, the weight comes off – forever. We’re not made to be sick and overweight, that’s a state we create by our daily choices and habits. We have such power to change this. Eat for Health and the weight comes off.

Do you believe me, but have a hard time eating well consistently? Beef up your knowledge. Read the blogs, listen to the podcasts, buy the books, fill your head with nutrition facts that make making the right choice easier and more natural, less effort. Know what I mean? The Wheatbelly Doctor (Dr. William Davis) was on livinlavidalowcarb yesterday. Before he was the Wheatbelly Dr., he was the Track Your Plaque Cardiologist. He’s amazing. He’s talking about Cholesterol and Heart Disease here :http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/8510/718-cholesterol-clarity-interview-with-cardiologist-dr-william-davis/. Take the time to listen in your car, in your kitchen, or while you’re walking/running. Fill your mind with ammunition!

Time to say Adios. I’ve got coconut milk with chocolate mint leaves steaming on the stove, and then I’m off to teach two classes this morning: Booty Camp and Centergy – I still love group fitness after 26 years:). The coconut milk/chocolate mint is for this ice creamhttp://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/mint-chip-ice-cream-against-all-grain-book-review/. I’m changing the recipe slightly, using only coconut milk and cream, no almond milk, adding raw eggs, and a whole avocado instead of a third. Do I think this is a junk food? Absolutely Not! These are nutrient dense ingredients – foods like these make my family healthier, don’t stimulate addictive behaviors, and leave us all feeling very satiated. Choose Real Whole Foods-

Category: Carbs, Fats, Psychology of Eating /

More Fat Facts, Workshop Reminder, Success Story

August 27, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

WORKSHOP REMINDER: I’ve got another workshop/talk planned on Blood Sugar, and it’s relationship and effect on Weight, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Thyroid, and Mood. The date is Wednesday, August 28, 6-8pm, the charge is $30/person, and the venue is the Marshall Community Center, 4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall, Va. This is literally right off Rt 66, and very easy to find. There’s plenty of parking and the room is big, so bring a friend or a family member if you’d like. You can pay at the door.

How bout some more Fun Facts on Fats? Specifically, animal fats:)

You might be surprised to know that Beef Fat is only 46% saturated, 43% monounsaturated, and about 10% polyunsaturated. Hmmm. Weird. That seems a little different than we’ve been told. It also contains CLA ( a fatty acid that fights cancer, lowers triglycerides and heart disease risk); ALA (a fatty acid that lowers blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity), and steric acid ( a fatty acid that lowers LDL cholesterol). The Omega 3 to 6 ratio? About 1:1, especially if it’s been fed grass and not just grain.

Poultry fat is about 70% UNsaturated and 30% saturated, pretty much the same as Olive oil as it contains the same fatty acid: oleic acid (40%), which lowers LDL cholesterol. Turkey fat contains palmitic acid, which lowers total cholesterol and LDL. Poultry fat is also loaded with an antiviral/antibacterial fatty acid, so eat it for your immune system. The Omega 3 to 6 ration? About 1:1.

Lard (oohhh, scary lard!), is 40% saturated, 50% MONOunsaturated, and 10% PUFA. Wow. We’ve been lead to believe that lard goes straight to your butt or arteries. Not. True. Our body uses those fatty acids for many, many jobs. Lard also has potent anti-microbial fatty acids, and HUGE tocopherol contents (these make Vitamin E) in the fat. Hmm.

What about cream? That’s artery clogging, right? Wrong. Cream is LOADED with vitamins A and D, and K2. It also contains a fatty acid called Butyric Acid, this builds the lining of your gut (good bye leaky gut), is a favorite food of the good bacteria in your colon, and lowers triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol. Cream also contains CLA.

Wow. These foods sound like Health Foods, right? Right.

For decades now we’ve heard that Saturated Fats are bad, and that replacing these harmful fats with vegetable oils would be good for us. The message has been effective; statistically speaking, consumption of vegetable oil has skyrocketed, and consumption of saturated fats from animal sources and coconut/palm oil has plummeted. Think you don’t eat many vegetable oils? If you’re eating premade, processed, refined food, or restaurant food, you’re eating vegetable oils. That’s a guarantee.

This advice from our government and public health experts has been a disaster: now our consumption of trans fats and Omega 6 oils is so high, that we’re seeing side effects in spades: epidemic numbers of heart disease, cancer, auto-immune disease, diabetes, asthma, and weight gain, to name a few. The structure of Poly-Unsaturated (PUFA) vegetable oils is fragile and unstable; they’re incredibly prone to damage form heat, light, and air. The really bad part is that our body uses these damaged fatty acids in our cell membranes, hormones, brain matter, etc. Think of the implications for a moment. Think what it’s doing to your child’s brain, immune system, and weight to eat the Standard American Diet full of Inflammatory, Disease causing vegetable oils, trans fats, sugar and flour. What’s it doing to you?

Here’s a Success Story from one of my favorite sites, Marks Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-different-kind-of-success-story/#axzz2dAUkAenw. Hope to see you Wednesday night – I promise loads of Information and Inspiration.

Category: Fats, RWF /

Fun Facts On Fat

August 24, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Thank you if you attended yesterdays Blood Sugar/Cholesterol/Thyroid workshop:) If you’re planning to attend next Wednesday’s, 8/28, I’ll be looking forward to seeing you.

There’s a lot of confusion and questions about fat, and while I’m addressing that in my talks, I want to put some facts on paper/screen so that you can stare at them and let them sink in. This won’t in anyway be a Primer on Fats, more like Fun Facts on Fats.

Fats are either Saturated, Monounsaturated, or Polyunsaturated. Cholesterol ISN’T a fat, it’s an alcohol sterol. (These are just going to be bullet point facts, not a chemistry lesson.)

* Saturated fats (SF) have incredibly stable structure, that’s why about 50% of EVERY CELL membrane in your body is made from SF. Cholesterol is another fatty substance that is incorporated into EVERY CELL membrane of your body; it’s also stable and allows nutrients in, and waste out PROPERLY.

* Eat a diet low in SF, or take cholesterol lowering medications so that less is made, and you COMPROMISE THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR CELL MEMBRANE. Nutrients WON’T get in and out properly. If this goes on for years, you’re in trouble.

* Fats don’t just go from mouth to stomach to butt / belly fat. That’s not how we work. The fats we eat are completely broken down to their barest molecular structure, and then sent by the liver to do thousands of different functions in the body: build hormones, “transport” fat soluble nutrients, become part of immune system, build brain matter (60% of the brain is fat), build bones; I could go on and on, but know that when you eat fat, isn’t not just stored, it’s used to build your body.

* Olive Oil isn’t an Omega 3, it’s an Omega 9. Olive oil and Avocado Oil are MONOUNSATURATES. They’re a little less stable than SF, but MUCH more stable than Polyunsaturated Fats. Keep them away from light or heat. Consider NOT cooking with olive oil (SF are best for cooking); if the heat’s too high, you’ll damage the fatty acids. The same happens if you leave you olive oil out on the counter, exposed to light, and not in a dark cabinet. OUR BODY USES DAMAGED FATTY ACIDS – AND THIS ISN’T A GOOD THING.

* Vegetable oils (corn/soy/canola), nuts and seeds, and Fish Oil, are POLYUNSATURATED FATS (PUFA). PUFAs are incredibly delicate and UNstable, very, very prone to damage from heat, air, and light. It’s a crime that Big Food and Big Medicine have been encouraging their use in cooking for the past several years. When we cook with these fragile oils, they become rancid and damaged and then our body incorporates them into our cell membranes. WHEN DAMAGED PUFAS ARE INCORPORATED INTO CELL MEMBRANES, THE LIVER PRODUCES MORE CHOLESTEROL TO STABILIZE THE MEMBRANE.

* Trans Fats are liquid vegetable oils that have been “hydrogenated” to make them solid. These things are a DISASTER for us. Experts argue over which has been worse for our health, Sugar or Trans Fats. Trans Fats raise LDL B(that’s the bad, small, dense LDL), raise the Insulin response to blood glucose (= more insulin in circulation), lower testosterone, raise abnormal sperm, lower the ability of enzymes to do their conversions and work, increase free radicals, and if they get incorporated into cell membranes (and they will if you eat them), completely disrupt the membranes functions (and there’s a bunch).

* If a Food Product, like crackers, says 0 Grams Trans Fat – don’t believe it. That cracker has to be held together by something, and it needs staying power on the shelf. The FDA allows any Food Product that has LESS than a Half Gram/Serving to say 0 Trans Fats. This is criminal, it seems small and inconsequential – it’s NOT. This really adds up dangerously.

Hope you can make Wednesday nights talk as I’ve got a whole lot more information on fats, plus I’m explaining how our body digests and uses them. The more you know, the more power you have to make healthy decisions for yourself and your family. For now, be smart and safe, Eat Real Whole Foods.

Category: Fats, Looks Healthy But Isn't, RWF /

Cholesterol Facts and Upcoming Talk

August 5, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’m back from my Diabetes, Cholesterol, and Thyroid Seminar, oh my gosh was it fantastic! Our speaker was a Dr. Kleber from Colorado, and not only was he smart as a whip, but he had a serious gift for public speaking. He wowed us!

I’ve got a lot of information I want to pass on to you all, and some of it I’ll do in my blog posts. However, I want to do a couple talks in the next 2 weeks so that if you live local, I can really help you understand why what you eat and how you live affects your blood sugar regulation, which affects not only your Weight, but your risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease, Thyroid issues and more. I’ll be posting those dates by tomorrow.

The more I learn, the more it’s drilled into me that it’s All About The Food. We’re NOT deficient in pharmacuticals or over the counter medications like anti-inflammatories or antacids; food breaks down to nutrients that build our body and our mind; it matters what we eat. Let me rephrase that: food has nutrients that build and repair us. Repair, as in, fixing the damage from Heart Disease and Diabetes, and even auto-immune issues; repair as in switching your body from primairly burning sugar/glucose, to primarily burning fatty acids.

Here’s a few facts on Cholesterol and Heart Disease:

*75% of people who have Myocardial Infarctions/heart attacks, have NORMAL levels of LDL

*80% of people in the Framingham study (on-going since 1948, tens of thousands of men and women are participating) who have an “event” had cholesterol levels identical to the population that was/is event free.

* Cholesterol is a REALLY REALLY bad predictor of Heart Disease, but if it’s a certain number, your doctor will put you on a statin anyway.

There’s a test now, called the VAP test, I’ve had it, that measures the Particle Size and Density of your cholesterol. This is important to know, and easy to get. Cholesterol is mainly made in the liver, and the liver directs it to areas of damage or need (remember, it’s a Repair molecule, a building block, and an Antioxidant). But EVERY SINGLE CELL IN OUR BODY can and does make cholesterol. Is this some giant mistake God made?? Is He sitting up there lamenting this design flaw?? NO. If we didn’t have cholesterol plugging up our arteries after all the crap we put in our bodies to damage them, we’d have an arterial breakthru and die. Instead, we have this NUTRIENT that the liver sends out time after time for years to plug and patch the trauma sites. This adds years to our life. The bad side is these plaque patches get bigger and bigger, depriving the heart and brain of oxygen.

So why the VAP test? What is this about particle size and density? Isn’t it just about “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol? No. It turns out there’s BAD HDL (yep), and non-damaging LDL. The picture has changed in the past few years, but if your doctor is pushing a statin for a total cholesterol value of 200, he’s still living in the past. The VAP test is easy, and cheap, and most insurance companies are doing it. ASK FOR IT, and if your doctor doesn’t know how to read it, find a doctor who does.

There are 5 types of HDL (that they know of now, one is a pretty recent discovery), only 1 of them – HDL 2b, is highly Cardio Protective. HDL 3b may actually be associated with an INcreased risk of heart disease.

What about LDL, the “bad” stuff? If it’s high on your lipid profile, above 100, your doctor will want to put you on a statin to lower it, except….. Statins Don’t Lower LDL – statins lower TOTAL cholesterol. (Some LDL cholesterol is actually a repair molecule anyway – why would we want to lower that?) LDL size and density matters, a lot. Big, fluffy LDLs do NO damage, small, dense LDL DOES. The doctor said to think of the LDLs as beach balls or bowling balls going thru your arteries, banging into the arterial wall. Which ones do you think would be a problem?

Here’s something super scary: Beta Blockers(for heart disease), Thiazide and Loop Diuretics (for high blood pressure and edema), and Insulin (for diabetics who’s number one cause of death is heart disease) all CAUSE A SHIFT IN LDL TO A SMALLER, DENSER FORM. Hmmmm. Aren’t people on those meds to make them “well”, but instead one of the side effects is potential arterial damage?

The worst LDL identified so far? Lp (a), which is 10x more atherogenic than LDL-C. Why would our body make Lp(a)? Because it’s a REPAIR molecule for arteries; here’s the kicker: if you have the NUTRIENTS available to fix the damage – Lp(a) WOULDN’T BE CALLED IN. There’s also the whole “don’t cause any damage in the first place” argument too.

What damages arteries? Sugar/flours/Glucose (toxic), Insulin, Chemicals from: cigarettes, drugs, cleaning products, body care products, “food products”/i.e. fake foods; bad oils/hydrogenated oils, free radicals, cortisol from emotional stress, and homocysteine.

Can arterial damage be reversed or prevented? Absolutely!! Again, it’s Food,( and supplements, and stress management, and exercise). The choices we make everyday add up. They matter. A little Diet Soda here, a little pasta there, fried food at the fair, school lunches, weekly stops at the convenience store, Starbucks chemical coffees, too much beer, constant snacking, etc etc. It all adds up. Everything we do matters.

Tomorrow I’ll have those dates for you, plus some interesting info on diabetes. Eat Real Whole Foods!

Category: Fats, RWF /

How to make “Good Eating Days” your Norm.

July 25, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

This is going to be a rah-rah/what to eat to lose weight post. Fair warning.

Had a good email the other day from a beautiful woman who says that blue moods cause her to eat all day. I can relate to that,… I’ve been there. I used to eat all day because: I had some time alone (unusual w/ job and 4 kids), felt happy, felt tired, wanted to read and eat, had great food in the pantry/fridge, and… the opportunity presented itself. It made sense, since I was usually hungry from my small to moderate sized “mini-meals” of protein and carbs. I actually used to watch the clock, and worry that the “time” to eat my next “meal” could be somehow compromised by another person or an obligation and Oh No, how was I going to squeeze it in? Really though, due to my “insufficient” diet ( high on some nutrients, like protein, carbs, but COMPLETELY lacking good fats in the right amounts), and my Brain Training of eating every couple of hours, I just got used to always eating. The eating led to the desire to keep eating, despite the amounts of food I’d take in. That was always followed by guilt, self-recrimination, and a plan to eat really really well starting tomorrow.

It’s the perfect way to make yourself crazy – ever tried it?

I can’t remember the last time this happened and I had a “bad day” – honestly. If you experience bad days frequently, and can’t imagine normal life free of bad days, KEEP READING THIS BLOG, because I want EVERYONE to be free of bad days!

Here’s the drumbeat again: If you want to get off the Diet Rollercoaster – and just have NORMAL days, you’ve got to let go of old, failed, FALSE ideas that low fat/low cal and tons of exercise are the Keys to Weightloss Success, because they’re not. That old dinosaur paradigm screws up your thyroid, insulin, cortisol, and your sex hormones. Low fat / low cal eats away at your muscle tissue. Low/fat low/cal really messes with your metabolism – in a very long term way. Low fat/low cal messes with your mind(emotionally and structurally). Between 95 and almost 100% of ALL dieters GAIN THEIR WEIGHT BACK.

Change the way you think and just try something new. Give up the notion that Fat makes you Fat. Give up the notion that Saturated Fat, from healthy animal sources or coconut, creates plaque in the arteries or high cholesterol, because scientifically – that’s NEVER been proven. When you see headlines like “Meat causes heart disease/diabetes T2/etc”, go look at the foods included in the study. You will ALWAYS see pizza(including crust), burgers (including bun), and lunch meats (loaded with who knows what plus nitrates and chemicals) classified as “meat”.

Want to read a little more about it? Try here, and here.

Fats fill you up. Fats are used by the body to do hundreds or thousands of jobs, from literally making up the membrane of EVERY SINGLE CELL IN YOUR BODY, to assisting fat-soluble vitamins to their rightful places, to building EVERY SINGLE SEX HORMONE, to feeding your heart (the heart muscle loves fatty acids!), to building brain neurons (the brain is 60% fat), etc etc etc.
When you skimp on fat, your body and mind rebels. They will get what they want. Those cravings you can’t deny? That weird desire to keep eating even though you’ve had plenty of food? That’s a cry for NOURISHMENT, and fatty acids are INCREDIBLY nourishing.

If you’re afraid of gaining weight on a diet that includes more fat and less carbs, put that fear aside and try it. Give up the crackers, bread, pasta, pretzels, beer, and sweets, and replace it with more protein, more vegetables and a LOT more fat. Drizzle olive/avocado oil on your salads, saute meats and vegetables in coconut oil or grass-fed butter (kerrygold’s a good one), eat REGULAR fat/unadulterated dairy products if you digest them well, roast your chicken with the skin ON, add a whole avocado to your salads, make a treat out of coconut butter or nuts. Go for it.

And ask yourself, are you really afraid of fat, or are you sad at the thought of giving up the low fat/low cal munchie foods that allow you to indulge in your food desires while convincing yourself you’re eating health food? Because I think that’s often the reason. CHANGE YOUR DESIRES. Sitting in front of the TV after dinner with a bowl of popcorn, potato chips or ice cream? Change that desire. Love to stop at your favorite coffee shop for a sweet drink and a sweet treat? Change your desire. Love your big bowls of pasta? Change that desire. Think cereal is from heaven? Change that desire. Work on creating another line in your brain that focuses on something else. Maybe you need to watch tv in another room, or go to bed and read; drive a different way home from work or listen to a podcast to distract you. Start thinking that all your sauces would taste great on zucchini or eggplant or spaghetti squash. Become appalled at the amount of carbs on your cereal box label. Work on your thoughts, and satisfy your body with foods that provide that nutrients that it needs.

Here’s a little ammunition, a Looks Healthy But Isn’t, actually, a few LHBI: Ruffles Light Potato Chips (which contain Olestra/might cause leakage stuff), 10 chips are 17 grams of carbs/0 fat; Quaker Oats Natural Granola, 1/2 cup has 38 grams of carbs; and a slice of Starbucks Reduced Fat Berry Coffee cake has 54 grams of carbohydrate!! These are weight disasters waiting to happen, and Health disasters waiting to happen.

Let’s go back to the beginning. Want your life to be a string of “good eating days”? Ditch the empty refined, processed carby foods, and any thoughts of “mini meals”, and fill your plate and body with Real Whole Foods: good fats, good proteins, tons of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, some dairy. Feed your body what it needs and the self-sabotage will end.

Category: Carbs, Fats, Psychology of Eating /

Mind Ammo for Clean Eating

June 22, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

The foods we eat either (1) trigger hormones that stimulate hunger, and create energy storage (fill up fat cells); or (2) trigger hormones that lead to satiety and induce fat cells to give up their contents.

It’s one or the other.

If the foods stimulate hunger, and energy storage, (this would be starchy, sugary, chemical enhanced, processed foods), they create Bad Health: heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune conditions, and mood disorders. If you’re eating foods that cause satiety and fat burning, you’re making choices that lead to better health and better moods.

This goes for you and your children. The foods we eat 100% directly create our health, our moods, and our weight. If you’re unhappy with your health, your moods, or your weight, then focus on cementing that connection in your mind. That way when “opportunities” arise, you’ll be able to make good choices that you feel happy with AFTER you’ve eaten.

What if you’re addicted? What if you truly believe that we’re 100% what we eat, but still give in to chips, cereals, and desserts, as in you just couldn’t say no?

Then you need to look at your habits and patterns. Do you go out to a regular happy hour and always indulge because you deserve it after a hard day? Do you have a group of friends that you regularly indulge with? Do you have a particular night of the week when you sit down for hours of TV and snack foods? Do you feel like you “need” a sweet after dinner? Start eating in the late afternoon and feel unable to stop?

Every time I run a Nutrition Group, I survey everyone’s “worst habits”. I’ve asked hundreds of people now but it’s always a similar group of answers. There aren’t a lot of original bad habits.

Identify yours, and then make a plan to eliminate it. Email me if you need help, because Habits and Patterns are tricky to reverse, but if you Don’t, and nothing changes, then,…. nothing changes.

Here’s a little ammunition:

Cheesecake Factory Oreo Cheesecake, 1 slice: 1204 calories, 90g Carbs

Cheesecake Factory Chinese Chicken Salad: 535 Cals, 63g Carbs

FiberOne 90 Calorie Brownie: 90 Cals, 18g Carbs, 11 sources of sugar and starch, hydrogenated oils, 2 sources of soy(estrogenic and thyroid slowing), several chemical flavors, scents, emulsifiers, thickeners, and preservatives

Tostitos Artisan Southwest Tortilla Chips: 8 chips are 140 Cals, 19g Carbs, 13 sources of starch and sugar, 3 sources of Omega 6 vegetable oils, and brain cell damaging MSG (yeast extract and natural flavors)

Kellogg’s Frosted Blueberry Pop Tarts: 200 Cals, 36g Carbs, 11 sources of starch and sugar, 3 sources of vegetable oil and soybean oil, more chemical flavors, scents, preservative, and emulsifiers than you can count.

Digiornos Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza: 1 slice, 380 Cals, 40g Carbs, more than 40 ingredients, with numerous sources of starch, sugar, hydrogenated oils, soy, and chemicals.

This may seem like an eclectic list of foods, but they have a lot in common. All these foods contain chemicals and enough starches that when you eat them, you want more. Areas of the brain are triggered that leave you craving more food. They all also contain ingredients that DAMAGE your body and mind.

Practice looking at foods like these and NOT focusing on the pleasure sensations (yep, I’m comparing them to drugs and alcohol); focus on the AFTER effects of eating these foods. Think of these foods as poison in the package or on the plate. Really. You wouldn’t let your kids smoke, but what’s the difference between the chemicals and damage from cigarettes, and the chemicals and damage from Pop Tarts? One causes cancer,…. and the other causes cancer.

Want to feel good, look good, and be healthy? Want your kids to feel good, look good, and be healthy? Eat Real Whole Foods. Get in the habit of planning, shopping, cooking, and packing. Schedule cooking, schedule shopping, schedule packing. Eating Real Foods takes a little effort. Eating Processed, Refined, or Restaurant foods takes NO EFFORT and the results are disastrous: 70% of America is OVERWEIGHT, and Disease and Poor Health are RAMPANT.

You can make the switch. You can feel good, you can look good, and you can be healthy.

Category: Carbs, Cooking, Fats, Food Additives /

Get Off The Diet Roller Coaster

June 18, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Here’s an email that I bet will resonate with some of you:

“Hi Debbie,

I started a clean eating plan on June 1, because I have a wedding to attend at the end of the month. I did okay at first, but now have totally blown it. Any advice for me, or should I just wait and start again July 1. I have a dress that will fit either way.”

Here’s my answer:
If you constantly think about food in terms of “calories” and being on or off a diet, you can’t win. You’re on the cycle of the Diet Roller Coaster. If you think about food in terms of what it does to your body, you’ll get healthy and lose weight. To be successful and healthy and a good weight, it’s not about dieting, it’s about eating right, day after day, week after week, month after month; and it’s ALWAYS the right time to start eating right. There will NEVER be a better time to begin than TODAY, even if it’s the middle of the week or the middle of the month. Eating right isn’t about dates that correspond to events; or your mood, or circumstances. If events, moods, and circumstances rule your eating, you’re in trouble. Events have finite dates, and moods and circumstances are ever changing. They can’t be our guides when it comes to eating well.

You also can’t wait til “things are less busy”, “life gets a little easier”, or you get done with a big project. Those are excuses that allow you to eat foods that make you sick, depressed, and keep you weighing more than you want.
If you only want to eat well to lose weight, that’s never enough motivation to stay consistent day after day, week after week. Instead, that mindset gets you on the Diet Roller Coaster. NOTHING CHANGES WHEN YOU’RE ON THE ROLLER COASTER. You might loose a few pounds, but then you’ll gain them back when your diet-mindset wains. How many years do you want to do that?

Eat well because nutrient dense foods allow your body and mind to FEEL GOOD, and by default, you’ll look good. Eat well and if you need to lose weight, you will. Nutrient dense foods allow you to make nice skin cells, and hair cells, a strong immune system, sufficient hormones, good energy, and brain neurons that make positive connections. Processed, refined foods full of flour, sugar, and chemicals literally destroy your body and poison your mind: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, auto – immune, mood and behavior disorders – they’re all the product of bad foods.

Did you know that depression and anxiety are HIGHLY linked to poor nutrition in study after study? Our body builds our brain from the food we eat.

Need more reasons to eat well? Are you a parent, because if you are, you’re a Role Model. An eating roll model. However you eat, you’re TRAINING your kids to eat that way too. I promise. And they will deal with the same issues, or worse, than you’re dealing with as an adult. If you don’t have kids, then know that your friends, family, and co-workers will and are influenced by the choices you make. Ever noticed that if you don’t order dessert at a restaurant, it puts an immediate damper on someone who did want to order dessert?

Back to the wedding. You were “doing okay til you blew it”, should you wait til July to start again?? Does that mean eat lots of bad foods til July? Don’t worry about cooking, planning or packing meals to go? NO don’t wait til July! Eat healthy today, because you always feel better when you eat healthy, because just like not smoking or not taking drugs, IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO FOR YOUR BODY.

If you’re dieting however, you won’t be able to stick to your plan, you’ll be too hungry. Dieting, low/cal, low/fat meal planning, slows down your thyroid, restricts the amount of nutrients your brain can use to make serotonin and dopamine, and will give you compulsive, obsessive thoughts about food. NO ONE CAN STAY ON A DIET. That’s why 95 – 99% of ALL DIETERS GAIN THEIR WEIGHT BACK. You’ve got to eat plenty of good fats, plenty of good protein, tons of vegetables, and some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and some dairy (if all that works for your stomach).

Have you checked out my What I Eat Page? It is possible to live a life without grains, sugar and chemicals, in the Real World, with 4 kids and a job. It just takes planning, and practice and fore-thought. Once it’s a habit though, it’s not an effort anymore.

So instead of dieting, work on cutting the junk out of your life. Eat less and less fake/processed/refined foods, and more and more Real Whole Foods. Shop, prep, cook, freeze, PLAN. Cook in batches. Make 12 chicken breasts instead of 4. Make 2 meat loafs, and cut and freeze one in single servings for later. Make a giant salad. Cook 10 sweet or white potatoes at a time, and then pull them out during the week for breakfast or lunch. Slow cook a whole roast, pull it, and baggy servings for the week. Get used to making PB&Js or a meat and cheese sandwich for your kids to eat after practice instead of putting poison in their bodies at the fast food restaurants. (yeah, I hate bread, but for kids, it’s a better choice than fast food. Plus, they can make it themselves. )

Being healthy and lean is about the every day choices, day after day, week after week, month after month. It’s not about “being good” for 5 days or 10 days or 2 weeks or a whole month.

If you haven’t been able to stay consistent, I can guarantee it’s the food choices you’re making. Take a risk, and CHANGE THE CHOICES. Eat more fat and protein, cover your vegetables with butter or olive oil, and grated cheese, cook your chicken breasts with the FAT ON, eat your egg YOLKS, pop a couple spoonfuls of coconut butter in your mouth, or add some whole cream or coconut oil to your tea or coffee. These foods have nutrients that nourish your body and trigger SATIETY HORMONES. You will be able to go HOURS between meals when you eat like this; you’ll be able to mentally say you’re not hungry. You’ll be able to stay out of the fridge or the pantry. And I swear these foods won’t make you fat! Excess carbs, from flours or sugars, put weight on you!(they also cause disease and poor health) Traditional, Real, Fats are used by our body for thousands of jobs; carbohydrates are mostly STORED, because they’re ONLY used for energy, not to build us.

Get off the Diet Roller Coaster. Don’t wait til July. Eat well today, tomorrow, this weekend, next week, etc, etc, etc. You’ll feel and look so much better for it.

Category: Carbs, Cooking, Fats, Psychology of Eating /

Question and Answer Day

June 16, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’ve got some questions that aren’t personal, just nutritional, and good, so I’m going to answer them here instead of replying to the specific posts.

The first one was “what do I think of the Glycemic Index”? A little FYI, the Glycemic Index rates how quickly 50 grams of the glucose in a food goes from mouth to blood stream, and it’s referring to the effect that those foods would have on blood sugar and insulin. The standard of measure is 50 grams of table sugar, or white bread, (Fifty grams is about 10 teaspoons.), this reference food is given an arbitrary value of 100. The GI value of a specific food is expressed as a percentage of that arbitrary rating. The higher the percentage, the greater the surge in blood sugar. Diabetics are encouraged to use the GI scale to determine which foods are safe for them.

I’m not crazy about the GI scale and here’s why.

50 grams of a food is a LOT, that would be 10 to 12 carrots, to give you a visual. The scale rates homemade ice cream as LOW (1 -39%), table sugar and spaghetti as MEDIUM (40 to 69%), and carrots, watermelon, and corn as HIGH (70 to 100%). The ice cream got the low mark because the fat and protein in it slow the absorption of glucose from the intestine to the blood stream, but ice cream is NOT a good food for diabetics or anyone trying to lose weight. Spaghetti, which gets a MEDIUM, and therefore a “kind of okay” nod, is NOT okay for diabetics or anyone trying to lose weight; it’s too many carbs, most of which will be turned into triglycerides (unless you’re a young, male, athlete).

Carrots, corn, and watermelon, Real Whole Foods loaded with vitamins, minerals, and FIBER, should be included in our meals because they contribute to the nutrients our body needs for repair, maintenance, and thriving.

Foods/carb foods, eaten in the context of a MEAL that contains fat and protein, as opposed to by themselves, ALWAYS absorb more slowly – and that’s a good thing. We want our blood sugar to absorb slowly as opposed to quickly and causing a high blood sugar that needs to be met with high insulin.

High blood sugar and High insulin are DAMAGING to the body: nerve cells on the extremities, the organs, the eyes, the skin, the brain, and the arteries take a HIT. The amount of inflammation this causes is deadly. Excess blood sugar, of which our body needs VERY LITTLE, gets turned into TRIGLYCERIDES, and mostly deposited in the abdominal area.

I think a much better way to “pick your foods” is to look at Nutrient Density, which you’re ONLY going to find in Real Whole Foods. Pasta and bread have little to no nutrition; the high carb count causes just about everyone to convert at least part of those carbs to fat; and there’s little to no satiety from foods that are so highly processed.

Next, I was asked if Expeller Pressed Canola Oil is okay for salad dressings. Canola oil is a tricky thing. It’s an Omega 6 oil, which most of us get way too much of in relationship to the amount of Omega 3s we consume. We should consume O6:O3 at a 3:1 and some say a 1:1 ratio. In the US, we’re waaayyy off that with our high consumption of vegetable oils; statistics say we’re between 10:1 to 20:1. Not good. Huge negative implications for our health. Vegetable oils/Omega 6s are very very delicate and prone to damage with any kind of heat and oxygen, this is why cooking with them is a bad idea. Expeller pressed means “not heat extracted”, which is good; but it’s still an Omega 6, and still prone to damage from the air. Canola Oil doesn’t have many nutrients or benefits, unlike Olive oil, Walnut oil, or coconut oil. These oils are very nutrient dense and help that O6:O3 profile. I say ditch the Canola Oil for an oil that provides more health benefits.

One more question, about Chipotle; is it Healthy? I did a little digging, and I have to say, I’m disappointed. Their marketing says they want to use at least 50% local and organic WHEN IT”S POSSIBLE. They are TRYING to source clean meats when Possible. I like to think they have good standards and intentions, but they are a business, and they do need to turn a profit to keep running. Let’s call Chipotle a healthier option than other fast foods. HOWEVER, stick to the meat and vegetables! Get a burrito, chips, rice, or any other processed grain product, and you’ll consume a boatload of carbohydrate that turns into belly fat. Make good choices!

Keep the questions coming:)

Category: Carbs, Fats, Looks Healthy But Isn't /

You Can’t Lose Weight If You’re Hungry; and Gluten-Free

June 9, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Cultured/Fermented Foods Workshop Friday, June 14th, 1pm. Info Here

Have you ever correlated being hungry with losing weight? Because I sure used to. I remember in 11th grade, Mrs. Poland, who worked in the office at my highschool, told me that. I completely and totally took that advice to heart, for about 35 years or so. She was overweight, I didn’t have a pound to lose in 11th grade, but the impact was immediate.

Here’s the facts on being hungry: it’s the surest way to SLOW DOWN YOUR THYROID, AND YOUR METABOLISM, that you could possibly find. Being hungry – really hungry, is a signal that your body isn’t getting the Nutrients it needs to rebuild, function, and thrive. It means your brain’s not getting the proteins and minerals to build Serotonin and Dopamine, it means there isn’t enough fat to replenish the 60% fat that makes up your brain, it means that there’s not enough actual amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals to replenish/rebuild the liver cells, the kidney cells, the heart cells, not enough to make more hormones (Every Single Hormone is composed of Cholesterol, or Fat, or Both), there’s not enough nutrients to rebuild/replenish your gut wall, or the collagen in your skin (Hello Wrinkles) or joints (Hello Stiff Joints). I could go on and on, but get this: Hunger Doesn’t Equal Weight Loss, Hunger Means Your Body will SLOW DOWN To Conserve The Energy It Needs to LIVE.

What if you’re eating ALL THE TIME, as in 5 or 6 “mini” meals a days, and you’re still hungry??

THEN YOU’RE EATING THE WRONG FOODS. If that’s the case, you’re probably on the Diet Ferris Wheel, eating low cal/low fat nutrient deficient foods that leave you obsessing about the next meal and in a state of Metabolic Slow Down. This isn’t the road to health, or healthy weight. Even if you’re thin eating this way, the Nutrient Deficiencies will eventually get you: headaches, dry skin, bad joints, auto-immune conditions, poor immune system, and so on.

How should you eat? Plenty of Real Whole Traditional Foods: fats, proteins, tons of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, some dairy – if you tolerate that stuff.

I have a page on my Site called What I’m Eating Today.

Here’s what I ate yesterday:

paul newman organic vanilla coffee with raw cream and stevia

I worked out, trained legs HARD, ran around w hubby and did a bunch of errands

lunch: can of sardines w/greens/ whole big avocado/tomatoes/strawberries extravirginoliveoil/balsalmic, with my chocolate-coconutbutter homemade treat

gardened for 2 hours, cleaned, made big dinner for a crowd

dinner: lamb burger w/cheddar, big giant salad w/ oliveoil/vinegar /feta, roasted potatoes (white and sweet) with roasted onions coated in butter and sea salt

When you eat this much fat and protein, you just don’t get hungry. I can’t tell you how “freeing” it is to NOT FEEL HUNGRY. To literally NOT think about food, even though I was highly active.
Here’s the Important Part: Eating like this Does NOT make you gain weight. If you need to lose weight, and you eat like this, YOU WILL. You’ll be nourishing your body, giving it what it needs to rebuild, replenish, and fluorish. That’s how you get healthy and lose weight (if you need to).

Let’s look at a Looks Healthy But Isn’t: Udi’s Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bagel, Certified gluten free, 16g of whole grain per serving. 45 Grams Carb Per Bagel

Shelf life: approx 5 months (Real Food Does NOT last this long)

Ingredients: Filtered water, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, sunflower oil, raisins, egg whites, potato starch, evaporated cane juice, tapioca maltodextrin, xanthan gum, tapioca syrup or brown rice syrup, yeast, salt, cinnamon, mold inhibitor (cultured corn syrup, citric acid), enzymes.

NINE sources of starch and sugar, an Omega 6 (inflammation), and chemicals. This is just a crappy, processed food product that sends your Blood Sugar to the moon, causes inflammation and triglycerides, clogs your liver, and will digest SO QUICKLY, THAT YOU’LL BE STARVING IN AN HOUR OR TWO. Does this sound like a good plan? Ditch the diet mentality. It doesn’t work. Eat Real Whole Food.

Category: Carbs, Fats, Looks Healthy But Isn't, Psychology of Eating /

Weekend Binges, and A Plan

June 3, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Got a sad email lamenting a weekend binge. This is from someone who felt she was on the right track. She’d had several days of no bread/no sweets, and then boom, she started eating Friday night, and couldn’t stop until Sunday. The question was, What To Do Now?

I’m going to answer that, and I’m going to address how to conquer the desire to binge.

To start with, don’t do any thing drastic, like starve for the whole day, or just eat chicken, or submit to hours of exercise, or any other step that could possibly “purge” your body of the unwanted calories or pounds.

If you do, you’ll be perpetuating the Diet Ferris Wheel: Diet/starve/restrict your food, get super hungry, give in and overeat . Feel terrible about yourself. Diet/starve/restrict your food, get super hungry, give in, and overeat. Feel terrible about yourself. etc etc etc.

As long as you think of food, and your weight, as ‘calories in – calories out, food is all about the calories ‘, YOU’RE DOOMED TO A LIFETIME OF THE DIET FERRIS WHEEL.. There’s no long-term success with low-cal, low-fat diets, or Any Diet, with a calorie based mentality.

If you want to lose weight and get healthy, if you want to Conquer the Desire to Binge, you HAVE TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING. Honestly, it’s Not About The Food, It’s About Your Mind.

Please, just for a few minutes consider this statement: “Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat; Simple, Refined Carbs and Hydrogenated Oils make you Fat. (they also destroy your health) Fats are actually HEALTHY, and a MAJOR component of our bodies cells, organs, hormones, and brain matter. Low fat eating causes our body to run Improperly, our brain to malfunction, and sets us up for CRAVINGS that can’t be ignored. “

If you want to get to your Cravings Under Control, you have to believe that above statement, and then eat accordingly.

Give up the high-carb breakfast cereals and bagels, the mid-morning Starbucks junk, the lunchtime sandwich and chips, the lowfat granola bars and yogurts, the pastas for dinner, and the diet desserts. These foods induce a pattern of High Blood Sugar – Low Blood Sugar, which stresses the liver (the main source of your metabolism), increases Cortisol production (more belly fat), slows down your Thyroid, and depletes your brain of Serotonin and Dopamine, and all these come together to STIMULATE A HUGE CRAVING FOR MORE CARBS ( ever craved chicken or kale?) It doesn’t matter if the foods listed above are low/ no/ calorie/fat, and your days calorie count is only 1000. They’re all huge sources of refined, processed carbs, hydrogenated oils, and chemicals. (The Standard American Diet Plan can NOT get you thin – but it sure can make you crazy!)

Want to lose the cravings? Switch from a mindset of trying to lose your pounds but keep your indulgences, to looking forward to and loving the foods that build our body and our mind: meats, eggs, vegetables covered with butter or olive oil, coconut oils and butters, whole dairy products, some fruit, some nuts, and some seeds.

Feed your body the right foods, and HONESTLY, you will tame your appetite! Why do you think you only crave junk? There’s a malfunction from the calorie restriction and food choices. Now it’s time to fix that, and it is fixable. You can break your bondage to foods. Don’t be scared of Real Whole Foods, with all it’s fat attached. Really, what do you have to lose?

Recipe from PaleoOMG for Chicken Avacado Salad – DELICIOUS!!

Ingredients

For the chicken salad

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken
3 tablespoons fat of choice (I used duck fat)
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 avocado, skin removed, cubed
1-2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, minced
1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1-2 teaspoons fresh dill, minced
juice of ½ a lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

For the mayo

2 egg yolks
juice of ½ a lemon
½ cup avocado oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place chicken in a glass baking dish, pour some fat over each chicken breast, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
Put in preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Then place the chicken in the refrigerator to help cool for a refreshing chicken salad.
Now for the mayo. Avocado oil is the best for this mayo. The flavor isn’t very overwhelming so you can taste all the other flavors in this dish. So this is how you make the mayo.
In your food processor, add egg yolks and lemon and puree to combine. Once they are mixed well, turn food processor back on and begin to pour the avocado oil in VERY SLOWLY. I mean super slow. Tablespoon by tablespoon, dripping in there very slow. Did I say slow?
As you mix in the avocado oil very slowly, it will begin to thicken and create a mayo consistency. Be patient. And add more oil as needed to help thicken it even more. Place mayo in a container and into the fridge to keep cool while you finish off the salad.
Dice up the now cooled chicken into ½-1 inch cubes.
To a large bowl, add the cooked and cooled chicken, cubed avocado, fresh herbs, all the mayo, lemon juice, and a bit of salt and pepper. Taste to see if it needs more of anything.
Wrap the chicken salad in some butter lettuce leaves OR just eat it by itself. Whatever you want to do.

Category: Carbs, Fats, Psychology of Eating, RWF /

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