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Archive for Looks Healthy But Isn’t

Will Milk make you Fat or Skinny?

January 8, 2014 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’ve been meaning to do a post on milk for a while, and I got a great email this morning that compels me to do it immediately:

“Debbie,

Am I insane to find this article absolutely absurd?!?!?! I don’t know what to believe anymore. I just don’t want to be fat. Apparently this is too much to ask for. Feeling very discouraged after reading this.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/30/benefits-chocolate-milk-after-your-workout/”

You might have seen this article, or other articles referring to it, touting the fact that when they compared athletes who drank either chocolate milk, Gatorade, or water after a cycling workout, the ones who drank chocolate milk had better recovery. Makes sense. Milk has casein (long lasting) protein and whey (fast acting) proteins, fats for cell membrane repair, vitamins and minerals, and the sugar in the chocolate can be used for glycogen “refueling”. Gatorade’s pure junk ( have you read those ingredients? ), and while water is great, and it’s all I drink after a workout (with some Apple Cider Vinegar added), it doesn’t have any fat, protein, vitamins, or minerals. (ps, I workout a lot, and I’m fine without “recovery meals/drinks”)

Here’s the facts: after a workout, your cell doors are more “open” to glucose/blood sugar. Fact: that’s only if you actually USED the glycogen/blood glucose that was stored in a muscle cell. If you didn’t use it, it doesn’t need any more. There’s a VERY FINITE amount of glycogen/glucose/sugar/blood glucose we can store. VERY FINITE. If you’ve eaten a big bowl of oatmeal, a banana, and a glass of orange juice for breakfast, you have about 81 grams of carbs/sugar/glucose in your blood. (sugar/carbs, they all get broken down to C6H12O6 / glucose, whether they’re from grains, vegetables, beans, fruits, whatever, they all get broken down in the gut to glucose. That’s the guts job, break food down to it’s smallest component.)

Four grams of carbs = One teaspoon of sugar/blood glucose. ( I’m using these words over and over to drill in that a carb is a sugar is a carb is a glucose……) . That breakfast yielded about 20 teaspoons of sugar. 20. 20 teaspoons of sugar. Your blood ONLY wants about 2 teaspoons, your liver Only wants about 2 teaspoons. Blood sugar gets used to build NOTHING. Everything else needs to be dispensed with. If you just worked out, or just woke up, you have some empty muscle cells that can use the sugar/glucose. Maybe your liver stores are a little empty too. ALL THE REST OF THE EXCESS GLUCOSE GETS MADE INTO TRIGLYCERIDES AND STORED IN YOUR FAT TISSUE.

So what do I think about milk?? I think raw, unpasteurized, grass fed milk is a Super Food. Organic milk from grass fed dairy is great; organic milk from grain fed cows is good. Whole Milk is the ONLY milk you should be drinking, studies show that people who drink whole milk are thinner, and you can only absorb the fat soluble vitamins WITH FAT. Google it.

Here’s my issue with the “chocolate milk”; undoubtedly, the kind used in these studies was junk. Here’s the ingredient list for Hershey’s chocolate syrup:

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP; CORN SYRUP; WATER; COCOA; SUGAR; CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE); SALT; MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES; XANTHAN GUM; POLYSORBATE 60; VANILLIN, ARTIFICIAL FLA VOR

There’s NO WAY anyone could think these chemicals and sugars could be good for ANYTHING. Food’s either poison or medicine. This is poison. If you want chocolate, buy a good cocoa, and add a little stevia or honey. There’s enough carbs in the milk (lactose) to refuel your muscle cells.

About the milk making the athletes perform better? Absolutely! What’s your activity level? If it’s low, you don’t need many carbs. If it’s high, you get to consume more. Make them GOOD CARBS: vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Still confused? Test your blood sugar with a glucometer. If your numbers are over 100, STORAGE IS HAPPENING; unless you’re working out, then some of your muscle cells can use the blood sugar for fuel. ***** If blood sugar is high, fat doesn’t get used nearly as much for fuel,( hence, the reason for weight loss on a low carb diet – the low blood sugars increase fat burning). And the whole “you need carbs for energy – like bread and pasta” OMGOSH NO. Do you know how many athletes now shun bread and pasta and thrive? It’s becoming more normal than ever, thank goodness. Check out professional triathlete Ben Greenfield if you’re interested. Here’s a pic of my 49 year old hubby, who drinks a half gallon a day of raw milk. ( it does his body good!) I consume at least a quarter to a third of cup of raw cream every day.

Back to the milk question. Everyone’s body is different. These studies showed improved athletic improvement. Other studies show that whole milk drinkers are thinner than skim milk drinkers. Bottom Line: NO ONE GOES WRONG WITH REAL WHOLE FOOD.

Category: Carbs, Fats, Looks Healthy But Isn't, Question of the Week, RWF, Sugar / Tags: Athletic Performance, Chocolate Milk, Glucometer

I Want To Feel Energetic, Vibrant, and Alive! (and a DIY lotion recipe)

December 18, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Oh my gosh, one more week til Christmas! It’s a busy time, but we can still be healthy, right? What we do when life is hard/busy/stressful, that’s who we really are.

I’ve heard from more than a few people expressing sadness about weight gain, specifically, weight gain since Thanksgiving; the dreaded Holiday 5 Pounds. 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 new 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.

On a different note, I’m obsessed with DIY lotions – they’re so fun! But that’s not why I’m making them; I’m making them because the ingredient list for store bought lotions is gross, honestly. Look at Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer, it’s a Best Seller: 16,300 bottles are sold A DAY; that’s about $700,000 A DAY for just this product.

Here’s the ingredient list:

Water, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, TEA Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33. For the $38 – $46 you’ll shell out, here’s what you get: dyes that the FDA say cause cancer (this would be the “transdermal” way to get cancer), Glyceryl Stearate, which is a petrochemical; the mineral oil and Petrolatum are inexpensive by-products of petroleum, and the two parabens? They’re estrogenic (that means it mimics estrogen), carcinogenic, and allergenic. Think I’m exaggerating because dangerous products aren’t allowed to be sold to the public? Think again.

Fact check your products with EWG’s site, skin deep to see what they contain; or look here.

Here’s a lotion I’ve been making from the wellness mama site, talk about luxurious!

1/2 c olive or almond oil

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c beeswax (beeswax is cool!)

1 tbsp vitamin E oil

2 tbsp cocoa butter and/or

2 tbsp shea butter

essential oils. I’ve used Peppermint, Vanilla, Sweet Orange, Frankensense, and Neem, so far.

Directions: put a pot on the stove that has 2-3″ of water in it and turn the heat to med-high. Place all the ingredients in a mason jar, and then place the jar in the hot water. Stir til everything’s melted, then add your essential oils. After that, you can redistribute to smaller jars, like I did, or keep it in the one jar.

Some of you might be thinking I’ve crossed a line. First, I’ve been asking you to plan, shop, cook and pack; now I’m saying personal care products need to be made in the kitchen. I SWEAR I’M NOT SAYING THAT!! I’m just planting a seed. I know better than anyone that sometimes, changes need to be made slowly. But true Growth, becoming a better person, that’s always a goal, right? I want to feel good, energetic, vibrant, alive – you do too, I know it! What we put on our body is just as important as what we put in our body. Those chemicals from the personal care products, they’re through the skin and in our blood stream in seconds. Just a little seed. ( a mustard seed.)

Let me finish with the three quotes for the week:

* “Most of us have practiced doing things the wrong way for years, we can’t expect everything to turn around in a few weeks.” Joyce Meyers

* “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale

* “Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.” Golda Meir

Category: Looks Healthy But Isn't, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, RWF / Tags: DIY Lotion, Energetic, Mustard Seed, Vibrant, WellnessMama

Want to lose weight? Quit Eating Grains and Sugars.

December 7, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I got a great email from someone new to the blog, and interested in weight loss. She’s confused because her doctor gave her a diet handout that used the government sponsored “my plate” as a weight loss guide. She’s discouraged because she feels she’s been eating pretty healthy, and actually very close to the “my plate” guide lines, yet she’s overweight and has just been labeled “pre-diabetic” according to her fasting blood sugars and A1C. Hmmmm. She only eats whole wheat or whole grain products, and often even chooses gluten-free grains.

She’s wondering how whole grains can be bad, and asked why I’ve advised people to avoid them when her doctor says they’re healthy. I love this because it gives me a chance to dive into our Plan for Change: change our body by changing our minds. All behavior is belief driven. If you believe that weight loss is just about math ( calories in / calories out), and you eat accordingly, one of two things will happen: you might lose weight, but you will probably gain all of it back plus a few pounds (that’s a statistic: more than 95% of everyone who loses weight gains it back), or, (2) you won’t lose any weight at all. That seems to be happening more and more these days as more and more people are “broken” after years of the Standard American Diet.

Your body’s not a math equation, it’s a chemistry set. When you eat grains and sugars, and your blood glucose rises above normal, hormonal shifts happen that make weight loss IMPOSSIBLE and weight gain a CERTAINTY.

High blood sugar, which happens easily with grains and sugars, causes the release of Insulin, a hormone that stores and builds. Insulin takes excess blood sugar to the liver, where it gets remade into triglycerides, or FAT, and then deposited into fat cells in the abdominal area. Remember our mantra for the week? “Grains and Sugars are deadly and fattening” ? That’s no exaggeration.

In addition to fat deposit and weight gain, high blood sugar and high insulin: suppress the immune system, cause high cortisol, suppress thyroid hormone, shrink brain tissue, make blood thick and sticky, create inflammation throughout the body, creates free radicals, inhibits cellular uptake of vitamins and minerals, damages artery walls, raises blood pressure, raises the “bad” cholesterol, decreases HDL, narrows the vasculature of the eyes, kidneys, feet, and brain, causes headaches, and causes depression.

That’s a short list, but it makes my point that Grains and Sugars are deadly and fattening. Want to lose weight? Go back to my statement, all behavior is belief driven. When you believe grains and sugars are deadly and fattening, real change happens. You can get all the carbohydrate your body needs for fuel from vegetables and fruit, which also come with whopper doses of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber. Check out my What I Eat page if you’re wondering what’s left when you cut out pasta, bread, and cereal. Keep learning, keep reading, keep focusing, keep saying the mantras. You really can change your body, but you have to change your thoughts first. You can do this!

Category: Carbs, Looks Healthy But Isn't, Sugar / Tags: Grains and Sugars, My Plate, Weight Loss

Weight Gain, Cancer, Depression,…Thanks, Aspartame.

October 24, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I hear this all the time: I just can’t stop drinking my diet ___, I know it’s not good for me, but it’s the only bad thing I do. (That’s code for: I’m going to keep doing this no matter what.) Sugar, flours, and trans fats, it’s easy to believe they’re bad for us. But what about Diet Foods that are supposed to make us skinny, they must be good, right? All the people you see advertising them look GREAT – we want to look great – diet products seem like the logical answer. But they’re not. They’re deadly and addictive, and studies show that partakers AREN’T skinnier/leaner/thinner. Let’s look at Aspartame, aka NutraSweet and Equal.

The evidence against Aspartame is vast, wide, and old. It’s highly, highly linked to cancer, especially leukemia; it depletes the brain of Serotonin, which causes depression; it’s a “neurotoxin”, which means it stimulates brain cells – sometimes to death; it’s highly linked to migraines, seizures, and headaches and every neurological condition out there; it has substances which break down to formaldehyde; and it stimulates areas of the brain which make you want more. Diet Soda, Low fat Yogurts, Diet Bars, Diet Candy, Diet Ice Cream, Diet Cookies, it’s a given for most of these products. But did you know it’s also in several foods that aren’t Diet products? Sauces, crackers, CHEWING GUM ( 85% of ALL gum), and medicines?

Did you know that every time you give your child a children’s pain reliever such as Tylenol or Pediacare, you’re giving them a dose of Aspartame? It’s also in Alka Seltzers, Zantacs, chewable vitamins, laxatives, and hundreds of other medicines.

The FDA refuses to fully condemn it, but it’s reputation has taken a (deserving) hit. Because of this hit, the company that market’s and owns Aspartame (Monsanto), will soon be marketing it under it’s new name: AminoSweet.

Here’s the thing: everything in moderation doesn’t apply to Poison. A little tiny bit of poison does damage. Every time. Don’t be fooled by what you don’t see, because poison, and damage, accumulate.

Worried because you want to break your habits, but can’t? That’s because when brain neurons create patterns, it’s very very hard to undo them. You can help your children avoid poor health and (future) addictions by making sure everything they eat benefits their mind and body. You have a lot of power as a parent, and,.. that’s our job. If you want to break your addictions/patterns/thoughts/habits, email me. It takes a plan, conscious effort, and support. Trust me.

One more thing, recipes: Toasted Coconut Chips. O. M. Gosh. These are amazing. Courtesy of my friend Gina:

1 bag Bobs Mill Large Coconut Chips

1/4 cup melted Ghee or butter (Ghee is butter that’s had all milk/water removed – it’s Super Butter)

1/4 tsp sea salt

Stir whole bag of chips around in bowl of melted Ghee till well coated. Sprinkle with salt. Spread on a long pan/sheet, and toast at 325 for 30 minutes. Every 6/7 minutes, you’ll need to toss/mix them well. Keep an eye on them – you might need to reduce the heat. It’s normal that they brown a little. These are HEAVEN !

Next, Plantain Muffins – Delicious and a great alternative to wheat flour, or even coconut or almond flour. These are from the Paleo Mom, and this is directly from her site. I used muffin cups because I hate washing the sides of those little pans.

2 large green plantains (1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups pureed)
6 eggs
1 tsp salt
about 1/3 cup ghee/butter/palm shortening

Put about 1/2 Tbsp of fat in the bottom of each cup of a metal muffin pan (silicone pans can’t handle this high heat). Put muffin pan in oven and turn up heat to 450F.
While you’re waiting for the oven and pan to preheat, peel the plantains. I find this easiest to cut in half both lengthwise and crosswise (quartering the plantain) and then prying the peel off with my thumbs. Combine the plantains, eggs, salt, and butter in a blender. Blend on high for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and airy. This takes less time in a high powered blender. In my Blendtec, I pressed the smoothie button to puree the ingredients, then blended on 7 for an additional minute. You get more air in your batter if your ingredients are room temperature.
Remove the hot pan from the oven and pour batter into the muffin cups. Put immediately into the oven and bake for 20 minutes

And that’s my words for today:) I’ve got a Female Health Seminar all day Saturday, which I’m really looking forward too. If you’ve got questions about that, email them to me, and I’ll keep my ear open for answers. Eat Real Whole Foods!!

Category: Cooking, Food Additives, Looks Healthy But Isn't / Tags: Aspartame, coconut chips, Diet Foods, Diet Sodas, Equal, habits, NutraSweet, plantain muffins, Tylenol, Zantac

Satisfries and Jennifer Aniston: Part of a Plot?

October 7, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Oh gosh, Burger King’s come out with a new french fry called Satisfries. It’s supposed to have less calories because the crinkle cut inhibits some oil absorption. The advertising blitz for this is centering on the premise that you can have your french fries without the guilt – it’s practically a Free Food!

UGH. Satisfries, or any french fry, is a giant pile of quick digesting sugar/carbs, soaked in hydrogenated oil. Talk about a triple whammy: high carbs, high insulin, and hydrogenated oils: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, brain fog, and weight gain (and that’s the short list!). Every time you expose your body to this, a little bit of damage happens, and the damage builds up. Parents, the damage happens inside your child’s body also, even if they’re lean and athletic.

What’s really annoying though is that Burger King is preying on the widely held belief that it’s all about the calories. That’s their Buzz Line: “40% Less Fat, 30% Less Calories”; but CALORIES MEAN NOTHING. It’s the hormonal effect of food that makes or breaks us. Counting calories is pointless. The medium Satisfry is 340 calories, 14 grams of fat (all trans fat), and 51 grams of carbs. 51 !!! That’s almost 13 TEASPOONS of sugar; when our blood sugar rises above 2 teaspoons, Insulin is released, and excess sugar/glucose is converted into Triglycerides to be stored. No satiety (which comes from hormones triggered in the brain) would happen; as a matter of fact, these foods were created in a lab to induce hunger/eating/the desire for more. Let’s compare that to 340 calories of a burger, green beans, and cheese. The beef, (let’s imagine grass fed – not soy/corn fed), has a high Omega 3 content, and CLA (anti-cancer fatty acid), is about 200 calories for 4oz, zero carbs; an ounce of cheddar has about 100 calories, zero carbs, and a whole cup of green beans is 31 calories, 7 grams of carbohydrate. Besides the serious nutritional differences, there are HORMONAL differences: very, very, very little insulin would be released, and probably NO triglycerides produced and stored, with the second meal. Satiety hormones would be triggered. You’d eat this and STOP EATING. Your body and mind would say “okay”. That doesn’t happen with Satisfries, or any psedo-food.

Here’s something else that’s bugging me:

I just saw something on my FaceBook page that made me cringe; an ad from Weight Watchers that pictures Jennifer Aniston and claims she “lost 6 pounds in 6 days following these Diet Rules.” First of all, Jennifer Aniston’s skinny! Where’d the 6 pounds come from? Supposing it’s true though, anyone can starve themselves for a few days and lose 6 pounds of water and muscle tissue. Wrestlers do it all the time. Fat loss from little bouts of starvation however, is pretty rare. The body is hesitant to give up fat because fat’s an easy keeper. If you choose to go super low calorie, the thyroid slows WAY down, and the brain and liver signal your muscle cells to decompose down to amino acids, which can be converted to blood sugar for energy. Repeat: low calorie eating causes muscle to be used for fuel. NOOOOO!!!!

Now you’ve got a slower Thyroid, and less muscle tissue; NOT a permanent way to keep weight off. As a matter of fact, after you “re-bound” eat, you’ll probably end up a little heavier than before your low cal attempt.

What does this Jennifer Aniston piece have to do with Satisfries? It demonstrates that Big Food and Big Advertising and Big Business know that everyone wants to lose weight, and that most people believe that if they cut calories, the weight comes off. So that’s the angle their marketing departments are advising. Probably successfully. But it just doesn’t work that way. Low fat, low calorie foods and plans DON’T WORK in the Long Run. Ever. Statistically, almost 100% of everyone who loses weight on a Diet, gains it back. You need a food plan you can sustain, that makes you healthy and happy and satisfied. That’s what Real Whole Foods do for you. Ditch the sugar, the flours, the trans fats, and the chemicals. Plan, shop, cook in batches, pack. Eat plenty of healthy fats, healthy proteins, tons of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and some whole dairy( if your stomach likes that). Focus on how you want to FEEL. Foods like Satisfries, or Weight Watches Frozen Meals don’t make you feel good afterwards. Practice the habits that make you feel good, and the weight comes off. Eat for health, and weight loss is a side effect. Eat Real Whole Foods. Check out my What I Eat Page for ideas.

Category: Cooking, Looks Healthy But Isn't, RWF, Sugar /

The Myth of Mini Meals; Sugar Burning Vs Fat Burning

September 24, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Switch Your Metabolism Class: set for Mondays: Oct 7,14,21, 6 – 7:30; and Wednesdays: Oct 9,16,23, 1 – 2:30. The goal: to teach you how to be a Fat Burner and not a Sugar Burner. We’ll cover the Paleo Diet, Digestion, Blood Sugar (you HAVE to understand your biology to lose weight and get healthy), Ketosis, Power Cooking, Compliance Strategies and much more. The class will be held at the Marshall Community Center (4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall Va), which is right off Rt 17 and Rt 66 – it’s easy to get to. The total cost: $100. My goal: to help you understand that your weight and your health are a matter of your Biology, not a low cal/low fat diet that never works, ever; and that you have the Power to change yourself. Email me if you can attend. Phone and Skype sessions are available if you’re long distance.

I’ve got an idea for improving health and losing weight that might seem blasphemous to all the hardcore dieters out there: step away from the Mini Meal.

All these years of diet and supplement companies advising us that eating 5, 6, even 7 times a day will “speed up our metabolism” and help us lose weight? Well, the “eat all day long” idea has certainly taken hold, but how’s that working out for health and weight loss? Not so well, and no wonder. The theory behind it is completely wrong.

Mini meals don’t speed up metabolism. If you eat 2000 calories in a day, divided by 3 meals or 6, it takes the same amount of energy (thermogenesis) to digest that food. Sadly, thermogenesis doesn’t actually account for much of our calorie burn at all, so as a weight loss tool, it’s ineffectual. As a weight GAIN aid, it’s a huge possibility, here’s why: one, the habit of eating all day is waaayyy too easy to establish. For everyone who’s tried this form of eating, you know that dependency and excitement about the next meal (every 2 hours or so) becomes a mental focal point. Eating happens whether there’s true hunger or not, or whether the body actually needs the nutrients or not. Eating happens because “it’s time to eat”. The real disaster comes from the constant presence of glucose/sugar in the blood stream.

When glucose is present in amounts over 100mg/dcl (you’d know this if you used a glucometer), that’s considered TOO MUCH GLUCOSE in the blood (remember: excess glucose is TOXIC to the body). Your pancreas releases the hormone Insulin, which takes the excess glucose and (1) puts it in needy muscle cells (2) puts in empty liver cells (3) takes all the leftovers and remakes the glucose into TRIGLYCERIDES. The body does this very easily. Wondering if this is happening to you? Look down at your stomach. The body deposits most of these homemade triglycerides in the abdominal area. In addition to belly fat, excess glucose and excess insulin dramatically create/cause inflammation in the body. A condition we DON’T want.

Here’s another story: you only eat 3 meals a day; you eat mostly healthy fats and proteins, tons of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, some whole fat dairy, your blood sugar/glucose stays under 100, you have hours WITHOUT insulin in your blood. Then your pancreas releases the hormone GLUCAGON. Glucagon “taps” the fat cells holding those triglycerides, takes them to the liver, which remakes them into glucose for the body to burn. You’ve literally “burned fat”.

I’ve got to say something else about Metabolism: More is NOT always better. NORMAL metabolism is better. Faster metabolism means faster aging, a slow metabolism means poor health. Normal means normal, and that’s what we should aim for. Who wants to age faster?

Back to the mini meals. Please don’t worry that you’ll “crash your metabolism” if you don’t eat every couple of hours. That’s ridiculous. Your metabolism is at the mercy of your HORMONES; the hormone insulin BUILDS, the hormone glucagon TEARS DOWN. Anabolic and Catabolic.

Worried because you can’t seem to go more than a few hours without STARVING? You’re a sugar burner. Sugar burners have built systems for digesting and storing sugar/glucose, and because that system runs so fast, you’re genuinely hungry all the time. Fat Burners can go HOURS without feeling hungry, even through hard workouts. IT FEELS GREAT TO BE A FAT BURNER. Honestly! For years I was a 5/6 mini-meal a dayer. I know what I’m talking about, but the science is backing me up.

My Metabolism class will be discussing this in detail, I promise. You’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about going from a Sugar Burner to a Fat Burner. It’s a life changer. Not just because it’s healthier and promotes permanent weight loss, but because being a Sugar Burner is like carrying a very heavy weight on your shoulders. Thoughts of the next meal are pervasive and intrusive and overwhelming. Maybe you’ve never thought about it in those terms before; but I promise you, when constant thoughts of food are no longer dominating your brain, there’s a freedom; and it’s very, very liberating.

Hope to see you there:)

Category: Looks Healthy But Isn't /

Metabolism Class; A Looks Healthy But Isn’t; and Happy People

September 21, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Who here has heard of the Ideal Protein Diet? Probably several, because it’s really getting it’s products and name out there. Ideal Protein promises quick weight loss because it supposedly puts you into a ketogenic state. I’m all for a ketogenic state – I think ketones are healthy! According to all the current science, our brain LOVES to run on ketones instead of glucose. If you’re struggling with weight loss due to years of yo-yo dieting, ketosis could be the answer (or not; everyone’s different.).

My pharmacy markets Ideal Protein, so I picked up a box the last time I was in there; the product I choose was called “Chicken Flavored Patty Mix”. The ingredients included: wheat, wheat gluten, soy, and yeast extract (that’s FDA approved tricky talk for MSG).

Oh. My. Gosh. That stuff’s poison! Wheat, soy, and neurotoxic chemicals? There goes the gut, the thyroid, and the brain! (not to mention what all the chicken- like flavors are doing to liver function) And who on the Ideal Protein diet is actually testing their ketones to make sure they’re in Ketosis?

Please don’t be fooled by weight loss gimmicks. Diets don’t work – ever. Statistics show that almost 100% of EVERYONE who goes on a diet to lose weight gains it back, and statistically, they gain back more than they lost.

On a different subject ( but applicable!), I wanted to let you know about a lecture tour traversing the state of Virginia ( and several other states), called The Habits of Happy People. This is hosted by the Institute for Brain Potential, and wow does it sound great! All lectures provide continuing ed credits for all healthcare providers, from social workers, to dentists, to physical therapist/nutritionists/nurses, etc etc etc. Some of the topics covered:The Science of Happiness and Health; Wanting, Liking, and the Hedonic Brain; Forming Happiness-Enhancing Habits; Mindfulness, Meaning, and the Calm Brain; The Depression Resistant Mindset, and more.

The website for info is:http://www.ibpceu.com/. Click on Live Seminars, then your state, then the PDF icon for info on this all day workshop.

Why do I say it’s “applicable”?? Because our thoughts hold tremendous power over our health. The research area of Cortisol and Health is huge right now. Learning to focus your brain, to keep it on a positive, forward path,(as opposed to down the rabbit hole) is essential to your health and wellbeing. Imagine combining the power of Real Whole Foods with a strong, positive mindset! Oh the possibilities…..

Category: Looks Healthy But Isn't /

Hormones Rule – So Every Bite Matters

September 4, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Have you been able to read my posts in the past week and a half on fat and cholesterol? If you didn’t, check out here, here, and here. I’m trying to get the point across that we’ve been under an umbrella of really, really, bad misinformation about what causes heart disease, weight gain, or makes poor health – or good health for that matter, for decades. Good fats from clean animal sources and tropical oils are huge sources of nutrients that our body uses to build and repair: brain cells, heart cells, hormones, organs, etc. These healthy fats also induce NO/ZERO/ZIP/ZILCH insulin response; healthy fats also build healthy cell membranes that are “properly” insulin sensitive (as opposed to insulin resistant). Insulin is an anabolic hormone – it builds our muscles, it builds our fat stores. Trans fats and Omega 6 vegetable oils have health destroying effects on our heart, our brain, our hormones, our organs, etc. When our body uses trans fats and inflammatory Omega 6 vegetable oils to build cell membranes, our cells AREN’T properly insulin sensitive, they are much more likely to be insulin resistant.

Sugar and flour products, with their propensity to induce high blood sugar, and their lack of nutrient density, are also huge culprits in heart disease, poor health, and weight gain. When our blood sugar is above normal, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin to sweep it out of the blood stream and into the muscles, the liver, or to remake the excess glucose into triglycerides. Eat simple, refined, processed foods all day long (bagels, cereals, anything made with flour or sugar), and have a blood stream full of glucose and insulin – all day long. Talk about serious damage to the lining of your entire cardiovascular system: the endothelial cells become damaged and inflamed from these substances (excess glucose and insulin), and your body works hard to “patch up the bad spots” (hello plaque); your extremities, your kidneys, and the backs of your eyes – these areas CAN’T develop Insulin Resistance, and the cells of these areas are literally killed by the onslaught (hello Diabetes). For the muscle cells that can say NO (i.e., can be Insulin Resistant), they suffer from nutrient deficiencies because when the cell says NO to insulin and glucose, it also says no to other nutrients it needs to live/produce energy.

When insulin is high and present, Cortisol is often high and present. When Insulin is present at all in the blood, the FAT BURNING hormone Glucagon CAN’T be released into the blood. It’s an either/or hormone situation. That’s why some people work out for hours, but because they’re eating 6 “mini-meals” of carbs throughout the day, no fat loss is happening.

How long does it take Heart Disease to develop? 25 to 30 years. How long does it take the average disease condition to develop? 20 years. Keep that in mind when you shop for your family or eat: cereals, chips, crackers, frozen foods, fast foods, these things are poison; they’re all refined, processed flours and sugars. HUGE insulin response, low to zero nutrient value. Damage occurs EACH TIME these foods are eaten, you just can’t see it, but the hormonal response is there.

Here’s an inspiring post from the Wheat Belly Doc, I love that guy!

If you’re new to this way of thinking, and the thought of going without sugar and flour seems overwhelming, or even unnecessary in it’s “extremity”, consider that we have an epidemic of obesity and disease like NEVER before. For the first time ever, kids are predicted to NOT live as long as their parents. It’s The Food! We’re not a country who’s deficient in Pharmacuticals, we’re a country deficient in Real Whole Foods. If you’re stumped as to what you could eat, or feed your family, check out my What I Eat page for ideas. Once it becomes normal, it’s not an effort anymore.

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

Success Stories, Beer, and School Snacks

July 19, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’m going to post quite the eclectic round-up of topics today, because there’s a lot of interesting news out there: What’s Really in Your Beer; The USDAs new Smart Snacks In School Program; and two Success Stories, one by a 47 year old man, and the other by a 74 year old woman.

Do you ever read FoodBabe? This woman’s been on my Favorites list for a while, she does amazing investigations, and this Beer Expose is a real shocker. If you drink beer, or someone you know does, you’re going to want to read this. Did you know that Corn – NOT barley and hops – is the main grain in several beer brands? And that added sugars, flavors, and coloring are common? Apparently, our government has enacted NO LAWS requiring any disclosure about ingredients for beer or any alcohol for that matter. Interesting. So besides alcohol being a DEPRESSANT, and literally “depressing” or slowing down your digestive system, (and all your other systems), it could also be a sugar bomb( in addition to being the carb bomb it already is). Read the expose to see what’s in your beer: http://foodbabe.com/2013/07/17/the-shocking-ingredients-in-beer/.

Next, did you hear the USDA has implemented a brand new “Smart Snacks In School” program? Yea! And Michelle Obama’s supporting it – so this must be good for our kids, right? Wrong. Their guidelines have to do with calories, and fat grams (they also include “sugar restrictions” – as in, foods that are more than 36% sugar don’t make the cut. 36%?? Are you kidding?? This means foods that are MORE than a THIRD sugar MAKE THE CUT, as long as they come in UNDER 36%. Total carb counts are NOT considered). Foods that are OFF the list (for the schools to sell): hardboiled eggs(too much fat), pickles (too much salt), and cheese sticks (too much fat). FOODS THAT MADE THE USDA OKAY LIST: DORITOS REDUCED FAT TORITLLA CHIPS, WELCHES REDUCED SUGAR FRUIT SNACKS, AND NUTRIGRAIN BARS. OMG. These Fake Food Products are loaded with chemicals, SUGAR, and hydrogenated oils that destroy our kids brains and health, make them hyper, make them hungry, and make them gain weight. See a great expose on this here: http://www.caltonnutrition.com/article.aspx?pid=129

Last, I want to leave you with two success stories, from people who changed their weight, their health, and their ENERGY through Real Whole Foods:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/i-was-unhealthy-and-getting-sicker-something-had-to-change/#more-42047

http://robbwolf.com/2013/07/15/74-years-feel/

Category: Looks Healthy But Isn't /

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Archive for Looks Healthy But Isn’t

Will Milk make you Fat or Skinny?

I Want To Feel Energetic, Vibrant, and Alive! (and a DIY lotion recipe)

Want to lose weight? Quit Eating Grains and Sugars.

Weight Gain, Cancer, Depression,…Thanks, Aspartame.

Satisfries and Jennifer Aniston: Part of a Plot?

The Myth of Mini Meals; Sugar Burning Vs Fat Burning

Metabolism Class; A Looks Healthy But Isn’t; and Happy People

Hormones Rule – So Every Bite Matters

Fun Facts On Fat

Success Stories, Beer, and School Snacks

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