Psychology of Eating | Rock Solid Over 50

Archive for Psychology of Eating

Change The Way You Think About Food, and A Looks Healthy But Isn’t

June 4, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

If you’re going to lose weight and get healthy, it’s a MIND thing; you have to think about food as a source of Nutrients that Build your Health, and you have to acknowledge that “food products” Destroy your Health. Every bite you put in your mouth is doing one or the other.

If you only think of Food as Calories, you’re doomed to the Diet Ferris Wheel Lifestyle – weight going up and down, health being compromised, and compulsive thoughts about food.

Take this “for instance”:

It’s morning, you scramble up two eggs in butter w a handful of basil or spinach, and/or a smoothie w/whole milk yogurt, cranberries, banana and flax seed. Here’s a couple things this would give you: usable protein for muscles, serotonin, and dopamine; antioxidants to fight free radicals occurring from stress or chemicals or oxidation; vitamins and minerals – with all their co-factors that allow them to be used and absorbed; fiber, and healthy fats – that build your brain, your heart, your hormones, and every single cell in your body, plus all the co-factors that allow them to be absorbed and used. Real Whole Foods come with all the nutrients that allow each of the nutrients to be utilized. In addition, your Satiety Hormones and Signals would be TURNED ON.

This breakfast wouldn’t make you gain weight, as a matter of fact, the protein and fats in these foods would take a while to break down – preventing hunger. The proteins and fats would be utilized by the brain to make neurotransmitters and myelin sheaths, so the brain would be satisfied and happy. Fats and proteins would be USED AS BUILDING BLOCKS, not stored. The lack of any fast absorbing carbohydrates would prevent any blood glucose rise, which means No blood glucose fall – no moodiness, and energy levels would be even. Insulin probably wouldn’t be used to process this meal – YEA!! Who wants insulin coursing thru their body, damaging arteries and organs and nerves?

Compare that to the effects of a breakfast consisting of 3/4 cup Honey Nut Cheerios, with skim milk, which is exactly what Main Stream Health would say is a healthy breakfast. Here’s the ingredient list on the Cheerios:

GENERAL MILL HONEYNUT CHEERIOS Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Oat Bran, Modified Corn Starch, Honey, Brown Sugar Syrup, Salt, Artificial Almond Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Trisodium Phosphate, Wheat Flour, Vitamin E, Zinc, Iron, Vitamin C, Niacinamide, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B1, Vitamin A Palmitate, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D)

There are 7 sources of sugars and starches, artificial flavors, and synthetic vitamins and minerals. Here’s a little info on some of them: Modified Corn Starch has been chemically altered to make it dissolve quickly (because starch doesn’t dissolve quickly enough already?); tripotassium phosphate only has a GRAS status(generally recognized as safe), it’s commonly used in pesticides, herbicides, cleaning products, and laxatives; and Natural Almond Flavor is a long chemical ingredient list to create an Almond smell and flavor. There are 23.3 grams of carbs in 3/4 cups, and almost zero fat and protein, which means these carbs will be broken down very quickly, absorb right thru the intestine wall directly into the blood stream. This is that Blood Sugar UP that I talk about. No Satiety factors will be triggered.

Oh, the Skim Milk! Touted for decades as a health food, it’s not even close. Something this “compromised and processed” doesn’t help with your weight either.

Here’s the scoop on Skim:

Before processing, skim milk has a very unappetizing blueish color, a chalky taste, and watery texture that doesn’t resemble natural milk. So, to whiten, thicken, and make it taste a little more normal, powdered milk solids are mixed into the milk.

What’s so bad about powdered milk? Well, in the manufacturing process, liquid milk is forced through tiny holes at very high pressure, which causes the cholesterol in the milk to oxidize, and toxic nitrates to form. Oxidized cholesterol contributes to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, while unoxidized cholesterol from unprocessed foods is actually an antioxidant to help fight inflammation in the body. The proteins found in powdered milk are so denatured that they are unrecognizable by the body and contribute to inflammation.

Shockingly, dairy manufacturers are not required by the FDA to label the powdered milk as a separate ingredient, because it’s still technically just “milk” .

What else is wrong with skim? Vitamins A, D, and K are in the FAT of the milk, when this is processed to become fat-free, these vitamins are destroyed. SYNTHETIC vitamins A and D are added back in, synthetic is NEVER as good as real. Vitamin K is NOT added back in, we need K for our bones and our blood. There are a BUNCH of minerals in milk, but minerals NEED SATURATED FATS TO BE TRANSPORTED AND USED, so the calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium could go UN-USED here.

Add the 12 grams of milk carbs, along with the 23 grams from the cereal, and you’ve just had a breakfast that’s 35 grams of Simple, Quick Dissolving, Carbohydrate. The nutrients are all “added/fortified”, and there’s very litte protein and fat. Your Blood Sugar will zoom up, and very quickly, Crash Down. Eat this for breakfast and be starving by mid- morning. Not a good way to start your day.

Let’s go back to my original premise, start looking at your food in terms of nutrients and what it does to you, as opposed to how many calories are in it. Calories in – Calories out doesn’t work for weight loss! Dieting doesn’t work for weight loss – studies show that 95 – 99% of EVERYONE who goes on a Diet gains the weight back. So toss that old used gauge out! Eat foods that create and nurture your health, and if you need to lose weight, you will. Start training your brain to think differently; learn to, and focus on the benefits and the DELICIOUSNESS of Real Whole Foods.

Category: 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 /

DIETS and Standard American Diet – Both Cause Poor Health and Weight Gain

June 2, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’m on a mission to help people get healthy, and a big part of being healthy is being at a healthy weight for your body. Food is EVERYTHING when it comes to your health, and your weight. Unfortunately for so many of us, we’ve been conditioned to view food in just 2 ways: (1) there’s the BAD food, that tastes so good, and makes us fat, and sick, and moody, but it’s addictive, and it calls to us, or (2), there’s the DIET foods, like lean meats and steamed veggies and diet products, that don’t taste as good, leave us STARVING, but will make us skinny (not really).

THERE’S ANOTHER OPTION!! Real Whole Foods. RWFs taste DELICIOUS, trigger SATIETY hormones in your brain and stomach, and they allow your body to achieve or stay at your optimum weight.

Worried that RWFs will make you fat? Convinced that pouring Olive Oil on your salad, roasting chicken with the skin on, eating whole fat dairy products, or eating bacon/liver/roast beef, will make you fat?? Because this is what I hear all the time, but it’s Not True.

You’ve fallen victim to years of brainwashing convincing you that you need to eat Low Fat/Low Cal, and exercise a ton, to lose weight and be healthy. That paradigm is WRONG and if you look around, you’ll see that it’s a completely failed model. 70% of America is overweight, and facts are that Americans ARE consuming less calories and less fat, but their weight is continuing UP, and health is spiraling DOWN.

People are scared that eating RWFs will make them heavier. That’s Not True. RWFs, with plenty of Fats, Proteins, and Carbs from vegetables and fruits, will make you healthy – and when you give up the crappy fake foods or high starchy, refined carbs, you will lose weight!

Truly, when you start eating 3 meals a day – that AREN’T diet “portions”, but a nice size, and you’ve incorporated the Fat and the Protein that your body demands ( after water, they’re our 2 biggest building blocks), good things happen:

Blood sugar doesn’t rise, and plummet, rise and plummet, so Binge Eating or Starving is Eliminated.

The brain doesn’t send STRONG signals to search for more nutrients – again, binging and starving is eliminated.

Indigestion problems, like BELLY BLOAT, are eliminated.

Obsessive, Compulsive thoughts about food and eating – DISAPPEAR. You’re able to walk past the candy bowl, or the donut shop, or pass at the Starbucks counter.

Serotonin and Dopamine – neurotransmitters that help us feel NORMAL (bc these are MADE from proteins and fats), can get to NORMAL levels, and our moods stabilize – which helps prevent binging or OCD thoughts about food.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. Diets and Crappy Food/Standard American Diet BOTH leave your body starving, hungry, food obsessed, moody, and sick. Want to get healthy, lose weight if you need to, and quit thinking about food all the time??? Eat Real Whole Food. I PROMISE you, it works. Need some help because you’re not sure what to eat or how to do it?? Get in touch with me. A little guidance goes a long way to permanent changes. It’s 100% possible, I promise.

Category: Psychology of Eating, RWF /

You’ve Got To Believe To Make It a Lifestyle

May 28, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

If you read my blog, you know I’m advocating a Paleo/Primal/WestonAPrice/Real Whole Foods Diet that’s low on sugars and grains and chemicals, and high on fats, proteins, and vegetables. This low carb/RWFs plan is an obvious way to lose weight, not something too many people argue with anymore. But how many people can stick to it, day in day out, week after week, month after month? (How many times have I heard, “I could NEVER give up bread/pasta.”, “Kids won’t eat anything else.”) I. E., make it a LifeStyle??

Well, if it’s all about Weight Loss, people don’t stick to this plan any better than Weight Watchers, the Grapefruit diet, the South Beach diet, Jenny Craig, or ANY OTHER DIET (less than 1-5% stick permanently). Because when it’s all about WEIGHT LOSS, you’re going to restrict your calories and fat. Even on the P/P/WAP/RWF plan, you’ll try to “not eat too much”. This NEVER amounts to “lifestyle”, it’s just a weak desire to be leaner.

Here’s the bottom line about Calorie Restriction and Fat Restriction: You’ll NEVER ever fight your BIOLOGY and win. Ever. It’s impossible. Your body wants Fat; Your body needs Fat. Fat comprises 60% of our brain; fat runs thru our heart muscle, fat makes all of our sex hormones and steroid hormones (that’s the fight/flight). Fat escorts most minerals and vitamins ADE & K to wherever they need to go. Fat surrounds our organs and protects them. And that’s just a brief synopsis.

Try and stay “low fat”, and you will end up binging. Either you’ll eat fat – which your body will use; or you’ll eat tons of carbs, which your body will turn INTO fat. Either way, your BIOLOGY will trump your desire to eat low fat/low cal, and lose weight.

What’s the answer? Fill your brain with all the reasons we should eat certain foods, and shouldn’t eat others. Become a believer in the DEEP, SERIOUS, CONNECTION, between every single bite we put in our mouths, to our moods, our body, our weight, our health, our emotions.

Here’s some reasons to meditate on:

Sugar, and refined grains (pasta, bread, cereals, etc) are absolutely 100% involved with Inflammation, Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s, Migraines, Depression, Anxiety, and MORE. The correlation is absolute, because these carbohydrates induce a big Insulin response from your Pancreas. This starts a blood sugar roller coaster that has devastating effects on The Whole Body.

Your Liver takes a hit, your Brain takes a hit, your Nerve Endings in your extremities and eyes take a hit, your Arteries, your Hormones, your Neurotransmitters, and your Waistline takes a hit. Your CHILDREN are similarly affected, even your skinny, active kids. Poor health/weight problems “accumulate”. Behavior, mood, attention – all of these are HEAVILY influenced by diet.

Let’s talk about Digestion. Bloat, gas, indigestion, Crohn’s, colitis, gastritis; NOT NORMAL. When these conditions happen, it’s NOT because you’re low in Pepcid or some other Antacid. You’re just eating foods that either aren’t breaking down well due to compounds in them, and/ or you’ve caused damage somewhere in your gut from years of eating foods that don’t break down well.

Then there’s the whole Negative Thoughts Cascade that gets released, for several hours to a day or so, after consumption of large amounts of bad carbs and crappy foods. Talk about a hit to your energy, your demeanor, your thoughts, your decisions.

How to make RWFs a LifeStyle? Focus On Feeling Good. Honestly, it works. When you’re out, and everyone’s having bread and dessert, think LONG TERM: how do you want to feel later? or tomorrow?. When you’re at the store, and you’re tempted by a box of cereal or crackers, think LONG TERM: how do you want to feel later? or tomorrow? When you’re making dinner and the pasta seems so simple, think LONG TERM: how do you want to feel later? or tomorrow?

It feels GOOD to feel Good. If you’re plagued with gut issues, inflammation, sugar/carb ups and downs, or mood imbalances, imagine how it would feel — not to be plagued with those issues. Imagine feeling good almost all the time. It’s amazing. It’s amazing to feel relaxed with yourself, not to be beating yourself up over splurges, or binges, or indulgences.

That said, give your self a break; because Change isn’t Linear, even when you do start believing. It takes time, effort, and focus, to really change thought patterns; but it does happen.

I’m looking forward to seeing and meeting everyone who’ll be at my workshops (5/31 or 6/5). I promise to fill your head with a boat load of reasons to make RWFs a Lifestyle, and not a temporary effort at leanness. Eat well, feed your body the nutrients it wants to be healthy, and if you need to lose weight, you will.

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

Why Am I Always Hungry??

May 24, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

If I counted how many times I’ve heard, “I could never just eat 3 meals a day, I’d starve. I think I have low blood sugar. I can’t go more than a few hours between meals.”, it would be in the hundreds.

Folks, you’ve been hypnotized into believing: you need to eat constantly to keep your metabolism up; you’ll waste muscle cells if you don’t constantly feed them; you NEED to eat every couple of hours or you’ll get so hungry you’ll binge and eat a horse. This is all propaganda designed to get you to eat processed, refined food products – seriously. This line of thinking started in the muscle magazines about 15/16 years ago, I know, because I was a devotee of every muscle mag out there for about 20 years. Protein bar and Protein drink makers – successfully – pushed the idea that if you ate some protein every couple of hours, you’d build muscle and get lean. Wow. Is that an idea that just took off. Their advertising and articles were accomplanied by pictures of incredibly fit bodybuilders who ate 6 or 7 mini-meals a day, a combination of real foods like meat and broccoli, with protein powder or protein bars.

A picture’s worth a thousand words, and these people looked great. However, if you read their blogs, and kept up with research on food timing, you’d be privy to the problems of constantly eating. First of all, these are pictures of COMPETITORS, who despite eating 6 or 7 times a day, have an incredibly low calorie consumption – that’s how they get ripped and lean. Second, if you attended any Body Building shows, or followed their blogs, you’d know that they cycle in and out of incredible leanness, and some degree of “not lean at all”, to plain “overweight”. Plus, jokes about chronic stomach distress, low energy, and ammenorhea (lack of menstrual cycle), are the norm, not the exception. Does that sound healthy?

When you eat low cal/low fat, the fact is that you will be Constantly Hungry. You will be consumed with thoughts of food. (study after study after study confirms this) Low Cal/Low Fat starves the body and brain of nutrients. Our body is made of: water (60%ish), proteins (16%ish), fats (15%ish), carbs (2%ish), vitamins, and minerals . The brain is 60% fat. If you’re not taking in enough FAT and Protein – your body and brain will send CONSTANT signals to get you to eat. Try to live on vegetables and lean meats, or worse, “diet foods”, and you are setting yourself up to fail.

As a matter of fact, THE BEST WAY TO GAIN WEIGHT IS TO GO ON A DIET AND CUT YOUR CALORIES AND YOUR FAT INTAKE. It’s a guaranteed “sure thing”. Plenty of studies prove this.

Need to lose weight? Eat Real Whole Foods: healthy portions of good meats and eggs, plenty of healthy fats, TONS of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts/seeds, some dairy if you tolerate it. Feed your body the nutrients it needs to thrive, and if you need to lose weight you will. What about hunger? It OFTEN – but not always – abates, when you regularly consume foods that nuture your body. I’ve worked with many, many people who thought they couldn’t eat that many calories, or just eat 3 meals, or consume that much fat, but they could and they did and they lose weight and feel great. I’ve also worked with some people who are so addicted to food and eating that it’s way more than a physical endeavor, it’s mental also.

Food addiction is something I’ve had a lot of experience with, so if this is your problem, get in touch with me. You can escape food addiction – I promise. There is hope and a future free of self-hate, negativity, and castigation.

Whether that’s your problem or not, changes in your health and weight are completely possible.

Back to the original thought about weight and meal frequency and metabolism. It’s all a big sham and here’s a few reasons why:

1) Studies show it doesn’t matter how many meals you divide your daily calories into, it still takes the same amount of energy to digest (not “burn”) that food.

2) Constantly eating means constantly high levels of blood sugar/glucose, which means high insulin. High blood sugar leads to low blood sugar, that’s the Blood Sugar Blues (weight gain, health issues, and attitude problems). Insulin and excess Glucose are caustic and inflammatory – to just about the whole body.

3) High insulin + High blood glucose = High Triglycerides.

4) Constant eating has a BAD effect on your hormones (that’s the real reason people gain weight), because constant eating means high Insulin and high Cortisol. Taking breaks between meals allows blood sugar to stablaize, and Insulin to recede, which means GLUCAGON can be released, and this hormone taps fat cells to release their energy. You could call this “fat burning”.

5) Frequent meals lead to ….. hunger, and a desire to eat more. Eating becomes habitual.

6) Back to Metabolism! A high metabolism is a sign of fast cell turnover. Fast cells are HUNGRY cells. People with fast metabolisms need to eat more often. Slow metabolisms mean slower cell turnover; theoretically, these people SHOULDN’T be as hungry. But, in America, with 70% overweight, hunger isn’t just about nourishment or an empty stomach, it’s about desire and want. (back to addiction and habit – get in touch with me)

Once again, the path to lean and healthy is “just eat Real Whole Food”. Don’t be afraid of good fats, and let hours go between meals. Food for thought.

(Don’t forget my Blood Sugar and Digestion workshops:http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/workshops/)

Category: Carbs, Fats, Psychology of Eating /

Iron Info and Lifestyle Thinking

May 21, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’m feeling all motivation this morning, so that’s coming. First though, I’ve had a few run-ins, in just a few days, with people who are having either iron overload problems, or iron deficiency. Iron absorption is a pretty big issue, and I just want to touch briefly on a few pointers and guidelines about it.

Iron plays a large part in the amount of oxygen that gets delivered to our muscles, brain, and tissues, but it’s also involved in metabolism, immune function, DNA synthesis, growth, and healing, among other things. It’s important.

Deficiency and Over-Sufficiency both come with pretty serious consequences. Children and menstruating females are most likely to be Deficient, and men and menopausal women are more likely to have too much iron. It’s important to keep an eye on your levels via regular blood tests.

Moms, kids tend to be iron deficient, as a matter of fact, it’s a fairly common problem with the SAD (standard american diet) that most kids are on. It will affect their growth, energy and health, so remedying that is important.

Here’s a few tips: iron comes in two forms, “heme iron”, which is from animal sources, and “non heme iron”, which is from plant sources, and egg whites. (that’s simplistic, but accurate) Heme iron is MUCH more absorbable and usable by the body than non heme. Much more. For instance, spinach is loaded with iron, but less than 2% of it’s iron is absorbed (the Popeye thing was misleading- he lifted heavy for those forearms!); soybeans have more iron than red meat, but less than 7% of their iron is absorbed.

If you are iron DEFICIENT, you’re going to need to add some meat protein, as that iron is highly absorbable, and there are other “co-factors” in meat that aid absorption. Vitamin C also SERIOUSLY increases iron absorption – by 4X!!

Phytates in grains and nuts, the mineral CALCIUM, and Tannins in teas and coffee INHIBIT iron absorption.

If you’re iron status is normal, just eat well rounded meals and the body takes care of itself.

If you have too much iron, then add the CALCIUM, the phytates from your nuts (you know how I feel about grains), and your coffee or tea to your meals containing iron. They will all help prevent absorption.

Enough about Iron – on to Food!

Here’s my quote for the day: “Make your health and your energy your priority, and then if you need to lose weight you will.”

Honestly, it’s not the other way around despite decades of hearing it put that way: Lose weight and get healthy. That doesn’t happen because when people try to lose weight, they go on DIETS. Diets make people GAIN WEIGHT and become LESS HEALTHY. Don’t believe me? Statistics say that at least 95% of EVERYONE who goes on ANY kind of diet and loses weight will GAIN IT ALL BACK PLUS SOME. Some stats say that the real number is 99%.

Diets imply a beginning and an end. An effort that you’re going to make for a period of time to not eat too many calories, to consume certain foods, to shun other foods, and usually to exercise to “burn calories”.

The average dieter displays an enormous amount of strength to resist their normal routines and habits for a few days, or a few weeks, sometimes even a couple months, and then, whether they lost weight or didn’t (which does happen), they get tired of the mental effort required to constantly fight their urges. They give in/fall off the wagon, gain weight, mess up hormones, and re-ignite negative patterns that keep them on the Diet Ferris Wheel. (let’s not forget the self-hate that comes with the Diet Ferris Wheel.)

Don’t let this happen to you! If you need to lose weight, put your time and focus on eating Real Whole Foods: meats, healthy fats, TONS of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts, some dairy (if you tolerate them). Try to skip the snacks, avoid flour and sugar products (blood sugar blues and triglyceride production), let hours go between meals so that Glucagon(a fat burning hormone) can be released. Put your mental energy on RWFs being a normal LIFESTYLE for you, not a temporary effort that may or may not result in weight loss that won’t last.

Take steps, do ACTIONS, that will have positive results: shop, cook, plan your day in writing, get to bed at a decent hour (the evidence linking lack of sleep and belly fat is HUGE), exercise or at least move – every day, drink tons of water; in other words, work on your daily habits. These steps will only sound like an effort until they’re just normal. Does that make sense?

Work on deleting the Diet Mindset. Work on habits that make your liver, your hormones, your immune system, your whole body,… run right. Our body wasn’t made to run on crappy carbs, tons of sugar, and chemicals. If you’re sick, tired, and overweight, there is a simple solution that’s 100% full proof and long term. Eat Real Whole Foods.

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

Want to Lose Weight?

May 12, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

How do you lose weight – PERMANENTLY?

Well, you employ the Real Keys to Weight Loss: SMALL, CONSISTENT changes, day after day, week after week, month after month. You eat Normal, Moderate amounts of Real Whole Foods, and let houurss go between meals so that your blood sugar has a chance to regulate/get within normal range, and THEN, fat cells can be burned for energy. You stay persistent even after veering off course.
What happens when you eat way less calories than your body needs? I.E., a real low calorie diet? ( I’m not giving a number, bc it would be different for everyone based on bone stucture, muscle propensity, and activity level, but if you’re genuinely hungary because your meals are so small, it’s probably “very low calorie”.)
******
*******
When you eat Very Low Calorie for just a couple of days, your brain perceives a starvation/crisis situation. Muscle tissue is very metabolically active, and takes a lot of energy/calories to sustain. Fat tissue is much less metabolically active, and takes very very Few calories/energy to sustain. If your brain thinks that there is going to be a shortage of calories/energy, your brain will instruct specific hormones to TAKE APART MUSCLE TISSUE TO FEED THE BODY. Your brain will STAY AWAY FROM BREAKING DOWN THE EASIER TO KEEP FAT TISSUE IN A TIME OF ENERGY SHORTAGE.

Read that again.

Low Calories Diets, even a couple of DAYS of Low Calorie, ( according to studies), trigger your body to break down muscle tissue for fuel to save energy for the brain and body. Low Calorie Diets Fail. Some people can sustain them; but they eat up a lot of their muscle tissue, and really slow down their metabolisms.

Usually though, Very Low Calorie Diets aren’t sustainable – so after the short period of abstinance, when Muscle Tissue is destroyed for fuel and Metabolism is drastically slowed, – then there’s a back-lash of over eating. Now, there’s TOO many calories, and the body’s metabolism has been made slower from the Diet. What does that lead to? Weight Gain. Easy weight gain. Because now, with less muscle, your body burns less calories at Rest and at Work.

This is why when I see magazine covers or ads promising “Lose 7 pounds in 10 days” I want to scream. Anyone can do that – ask a wrestler. Starve, spit, take laxatives, take stimulants, take drugs, and you’ll lose weight. All Muscle.
The body gives up FAT when it feels nourished (with healthy fats and proteins, tons of vegetables, some fruit, some dairy, some nuts and seeds), and it has Blood Sugar Under Control (from not overdoing the starchy carbs, and letting hours pass between meals so that blood sugar can regulate).

Diets Don’t Work. That’s a Statistic. Not my opinion. If you want to lose weight, eat Normal/Moderate amounts of Real Whole Food, and let hours pass between meals. Weight loss is about blood sugar and hormones.
Weight Loss is NOT about excessive exercise or Low Fat or Low Calorie. Think about it with Common Sense – who does that work for in the long run? No One.

So today, and everyday, Nourish Your Body. Eat Real Whole Foods.

Category: Carbs, Psychology of Eating /

Change The Way You Think About Food and Skinny Cow

April 28, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Do you need to lose weight or get healthy? Because if you do, you need to make a big, permanent mental transformation in the way you think about food. If you’ve been viewing food in terms of calories and fat, you’re on the Diet Ferris Wheel: trying to eat low cal, starving, overeating, trying to eat low cal, starving, overeating. Low calorie diet foods, or low fat meals leave you hungry and unsatisfied. Those kinds of meals are usually full of easy to digest, processed, refined carbs that get digested and leave your stomach very quickly. The result: True Hunger. If you’re eating processed/refined foods, those foods are created and designed to Make You Hungry Again Soon.Do you know what “Bliss Point” is? It’s a term in Food Science that means a high level of Pleasure Neurons are stimulated, but Satiety is NOT stimulated (satiety comes from particular hormone signals). This isn’t a joke.

Food products are tested over and over with hundreds of subjects submitting to very technical tests to exactly determine what formula induces the highest Bliss Point. That’s why you can’t get enough soda, crackers, frozen pizza, donuts, granola bars, etc. These foods were created to stimulate your hunger; not satisfy your hunger. The Snickers commercials about Snickers satisfying??? Snickers TRIGGERS the desire for more sugar or more food.This leads me to something I get asked about often: should you abstain, or can you eat junk food, or any trigger food, in Moderation? Answer that question honestly for yourself. Some people can’t do moderation. They just get way too overstimulated from certain foods. Sometimes even the THOUGHT of trigger foods sets off stimulation. (That’s why it’s smart to keep trigger foods OUT OF YOUR HOUSE OR IMMEDIATE WORK ENVIRONMENT. Those things can call to you!) If that’s you, just be honest with yourself. If you can be truly moderate, as in a bite here or there because you’re being polite, or it’s a special occasion, be moderate.

Here’s some shocking information: Processed, refined food consumption increases every year. 70% of the foods Americans eat is Processed; Diet Product consumption is up, American’s total Calorie Consumption is DOWN, American’s weight continues to go UP (70% of all Americans are Overweight). Let’s just use common sense to connect these dots. Here’s a little example of a Processed Diet food, promoted to make you slim: Skinny Cow Milk Chocolate Dreamy Clusters. Skinny Cow junk foods have done an incredible job grabbing some market share as they’ve convinced lots of us that by eating their products, you can lose the pounds but keep the indulgence. Their ingredient list is protected, so I couldn’t copy it, but here’s the breakdown: 11 sources of refined carb/artificial sugar/real sugar = Insulin Up/Fat Storage increased; 3 sources of soy lecithin(allergenic, thyroid disruptor, phyto-estrogen); carrageen (major gut irritant/damager); and caramel color (carcinogen).

Your liver has to break down these chemicals, and it’s not easy. So let’s add “liver clogger” to the list. (I’m pretty sure that’s a medical term!) Your liver is the majority of your Metabolism. Clogged Livers = Slow Metabolism.

Does this sound like a good product to use if you want to get healthy or lose weight??? Plan, shop, chop, prep, cook in giant batches; if you want to indulge, at least make sure it’s homemade. Forget about the calories, worry about the ingredients.

Looking for recipes? Visit these sites: CivilizedCaveman.com, OMGPaleo.com, EverydayPaleo.com, ThePaleoMom.com, TheFoodLoversKitchen, AllDayIDreamAboutFood.com. The recipe sites are endless- you’ll never need another cookbook again unless you just like cookbooks.And last, as we get to Farmers Market Season, here’s a great website to find Farmers Markets, Co-ops, Cow Shares, and local farmers selling local products near you, visit www.localharvest.org.

Category: Food Additives, Looks Healthy But Isn't, Psychology of Eating /

Habit Eating & Looks Healthy But Isn’t (LHBI)

April 18, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

LHBI – Looks Healthy But Isn’t! I just made that up!
Food is a tricky thing. You can have all the knowledge in the world, all the desire to eat healthy and feel good, maybe even have serious dis-satisfaction with your body, your energy levels, or your health, and still find it difficult to maintain positive eating habits. That’s because “old habits die hard”. Seriously. Think about your worst food habits, there’s always a pattern:

binging after dinner
munching on snacks at the office
starving in the middle of the afternoon
eating off your kids plates
evening wine and crackers
too many beers after work
scheduled stops Starbucks/Panera/anywhere you can buy a snack and drink

There’s not a lot of original, different “bad habits”. I’ve been surveying this in nutrition groups I’ve led and when I ask “what’s your worst eating habit”, its just a small handful of answers over and over. And that’s a good thing, because identifying your bad habits is the first step to changing them. I’m going to do a group in May on habits and eating patterns.

For now, realize that you really really do have control over what you put in your mouth. Make a plan, shop, schedule your cooking/prepping/packing time just like you schedule everything else. Don’t even allow the thought that you’re too busy enter your mind. Everyone has the same amount of time. The busiest people tend to get the most things done because they live by their lists. Make your health a priority. You really do have control over what you put in your mouth, you just have to exercise that control. That said, here’s another “looks healthy but isn’t” break down.

I LOVE Seaweed Salad, and I was so excited when I first saw it at Wegmans. What sounds more healthy than Seaweed? (If you want to improve THYROID function, you should incorporate kelp/seaweed into your diet), but then I took a look at the ingredient list, along with seaweed: sugar, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, yellow #5, and blue#1. 5 ingredients with serious side effects. Disodium inosinate and Disodium guanylate both often contain MSG, but even without MSG, they have this side-effect list: headaches and migraines, weakness, sweating, nausea, and flushing. We went over blue #1, the other day, but here’s the info on yellow #5: banned in Austria, Norway, and much of Europe; side effects are allergies, skin reactions, asthma attacks, broncho-constriction, blurred vision, migraines, anxiety, and cancer.

If you’ve been following along for the past month, and have had the opportunity to read the side effects of food additives in common, healthy seeming, convenient, processed, foods, are you making the connection between these side effects and your health, weight, and mood, or your child’s health, weight, and mood? Anyone on medication for headaches, migraines, nausea, anxiety?…..What if you just changed your foods. These side effects are very, very real. These additives cause serious damage to our bodies and our minds.

Cook and eat Real Whole Foods. Know what you’re putting in your body because you build your health, or tear down your health, with each meal.

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

What is BHA and BHT?

April 18, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Today’s scoop is ammo on two ubiquitous additives to processed and refined foods: BHA and BHT.  Don’t even worry about what those letters stand for, you’ll never see them on a package because it’s too long. But you will see BHA and BHT on lots and lots of common food products, makeup, and skin care.
BHA and BHT are synthetic preservatives that keep fat from going rancid. Look on cereals, breads, meats, microwave dinners, vegetables oils, margarine’s chewing gum, any and all chips, cookies, cakes, skin lotions, face make-up,… the list is endless. Literally. If you buy and consume processed, refined foods (and lots of restaurants use processed refined foods), you’re consuming these chemicals.
What’s so bad about them? Well, the FDA reviewed them in the 1970s and gave then a “GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, but acknowledged additional review was needed. In 1986, they reviewed and just repeated that dictum.  No further review – by the FDA – has happened.
However, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Cancer Research, and The National Toxicology Program, have all declared BHA and BHT as Carcinogenic. There’s very strong links between these products and hyperactivity in children, it’s highly suspected they cause liver damage, and it takes the average male adult TEN days to eliminate BHA from the system.
I could seriously go on and on reporting scary, negative findings on these preservatives. But I don’t need to, right?
Here’s the take-away: it doesn’t matter how innocent the packaging looks, or if there’s an “AHA APPROVED” stamp on it, or if it contains trigger words like “Low Fat!”; processed, refined foods are not good for you, and cause both immediate and long term damage.
Moms, scary cancer info aside, BHA and BHT absolutely cause hyperactivity.   Why would you feed that to your children? It’s already hard enough for a kid to sit still.
Oh the other hand, RWFs like meats, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, SINGLE INGREDIENT foods, are loaded with nutrients that fight disease and degeneration and encourage healthy cell turnover. You want that healthy cell turnover.
***************About 60% of your daily metabolism /your daily calorie burn, happens in the LIVER!!   Not the muscles. The next biggest user of calories are your heart and brain combined. THEN your muscles. If your liver – which has hundreds of jobs to do every day, is busy breaking down and trying to deal with additives, preservatives, colors, scents, dyes, etc etc, then it’s not doing it’s real jobs. If your organs are being compromised by additives, preservatives, and other chemicals, they’re not doing their jobs. Not only is your HEALTH very adversely affected, but your WEIGHT suffers because your METABOLISM is compromised. *******************
I don’t know which is your bigger motivating factor, health or weight.
I want you to see how INTIMITATELY tied together those things are. Our health and our weight and our moods are all completely a result of the foods we eat day in and day out.

Check your food labels – it matters!

Category: Food Additives, Psychology of Eating /

« Older Entries Recent Entries »

Archive for Psychology of Eating

Change The Way You Think About Food, and A Looks Healthy But Isn’t

Weekend Binges, and A Plan

DIETS and Standard American Diet – Both Cause Poor Health and Weight Gain

You’ve Got To Believe To Make It a Lifestyle

Why Am I Always Hungry??

Iron Info and Lifestyle Thinking

Want to Lose Weight?

Change The Way You Think About Food and Skinny Cow

Habit Eating & Looks Healthy But Isn’t (LHBI)

What is BHA and BHT?

Join as a Subscriber

Search

Archives

Categories

Recent Posts