Archive for Question of the Week

Exercise for Weight Loss, and Is Swimming A Good Exercise?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI have great reader question today, it’s about exercise:

” After your exercise post I realized I was doing little to no resistance training. My current regiment is swimming 4 days per week(I do intervals and definitely get breathless and use the kick board a lot to get that “burn” especially in my legs), also I do intermediate yoga classes on my own at home. We also walk/hike outdoors when the weather is nice.

We are also in a remote place so it is hard for me to find exercise classes….any suggestion of good videos I could do at home to add some resistance/lifting to my exercise routine? Or should I try and lift-weight myself at the gym? Any tweaks you have are also welcome “o) “

I’m glad to address this question, because Exercise Is Important, for a million reasons. Here’s my answer: Any and all exercise is absolutely better than NO exercise. Our body is meant to move; as a matter of fact, interesting studies have been coming out in the past few years on the DANGERS OF SITTING AND INACTIVITY. Apparently, INACTIVITY is possibly a greater/as great a risk factor for disease and mortality as SMOKING!

That said, if you want to build a shapely, muscular, firm body, you’ve GOT to Resistance Train. Ladies, Men, there’s just no getting around this. I’m not saying you have to join a gym, and spend an hour several days a week pumping iron ( although this has AMAZING results for your body), but you do need to stress your muscles – with either body weight or external weight – to (1) tear down your muscle cells, so (2) they can “re-build” (hypertrophy) a little bigger; and you need to do this at least 2 or 3 times a week, for at least several minutes.

Ladies, getting “too muscular” is fairly impossible. We absolutely, positively, DON’T have the testosterone to put on heavy muscle; and to LOOK muscular, we’d also need to be INCREDIBLY lean, usually under 15%, but often under 10%. (That takes a long, consistent “diet” effort that I’d never endorse.)

Men, pay attention: You should be prioritizing lifting over cardio/golf/yoga; I’m not saying NOT to do any of those activities, but lifting stimulates Testosterone and Growth Hormone; cardio/golf/yoga don’t. Ladies, we want Testosterone and Growth Hormone too; they’re the hormones of YOUTH, and we all naturally produce less as we age, EXCEPT IF WE RESISTANCE TRAIN.

What about Swimming specifically? Swimming’s a GREAT exercise, especially if you LOVE it, and also if you have joint issues. There’s no “joint-loading” or “bone-strain” when you swim, also, and obviously, you don’t get hot.
And there-in lies some of the problems with swimming: these “benefits” actually cause a DECREASE in BONE DENSITY; and FEMALE SWIMMERS TEND TO HAVE MORE BODY FAT THAN ALL OTHER ATHLETES.

The Bone-Loss CAUSED by swimming is a BIG DEAL. To me ( admittedly, I don’t love swimming laps), it would be a deal breaker – we need our bone density!

That all said, WEIGHT LOSS IS DEFINITELY ABOUT EATING – NOT EXERCISE. HOWEVER…… the more MUSCLE we have, and the BIGGER and MORE ACTIVE our muscle cells are, losing weight, or maintaining a healthy weight is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier.

Everyone: We Need Muscle. It’s important, it’s critical, and it should be a big focus of our total health program. (Not THE only focus; like I said, there’s a million reasons to exercise.)

Again, all forms of exercise are wonderful, including swimming; do whatever you love and feel comfortable with. Just make sure you’re throwing in some kind of Resistance Training a few times a week.

What about Exercising on a High Fat/Low Carb diet, how’s that? Fantastic! ( The whole “Carb Loading” theory, or Fueling Your Workout With Carbs, is totally 1980’s.) We have study after study now verifying the performance of High Fat/Low Carb athlete’s from every sport, and the studies are showing excellent results. As a matter of fact, after an initial dip in performance due to the body switching from “sugar burning” to “fat burning”, … Muscle glycogen stores were maintained after a 5-wk high-fat diet period ..Endurance performance capacity was maintained at moderate to high-exercise intensities with a significantly larger contribution of lipids to total energy turnover.”

Do you understand what that last sentence means? After 5 weeks on a High Fat/Low Carb diet, the body burns “significantly” MORE fats than glucose during exercise. This is something I try to get across to my clients: eat a big bowl of oatmeal or an English Muffin before your workout, and your body will mostly use those carbs for fuel. Live on a High CARB diet, and your body constantly burns SUGAR. When Sugar/Glucose is in the blood stream in excess, FAT BURNING DOESN’T HAPPEN. We want to burn the fat in our butt/thighs/stomach, right?

Back to the question, some general suggestions: (1) Join a Gym. Gyms have (1) Kid Care, (2) professional trainers to TEACH you and Guide you through your workouts, (3) assorted classes that guide you through workouts, and resistance training ( of one kind or another ) is more often than not included in classes, (4) a positive and fun atmosphere that ALWAYS makes you feel good when you’re done.
(Yes, I’m a Gym Rat!) ( and I work at a BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL gym in Warrenton, Va: Old Town Athletic Club.)
********Please don’t be intimidated by Gyms; No One Is Judging You – I Swear. ******** One more piece of Gym advice, join one that’s CONVENIENT to you, that means near either your work or your home. Make the commitment and then go!

And specific suggestion ( I live in a remote area..): Youtube, DVDs, and Apps. Have you ever looked at BodyRock on YouTube? They have hundreds of free HITT workouts (high intensity interval training), there’s several yoga channels, and lifting workouts. CollageVideo has HUNDREDS of great videos on lifting/HITT/step/yoga you can buy. I use an App on my phone for Tabata Intervals ( that’s a 4 minute workout divided into 20 second intervals). There’s several Tabata ideas on YouTube.

Whatever you choose today, whether it’s the gym, hiking, or a DVD in your living room, just like with eating, make a Plan, and commit to the plan. It’s important. And be careful to avoid the mindset that any exercise you do is somehow Virtuous! It’s not! It’s just exercise. You don’t deserve a Treat for brushing your teeth, eating your vegetables, doing the laundry, cooking dinner, or working out. They’re all just Action Steps that are necessary and good for us and make our life better.

“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

High Fat Diet for Weight Loss? It works, and it’s Healthy. Get Over Your Fear!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAReady for another Reader Email?  See who doesn’t relate to this one:

Dear Debbie, Thank you for your blog, I’ve been reading you for over a year now.  I know you say that we shouldn’t start a “diet” on a certain date, or count calories, or go low fat, but I did.  I’ve gained so much weight this past winter, that I thought I needed to do something drastic to get a jump start before our July 4th beach vacation.  Every year, I’m the biggest one in our group, and I’m sick of it.   I started a diet on June 1, and, it lasted 3 days.  

I’ve already been derailed by one of my kid’s Field Days, a end of year soccer party ( at a pizza restaurant), and a graduation party this past Sunday.  This is the story of my life. I’m ready to try something different. 

I’m stopping there, because you get the picture.  Maybe this is your picture?  This lady also has daily headaches, miserable periods and PMS, and has carried extra weight since she’s had kids.  She’s also lost weight on Weight Watchers, twice; and is on prescription migraine meds along with a whole lot of Advil.  She’s 40, with 3 kids still at home.  She had planned on eating 1200 calories a day to lose the weight.  That lasted from Sunday til Wednesday.

Reality: if you want to lose weight, sticking to a Low Calorie, Low Fat food plan NEVER works in the long run.  Statistically, between 95 and 99% of EVERYONE who loses weight on that kind of plan gains it back.  It’s hard enough to stick to a plan with soccer games, work, parties, and weekends.  It’s even harder to stick to a plan when you’re starving!  Most people won’t last but a few days; for those who can tough it out longer than that, the body and mind will only allow self imposed starvation for just so long before the dreaded “Rebound Binge” happens. “Diets” just perpetuate a Cycle of gaining/losing, gaining/losing, and then eventually, JUST GAINING.

What to do if you need to lose weight? First, you have to eliminate all grains and sugars. Second, you must eat more Fat, Protein, and Vegetables; especially Fat. I’ve learned that this is the sticking point for most people.  It seems counterintuitive, because we associate Fat in our foods with Fat on our body, but that’s not how it works, honest.  Read this to learn how our body makes fat.

Our body is made mainly out of water, fatty acids, and amino acids.  We need to eat accordingly.  (Minerals make up about 4% of our body, and sugars and vitamins both come in at 2% of our body comp. ) We’ve had decades of Low Fat dieting advice based on the assumption that the fat we eat goes straight to our butt, stomachs, or arteries.   That’s just not true, and there’s plenty of science to prove it.  But who needs science?  Look around.  We’ve got 70% both Sick and Overweight in this country.  The Low Fat Paradigm is so obviously not working.

For Sarah, who wrote this email, and for anyone struggling to lose weight, here’s my advice:

Take a chance, step outside your box, and just for a few weeks, try a different way of eating.  Nix your grains and sugars, and anything “fat free or low calorie”; instead, load up on plenty of  FATS:  good butter, olive oil, coconut oil, egg yolks,  chicken skin, the fattier and nutrient dense animal parts, like liver and kidneys, and switch to whole dairy products (yogurt and keifer).  Add this to tons of vegetables, some good protein, some fruit, some nuts, seeds, and diary if they work for you.

Push past your fear that fat will make you fat, and try eating this way.  I guarantee that if you can make this a lifestyle, not only will you lose weight, but issues like migraines and PMS will disappear.  How can I confidently say that?  Because migraine’s and PMS are from nutrient deficiencies, not medication deficiencies.  Fat is LOADED with nutrients.  Low calorie, low fat diet’s aren’t.

Did you know God made at least 500 fatty acids?? That’s not an accident; fats have numerous purposes.  Our hormones are made from fatty acids, so are our cell walls; saturated fats protect the liver, they play a crucial role in our immune system, and a vital role in our bone health. Fats make up about 60% of our brain matter, they build our glands, and they’re our hearts favorite food; I could go on and on, but you get the picture? Fats Are Important and Vital to Our Existence.

Just as Important:  Eating Fat Can Make you Thin if you eliminate the grains and sugars.  Honest.  Just try it; what do you have to lose, except weight.  What do you have to gain?  Your health, your self confidence, and a great body.  Not sure how to live the Low Carb, High Fat lifestyle?  Work with me.  Even if you have kids, a job, and a busy life, you can do this.

Does a Fast Food Meal Here and There Hurt? Habits Are Everything!

Yea!  It appears my blog is fixed!  Thank you so much Sarah Albright of Web Designs by Sarah Albright:) She figured out a pretty big problem for me and I really, really appreciate it!

I’ve had some great questions this week from busy people about eating on the run.  (really, who’s not busy??)  I relate to this.  Work, kids, driving, that’s Real Life, right?   This is an area of stress and anxiety that Big Food has (successfully) spent a lot of time and money on.  Some of the messages:  ” If it looks real, it’s good for you.”  and   “A fast food meal or two during this busy time can be incredibly time saving and helpful. No harm done and your kids will LOVE you for this! “.  It’s an incredibly effective strategy because the message LET’S YOU OFF THE HOOK FOR COOKING.  This has made us sick and fat, and created a generation of kids who take more medications than anyone could have ever imagined.

So how do we manage to eat Real Whole Food when we’ve got work/kids/clubs/appointments/traffic/pets/etc?  We Plan Plan Plan Plan, and then Plan; stick to the plan, and make the smartest choices possible when we HAVE to eat on the run.  Here’s some solutions, but first, please take a look at the ingredient lists for 2 of the most popular fast food items IN THE WORLD.   Look at those ingredients and ask yourself,  “how could this NOT cause harm??”

mcdonaldsf9new2

There’s 7 oils, all of which are either hydrogenated or Omega 6 (cancer/disease/inflammation), artificial color, preservatives, and ANTI-FOAMING AGENT ( what the heck?);  here’s the ingredients in the SALT:  silicoaluminate( also called ALUMINUM SODIUM), dextrose ( SUGAR), and potassium iodide .  Umm.  That’s not really salt.

KFC boneless

 

 

 

Extra Crispy™ Boneless Chicken – White Meat
Skinless White Chicken Pieces, Potassium and Sodium Phosphates, Salt, Seasoning (Potassium Chloride, Rice Flour), Monosodium
Glutamate. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate), Garlic Powder,
Natural Flavorings, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, With Not More Than 2% Calcium Silicate Added as an Anti
Caking Agent.
Contains Wheat.

Gross.  Two sources of MSG, sugar, phosphates (good bye bone and kidneys), and “anti-caking agents”.  Don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking that a little bit of this can’t cause damage, because it can.

Want a Plan?  Sit down on Sunday with your schedule in front of you, note everything that both you and your kids have to do.  Plan accordingly.  When can you power cook batches of food?  When can you shop/chop/prep/baggy and freeze?  When do you need to pack for yourself, and your kids?  What needs to go on the grocery list so that happens? Are there evenings with multiple practices in a row that necessitate you stopping somewhere?  At least make it one of the less offensive Fast Foods, like Chipolte or Panera.  These meals aren’t even close to making Real Whole Food at home;  there’s always going to be a degree of Chemicals, Flour and Sugar that are unavoidable when eating out.  So just think of these as Emergency Options.  ( Kind of like my “Emergency Bras“, which is when I forget to pack a bra for after my gym shower, and need to immediately consult or train someone.  When this happens, I head to Walmart for a $10.00 Emergency Bra and put it on in the car.) ( I just realized I’m much more likely to forget to pack a bra or underwear than to ever forget to pack a lunch and water bottles!)

About the Emergency Options:  emergency’s don’t happen every day.  Things that happen every day are HABITS.  There really aren’t that many emergency’s in most of our lives, percentage-wise.  Really, there’s very few surprises day to day, and I’m a working mom of 4, one of whom’s an Epileptic who surprised us a few times a month:  “Surprise, I’m about to have a seizure.  The day needs to change right now.”    95% of our days STILL aren’t a surprise with even that scenario.  *** ( to my friends whose children have issues much, much, worse than mine, your days do contain more surprises; focus on your health and energy as much as you can.)

Worried because living life by the seat of your pants is your norm?  You were brought up that way or have nurtured those habits for years?  Just because you’re an adult and haven’t established these Planning Habits yet, doesn’t mean you can’t.  You can.  Everyone can Create and Establish Good Habits.  Initially, this’ll cause some stress, because we’re forcing ourselves to take actions that are better for us in the LONG TERM than the SHORT TERM.  The other day I was at a lecture called “Solutions for The Overactive Brain”, the neurologist giving the talk said that our BRAIN DOESN’T WANT TO DO WHAT’S BEST FOR US, IT WANTS TO DO WHAT’S EASIEST FOR US.  Wow.  I can’t stop thinking about that.

The stress we feel when we commit to living our life according to what’s best LONG TERM depends on HOW MUCH PRACTICE WE’VE HAD DOING THAT.  Parents!!  It’s really important that we teach our kids boundaries and self control. Apparently, those skills are muscles in the brain, and they’re stronger with use.  However, just like any muscle, they can be built any time with focus and effort.

One last tip for eating on the run:  it doesn’t have to be special or delicious, it just needs to supply nutrients.  Turkey/cheese roll ups, bags of nuts, fruit and nut butters, hard boiled eggs, chunks of cheese and fruit, celery and pb and raisins, leftovers in a tupperware, heat up a good sausage or one of the new hotdogs that aren’t full of disgusting ingredients.  Tell your kids that you’re packing because eating out is too expensive.  When I said, ” We don’t have the money to eat out”  that was rarely met with resistance.  If I  said “pack your dinner for after soccer because after that so and so has gymnastics and we’re not stopping at McDonalds because it’s gross”, now that was met with resistance (whining, begging, arguing).   (ps – Macy, you’re not really just “so and so ” to me, you’re much more than that honey.)

A long term result?  I have 4 kids who hate fast food, and are great about throwing little baggies in their back packs for long days.  They also pack their own water bottles.  It’s a habit they were trained in, and it’s never too late to develop habits.

What have I been eating lately?  Here’s a smoothie, a lunch salad, and a dinner:

Smoothie: Raw Keifer/blueberries/carob/stevia/avocado/spinach/raw egg/cinnamon/ginger/rose hips/hemp seeds, topped with coconut

breakfast smoothie and waters

 

 

 

 

 

Packed Salad for Car Lunch:  greens/broccoli sprouts/whole shredded beet and carrot/salmon/gouda/walnut oil and balsamic

salmon salad

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner:  brussels/onion/leeks/garlic/cabbage/bacon/lots of butter, herbs, and salt – this freezes and re-heats GREAT, and tastes good cold!

brussels bacon

 

 

 

 

 

I get asked for recipes often.  I NEVER use a recipe.  Half the time I use my hand to measure the spices and herbs.  Real Whole Food tastes delicious so you can’t go wrong with it.  If cooking is stressful, start with recipe books or sites, build up your skills and confidence, and go from there.  Start simple!  Don’t make recipes with 17 ingredients because your stress ( and cortisol) will go through the roof ( hello belly fat!).  Set up a podcast, or TV, or talk on the phone with an ear piece (not wireless – those EMFs are horrible for us!), because multi-tasking does work sometimes:)  You can do this! You can become healthier, thinner, and more energetic, and you can instill good habits in your kids.  We have Power, we just need to use it!

 

Chronic Constipation Isn’t From a Lack of Laxatives

Wow, I didn’t expect so many responses to Monday’s post on Amanda, Miralax, and the Manuka Honey!  Thank you all for your concern; she’s recovering, going to class, trying to be normal, and so far the new seizure drug isn’t causing any mood side effects; hope that continues to be the case.  She’s still a little beat up, but should be back to normal in another day or two.

vintage exlaxI definitely shocked a lot of you with that report on Miralax, as many of you wrote that your doctor has prescribed it for either your children, your older parents, or you’ve used that or other laxatives yourself.  American’s don’t spend $700 million a year on laxatives because they’re fun, Americans are chronically constipated.  NO ONE’S CONSTIPATED BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE ENOUGH LAXATIVE IN THEM. NO ONE.  Laxative’s don’t even work for a lot of people, and yet, they keep taking them, or worse, they take more in an effort to make things work.

Here’s another shocker:  high fiber grains, and high fiber supplements can make things worse.  Grains/flours get reduced to glucose/sugar in the gut, and then they go on to wreck havoc with blood sugar, pH, and gut bacteria.  Fiber supplements? Here’s the ingredients in Benefiber:

Ingredient: Wheat dextrin                            benefiber
Benefiber Orange also contains Wheat dextrin, citric acid, natural orange flavor, potassium citrate, aspartame, gum acacia, acesulfame potassium, maltodextrin, lactose (milk), triglycerides, sucrose acetate isobutyrate (adds a trivial amount of sugar), modified cornstarch, yellow 6, red 40

GROSS! Wheat, chemicals, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, and cornstarch. YOU DON’T HAVE CONSTIPATION BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT CONSUMING THIS. Honest.

Why the chronic constipation?  So many reasons:  OTC and prescription meds ( which either change the pH of the gut, the motility of the gut, or both),  a diet full of sugars, grains, and chemicals;  sitting too much; not enough exercise;  EMOTIONS greatly affect the gut via either constipation or diarrhea;  and of course, the biggie what you’re NOT eating: tons of vegetables, fermented/cultured foods and drinks, fruit, good fats, good proteins, and lots and lots of water. ( hey, that sounds like a Real Whole Foods prescription!)

What if you’ve been on laxatives and fiber supplements for years?  You’ve upset the hairdolaxnormal bacterial environment, the normal pH environment, and conditioned (addicted)  the muscles along the gut wall that they’ll be stimulated by chemicals.  It’s going to take some time, along with a real consistent program, to get regular again.  Unfortunately, if living “kind of healthy”, with the occasional/few times a week meal or snack of constipation causing foods or meds is your norm, it’ll be hard to correct the constipation.  Persistence and consistency will be key to reversing this, but wouldn’t “normal” be great?  It’s within your grasp, you just need to be patient and vigilant about the habits and actions of your every day life.  There’s no secrets or tricks, it’s always about planning, shopping, packing, and cooking.  Always.

However, if you’re addicted to chemical stimulants to make you go to the bathroom, get in touch with me.  You’re going to need a program.

Our body wants to be fed it’s necessary nutrients every day, every meal.  Food ALWAYS has an effect, either good or bad.  Always. There are no neutral foods.

I’m going to link to a TED talk by Dr. Terry Wahls.  She’s not known for her work with constipation, but no one demonstrates how food affects us like she can.  No one.  She’s an MD who’s REVERSED her Multiple Sclerosis with FOOD.  Food is Medicine, or Food is Poison.  It’s an incredibly slow acting poison (thanks to our body constantly trying to repair itself), so the eventual toxicity/effects can take years to manifest. ( The average disease, from cancer, to heart disease, to diabetes, takes 20 years to develop.)  I honestly can’t think of a better example to demonstrate that our body and our brain, are the result of the manuka garlicfoods we eat every day.  Your child’s body and brain are the result of what they eat every day.   If you’re struggling with staying on track with a Real Whole Foods eating program, watch this youtube.  It’s short, but it’s very, very powerful and motivating.

Oh! One more thing!  About the Manuka honey, here’s my tried and true Immune Boosting Magic Elixir:   garlic that’s been allowed to “air” for 15 minutes (that activates it’s beneficial nutrients) with the honey.  I swear, it kills germs FAST.  Swallow fast without chewing and it’s no big deal, honest.

 

 

 

 

Do You Need To “Cleanse”? and Brownie Truffle Recipe

liver detoxI get asked about “cleanses” and “detoxes” all the time.  Are they necessary?  I think so.  Our liver, which burns more calories and fat than our muscles, our brain, or any other part of our body, ( it’s about 60% of our total metabolism), is responsible for constantly cleaning our blood.  It’s supposed to clean 2 Quarts of blood EVERY MINUTE.  Imagine that.  Now imagine these numbers:

Liver disease in the form of Non-Alcoholic Fatty liver disease, liver cancer, hepatitis, and pediatric liver disease is affecting 1 out of 10 Americans.  That’s manifested conditions; the liver is struggling for YEARS before an actual diagnosis.  Liver disease completely compromises the livers ability to do it’s jobs.  What happens then?  A lot, because the liver is involved in just about every function in the body.  Here’s a list of symptoms:

indigestion
acid reflux
hemorrhoids
gall stones
alcohol intolerance
nausea or vomiting attacks
bloating
constipation
depression
mood disorders
anger
irritability
poor concentration
overheating of the body
recurrent headaches (migraines)
sugar cravings
hypoglycemia
onset of type 2 diabetes
heart disease
clogged arteries
high blood cholesterol levels
high blood pressure
strokes
fatty organs, including fatty liver
fatty tumors
weight gain
inability to lose weight
slow metabolism
pot belly
cellulite
weakened bones
allergies
sensitivity to chemicals and food additives

Thanks to a Standard American Diet, and tens of thousands of chemicals in our food, water, and air, a good liver cleanse is a good idea.  How to do it?

Quit eating and drinking toxins!!  This is the number one, most important step you can take.  There’s no pill, no program, no magic anything that will replace that step.  Honest.  Let step 2 be eating and drinking Liver Loving Foods:  lemons, parsley, cilantro, garlic, sulfur/cruciferous vegetables(brussels, cabbage, onions, kale..), TONS OF WATER, fermented vegetables, keifer, and kombucha.  Want to get really special?  Eat liver, real or freeze dried, take milk thistle, get Vitamin D from the detox 21sun( that’s easier on your liver than supplement form),  and use turmeric and curcumin when you cook.  Want to really get in there and make things happen?  Get in touch with me.  Detoxing is an old and complex art, a good one can make a big difference in how well your body works.

Will you lose massive weight if you do a Cleanse?  No! That’s just savvy marketing, appealing to dreams of fast, easy, effortless weight loss.  There are Cleanse/Detox products that will make you poop; No Amount Of Pooping Pulls Fat Out Of Your Fat Cells.  Ever.  Will you be healthier? YES, absolutely!

trufflesLet me leave you with a dessert my daughter Meg made the other night, Paleo Brownie Truffles – DELICIOUS, and liver friendly! (Thank goodness, because I ate them all in 2 days!)

1) In a bowl, mix w spoon:  3 tbs melted coconut butter, 2 tbs melted coconut oil, 1 tbs Swerve, 1/2tsp vanilla, 1 tbs protein powder, 1/4 – 1/2 cup carob powder, add gradually and stop when mixture becomes cookie dough like.

2) roll mixture into small little balls

3) heat slowly: 1/4 c coconut butter, 2 tbs coconut oil, 1 tbs Swerve

4) dip balls in chocolate and refrigerate until shell hardens

 

Need Willpower to Lose Weight? Build Habits, It’s Easier!

5 of us snorkelingI received a couple emails this week that I want to share.  The first one is from a woman named Chris who’s struggling with staying on a plan.  Here goes:

Hi Debbie,

I’ve been reading your blog, and other paleo blogs, and trying to follow the paleo eating plan.  I’m starving and I’m miserable, and I can’t go more than two days without eating cereal, crackers, or whatever is on the conference table at my office.  Is this impossible for someone with no willpower like me?

I told Chris I’d answer her in my blog, because this scenario is very, very common.  But first, here’s an email from Missy, who’s been working with me for a few months now. Missy is a single working mom; the definition of busy.  She’s struggled with food addictions and consistency, but her PERSISTENCE is paying off:

I hit the 10 lb mark on Saturday, already…. without even really thinking about it or concentrating on it other than to not eat grains. my mood and energy keeps slowly getting better and better and i’m feeling very motivated. people are starting to ask me what i’m doing and I go off like a crazy person about eating real whole food. hahaha I usually apologize and give them time to let it sink in and I give them the resources that I’ve found as well as your website and just tell them to inform themselves. be a smart consumer. don’t allow yourself to be misled by big food and big pharma. there’s no magic pill. there’s no starvation diet. one of the best lines in this book so far is “your body can’t tell the difference between jenny craig’s packaged meals and concentration-camp fare.”

I want to shout all this stuff from the rooftops!

I made a new dish over the weekend with spaghetti squash. it was creamy pesto chicken with peas and carrots over spaghetti squash. YUM! I made my boyfriend try it (he stopped at taco bell on the way to his house – I stopped at the grocery store), and he said that he would eat it if he HAD to, but that it tasted funny. haha as we were sitting there watching tv, me satiated and happy, him complaining that his stomach didn’t feel good and that he was starting to get hungry again (already only about an hour after he ate his taco bell), so I offered him some of my “pasta”. he said that he would eat it….. and then I got him to admit that it was good. 😀 I win. he ate a whole bowl!

The book Missy is referring to is one I recommend all the time, The Mood Cure or the Diet Cure, by Julia Ross.  She and I are meeting this week to discuss the protocols and science behind it.  I’ve said again and again, the amino acid therapy this book uses to re-adjust moods, addictions, anxiety, etc,  is incredible, honest.

Back to Chris,.. is eating Real Whole Food possible if you have no willpower?  YES!!  I used to eat literally a few boxes of ice cream a WEEK, and I could finish off a box of Kashi or Mini Wheats in TWO days.  And there-in lies the problem:  sugar, flour, and chemicals are incredibly addictive. You have to give them up if you want a healthy body and a healthy weight.  Unfortunately,  your addicted mind will rebel badly if your addicted body isn’t getting them.  What to do?  Be patient with yourself.  You’re breaking years ( decades??) of bad habits; neural pathways and brain patterns that have been nurtured and sustained over and over again.  You’ve got to build healthy habits!

Here’s a little strategy:  (1) You’re going to have to change the way you think about food.  Do the donuts on the conference table call to you?  Then you don’t think of them as sugar/flour/chemical bombs that cause cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks.  Want to dive into the bread basket?  Then you’re not thinking that the high insulin and blood sugar will give you wrinkles or make you impotent.  Think you’ll satisfy your needs hypnosis slimwith Weight Watchers frozen desserts?  Those chemical cancer factories will in NO WAY satisfy your brains desire for ACTUAL NUTRIENTS, and before you know it, the Rebound Binge happens.  Educate yourself!!  Read my site, read Grain Brain, read Wheat Belly, read Mood Cure.  Stop thinking of food in terms of calories; look around.  Where has the Calorie Myth gotten us?  70% overweight, and everyone’s sick.  That whole line we tell ourselves, “I’ll eat this now and exercise/starve/purge/just eat broccoli.. later”  DOESN’T work.  Ever. Your body is a Chemistry Set, not a Math Equation.

(2) Set yourself up for success.  If you’re hoping that you can keep your trigger foods in the house and ignore them, you’re wrong.  No One In Your House needs those foods.  Kids DON’T need sugar, flour, or chemicals, it has the same destructive effects on them as it does on you.  The average disease takes 20 years to manifest.  Just because your kids are slim now doesn’t mean poison food isn’t affecting them, because it is.  Toss that excuse out the window.

You MUST start planning your week; ask your self:  when can I shop, when can I cook, when can I pack?  What can I freeze and use later?  Then plan it and write it down on your schedule.  It’s a mind set.  Go into your office on a full belly, have a great lunch packed, know you’ll be eating Real Whole Food for dinner, and junk food at the meetings won’t call so loudly.  Out running around all day?  PACK!  and not stupid diet food, but Real Whole Foods, and those toxic fast food/gas station restaurants won’t be tempting.

If you’re persistent with your self education, and consistent with your planning and scheduling, change happens.  New habits form. The best thing?  Willpower, which uses up a lot of energy, is quite draining, and completely limited, isn’t necessary anymore.  Do you look at a dirty cigarette on the street and ever have even a tiny desire to put it in your mouth?  No, because you think it’s gross.  There’s no effort whatsoever involved with that decision.  Keep learning, stay determined, and pretty soon, there’s very little effort involved with your food choices.  You’ll just choose delicious food that you know your body needs to thrive.  You’ll become a Nutrient Seeker to your very core, and then the issue of willpower isn’t even an issue anymore.

Chris, and everyone else struggling out there, please don’t give up on yourself.  Real change, Brain Change, takes time. You’ve had a lifetime of hypnotizing by BigPhovernment that CaloriesInCaloriesOut works, and now consciously, you know it doesn’t.  It’s your subconscious that needs work.   If it’s important to you, then schedule a few minutes every day to fill your brain with the thoughts you want to think.  It’s not going to happen with luck; our life is what we make of it.  If you need help with your habits and consistency, get in touch with me.  I can help you understand your Biology and give you tips for your Psychology, to turn you into a Real Whole Foodie. ***** REMEMBER, TESTOSTERONE LADDEN GUEST POST BY MARK ON APRIL 13, TUNE IN FOR A MAN’S PERSPECTIVE ON BEING HEALTHY AND LEAN. *****

Estrogen, Cortisol, and Thyroid; GIRLS SCOUT COOKIES, Recipes

blood spotOkay, Full Disclosure:  I’m Going Through Menopause. Ugh. This picture to the left?  That’s a “Blood Spot” test I did this morning. More on that in another post, I promise.  I’m actually just letting you know because today I’m tying Hormones to Health, Mood, and Food. What We Eat Affects Our Body and Mind.  I’m doing this after being inspired by a client email last night, asking if eating a few Girl Scout cookies would undue a “good” day. Let me tie my menopause, YOUR body, and her girl scout cookies together, because they are.  Our body, our energy, our emotions, our health,.. they’re one big connection.

Here’s some interesting facts:

*The Ingredient list for Samoas:(Don’t be hatin on the Messenger!)

Sugar, vegetable oil (soybean and palm oil, partially hydrogenated palm kernel and/or cottonseed oil), enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin,reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1],riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), corn syrup, coconut,sweetened condensed milk (condensed milk, sugar),contains two percent or less of sorbitol, glycerin, cocoa,invert sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, cornstarch,salt, caramelized sugar, soy lecithin, dextrose, natural and artificial flavor, carrageenan, leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate).

Pure Poison.

* Since our body could CARE A LESS about calories, and is DOMINATED by the hormones Insulin and Cortisol, does “food” like this undo a good day?  YES!,  “food” like this is ALWAYS harmful for your body. Always.  After eating this, your blood sugar and insulin spike, your Immune System is suppressed for 24 hours, you’ve allowed in Cancer Causing Sugar and Flour (glucose – cancer’s favorite food), Chemicals (artificial colors, flavors), soy, hydrogenated oils and Omega 6/Inflammatory vegetable oils. If ONLY the worst side effect was a little weight gain.

* What if you’re in the Majority of Women, and struggle with Bloat and Headaches; bile beanswhat affect will this “food” have on those issues?  Bloat, which happens in the Small Intestines, is from Bacteria or Yeast that DOESN’T BELONG THERE.  BLOAT IS NOT NORMAL. EVER.  Eat “food” like these Girl Scout Cookies, and you’ve just fed that bacteria and yeast it’s most favorite, fortifying meal.  It’s like when Popeye eats the can of spinach and then he can beat up Bruno.  That’s what’s going on in your “dysbiotic gut” (overgrowth of the bad stuff, not enough good):  you’ve just empowered it and prolonged your condition.

* Headaches are highly linked to Sugar/Flour/Insulin/Cortisol/Thyroid/Estrogen.  There’s a cascade effect going on that’s too long to write about, but eat this “food”, and if you’re prone to headaches, you’ll get one.

* Eating “food” like this suppresses/destroys our beneficial gut bacteria.  Here’s one surprising side effect from that: after our body produces estrogen,(this is for MEN and WOMEN) and uses it, it’s sent back to the liver to be broken down.  After leaving the liver, the “conjugated” estrogen is sent to the small intestine to be further broken down, or actually consumed by, the bacteria “lactobacillus acidophilis”.  If you’ve destroyed your gut bacteria with: SUGAR (the kind in Girl Scout Cookies), Processed Refined Foods (like a Girl Scout Cookie), Antibiotics, Cortisol/Stress, chemicals in water (fluoride, chlorine, etc), birth control pills, anti-inflammatories, acid suppressors, or Splenda,  you’ve likely impaired your bodies ability to break down and get rid of “old estrogen”;  back into the system the estrogen goes instead of being pooped or peed out of you.  Not Good.  (Bryan – there’s your favorite word again)

*The Sugar, Flour, and Chemicals in this product will ABSOLUTELY STIMULATE AND NURTURE the Addiction Centers in your brain.  And your child’s brain.

*Eat enough of these to raise your blood sugar way above normal, and your pancreas will respond with a big dose of Insulin to push it back down.  Unfortunately though, when blood sugar crashes, Cortisol is called in to correct it. Boom!  Stress.   Like I said above, Cortisol and Insulin are our 2 Dominant hormones, whether we’re male or female.  Too much Cortisol and too much Insulin mean that Sex Hormones and Thyroid Hormones will have to take a back seat.  Reproduction and Metabolism are not priorities.  Balancing blood sugar ( because SUGAR IS TOXIC), and Fight/Flight (staying alive) are priorities.

What’s all this have to do with my peri-menopause?  So far, my only symptom has been losing my period.  I’m sleeping well, no hot flashes, no up and down moods.  If pretend foods like Girl Scout Cookies were a normal part of my diet, I’d be a nut case.  ( to my husband and children, ……..)  Being a hormonal nut case IS NOT NORMAL.  It’s the food, it’s the food, it’s the food.  It ALWAYS matters, always.

When you look at that cookie or cake or chip or whatever it is that’s calling you, STOP.  Ask yourself, “how will I feel about this in an hour”;  practice thinking about the long term consequences from our actions.  Isn’t that what we tell our kids?  It’s great advice for us too!

Parchment-SalmonHere’s a recipe we made last night, oh my gosh it was delicious! Samoras-2-0051 I used cod instead of salmon because it’s cheaper and I can always find wild caught.  The parsley and lemon together were so good!  Did you know that parsley helps the body detox heavy metals, and that’s it’s LOADED with Vitamin’s K, C, A, and Bs, and a whole bunch of minerals.  And here’s a Paleo Samoa cookie Meg made – it was excellent!  You can have a dessert that doesn’t shoot up your blood sugar and instigate destruction of your brain and body, or your kids brain and body.  Real Whole Food is the answer.

Amanda’s Journey; Sleep Deprivation and Carb Cravings

manda me uvaEpilepsy sucks.  Trust me.  I don’t have it, but I’ve watched my #2 daughter struggle with this for almost 15 years.  She somehow gets up most days, goes to class, participates in sports, and clubs, and she (thank God) has a ton of great friends ( who’ve always been very supportive); but it can really knock you down sometimes. She had a really rough weekend that culminated in a middle of the night hospital stay, scary “heart attack like pains”, memory issues, and other symptoms.   We’re changing her meds and prayingmanda w wrap that it works.  Here’s two pictures of Amanda:  on the left is about a month ago on the lawn at her school, and on the right is in December after getting about 25 electrodes glued on her head for a 2 day EEG.  It didn’t last 2 days because she had a middle of the night seizure and “activity” that caused her to get up and take every single electrode out.  That’s from the meds, one of them disrupts her REM sleep, a lot.

Anyway, Mark and I rushed down to Charlottesville around 1 am last night and stayed up the whole night.  It’s a busy, busy hospital and there’s absolutely NO sleeping in the ER.  Checking my email the next day, I got not 1 but 2 emails about lack of sleep and over eating / craving bad foods.  One was a friend who has a puppy, and the other was a lady with a baby.  Sometimes there’s no way you can sleep through the night, right?  And wow, it really does a number on your immune system, your neurotransmitters, and your “hunger hormones”, ghrelin and leptin.

I have good news though:  the “unavoidable munchies because of lack of sleep”??  They can be avoided!!  Lack of sleep is such a hit to the body because GOOD THINGS DON’T HAPPEN when you’re up in the middle of the night (these are different things from what we’re warning our teenagers about, but just as bad).  When we’re asleep, the brain does repairs, the muscles do repairs, the immune system makes particular hormones, our glands make corticosteroids and sex hormones, the body makes Human Growth Hormone, the liver is incredibly busy breaking down hormones and toxins, the skin the lungs the kidneys, EVERYTHING is cleaning and repairing or making things.  Trust me when I say I just seriously condensed what goes on during our sleep.  If your sleep is disrupted, or you don’t go to bed early enough, you can get into real trouble.

Sleep has been a pretty big issue and topic in the news for the past few years, and I’ve often seen advice to “eat more protein” on the days you’ve missed sleep.  I agree with that, but I want to add:  Eat More Fat, on these days and every day.  Your body is CRAVING nutrients; you think it wants junk food, but that’s YOU, not your inner brain talking.  Your deepest smartest brain parts know exactly what it takes to build and repair your body, and it’s not carby cereal, or ice cream, or pizza, or chips, or a trip to Fast Food. Carbs build NOTHING, they’re just an energy source.  What you “hear” are the habits you’ve established as comfort when you’re tired/stressed/happy/sad/etc.  Give your body the fat and protein and vitamins and minerals it really wants, and you’ll see those cravings disappear, I promise.

Add the butter, add the fatty broths, pour on the olive oil, make treats with coconut oil, butter, or milk;  up the good fats with your proteins and vegetables and truly sooth your brain and body.  Also, make sure your Neurotransmitters are full:  the serotonin, dopamine, GABA, catecholamines.  These things make you “normal” feeling.  Amino acid supplements, on a particular timed schedule, do this.  Read the Mood Cure or the Diet Cure by Julia Ross, I swear it’s for real.  I’ve used her protocol on ourselves and several nutrition clients now, IT’S FOR REAL.

Another important factor:  don’t set yourself up for failure by having any thing munchie/quick/junkie in your house.  Nothing.  Quit telling yourself your kids might need a snack.  NO ONE needs crap that sets up life long bad habits or creates a state of terrible health in the body and mind.  NO ONE.  Not you, not your kids.

DO SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS:  have plenty of fats, vegetables, ….INGREDIENTS,.. that you can mix up and genuinely provide your brain and body what it’s actually craving to rebuild, repair, and make hormones and neurotransmitters.  (Remember:  ALL your steroid hormones, and ALL your sex hormones are made from Cholesterol, Saturated Fat, and Minerals.  ALL OF THEM. )

It always comes back to: eat Real Whole Food, doesn’t it?

 

“I’m sad because I can’t eat like Normal people eat.” Hmmm. Let’s look at that:

cereal:time to makeOh boy have I heard my title statement a million times, several of those times in my own head, and in the past few weeks from both clients and friends who are trying hard to eat well. Please don’t feel sad because you think you’re not eating Normal foods like a Normal person; let me show you why.

What’s Normal in 2014?  Normal people go on a diet to lose weight and make an effort to quit eating processed food, fast food, and junk food (or at least eat smaller amounts or diet versions).  Foods that have become so NORMAL that Real Whole Food often seems “not normal”.  Eating Real Whole Food can feel so full of effort, so out of the NORM, that it actually creates stress, or a feeling of virtue for sticking to the plan, or feelings of sadness over missing your old foods.

What does the Normal Person in America look like today?  Well, about 70% of the U.S. is overweight, and over 30% are obese.  About 70% of all Americans are on at least 1 prescription drug.  The average amount of meals eaten outside of the home is a solid 50%. One in five breakfasts is from McDonalds.  The top 10 products sold in US grocery stores: (10) Soda (9) Cereal (8) Frozen Dinners (7) Salty Snacks (6) Milk (5) laundry detergent (4) eggs (3) PB and Jelly (2) packaged meats and (1) Bread.  Those are Normal foods.

The average sales growth for Bread is increasing about 4.3 Million a year, for average total sales of 10 BILLION a YEAR.  44% of Americans in the top income level  eat less than one serving of fruit/veg a day.  41% of Americans in the lowest income level eat less than one serving of fruit/veg a day. It’s pretty Normal not to eat fruits and vegetables.  Top income earners eat fast food more often than the lowest income earners; 50 MILLION Americans buy fast food each WEEK, with only 28% of Americans saying they eat No fast food.  (Fast Food is definitely “Normal”.)

In just a few more years, 2020, the CDC says that about 50% of the US population will have Diabetes.  Cancer hits 1 out of 3 people, but the CDC predicts increases EVERY YEAR FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS.  Same with Heart Disease, and Alzheimer’s.  So we can say that Normal People are really, really, sick.  Our poor kids are in real trouble, because for the last few years every health agency out there is predicting – for the first time in our history – a SHORTER lifespan for our children.

If we use statistics and averages to define Normal, Normal doesn’t look so good.  Oh!  What about the Normal, Average dieter?  Around 95% of EVERYONE who loses weight on a diet, gains it back; about 50% of those people gain back a little extra.  That’s another Norm.

Let me be really clear:  today’s Normal food has created today’s Normal person.

Why would we want to be Normal?  It sounds horrible!

I still relate to that statement though, because like I said, I’ve thought it myself.  My jump off the Diet Roller Coaster was only a few years ago.  I had decades of starving myself, consuming tons of gut-wrenching diet foods, and giving into the inevitable binges.  That’s when Calories In Calories Out ruled my life.  Thank you God that it doesn’t anymore.  Being a slave to fake food, processed food, fast food, junk food, excuse my language, but it just sucks.  Really.  It feels so good for the few minutes you’re doing it, and then immediately afterwards, the guilt, the pain, the depression. That’s definitely not true happiness….know what I’m talking about?

You don’t have to be normal!  We can be like our Grandparents, or maybe Great Grand Parents, and just eat real food when it’s a meal time, and then go about our life when it’s not meal time.  Simple. Except for when it’s not:  you’re busy and it would be just so much easier to go buy dinner for you and the kids at a KFC or Subway.  You’re busy and tired and going out just sounds better.  You’re busy and that commercial for Marie Calendars says her lasagna makes families happy and close, just like real food. You’re busy and that darn co-worker brought in cookies.  Oh oh oh!  You’re busy and watching the Olympics and all the Olympians – who have smokin fit and hot bodies – are promoting McDonalds nuggets or the new Frito Sub at Subway and you think – Why Not?  It’s works for them!

Listen:  planning, shopping, chopping, cooking, and packing is only an effort for a little while. Thinking of food as nutrients that make your body and mind is an effort for a little while.  Everything new, every new effort, takes some mental strength and fortitude.  When it comes to food and cooking, we also have to undo decades of Brain Washing by Big Food that their crap is just as good for us as Real Food. It’s not just as good for us, and our new definition of Normal has made us overweight, very sick, depressed, and low in energy.

We can change all this by what we put on the end of our fork.  Honest. Energy, health, clear-headedness, and genuine excitement for the gift of our days here on earth can be yours.  Pledge today that you’re going to take control of your life, control of your thoughts, control of your schedule, and become a Real Whole Foodie.

Thyroid Questions, Cholesterol Questions, and Superbowl Binges

debbieI’ve had good questions and good meetings this week that centered on topics that apply to many people, so here goes a diverse post.

Two people asked me questions about Thyroid numbers on their tests.  One person had a high TSH, the other a high T3.  I only have INFORMATION for them to bring to their doctors, not a diagnosis, but it’s important information.  Often when doctors see these numbers, they throw “typical” pharmaceuticals at it; but there’s a much bigger picture to these numbers.  The thyroid doesn’t “stand alone”;  nothing in our body works in isolation, everything works ( or doesn’t work), in tandem with the rest of our body.  Modern medicine/pharmaceuticals treats problems in very isolated ways which explains why so often, health issues aren’t resolved by band-aiding symptoms.

Thyroid Facts:  the Pituitary gland makes TSH, the Thyroid gland does not.  A low or high TSH is something the Pituitary is doing, not the thyroid.  The pituitary is taking a measure of the level of T3 and T4 (the hormones the thyroid DOES make), and then sending out the TSH accordingly.  Here’s the problems:  the pituitary is looking at the amount of T3 and T4 in the blood.  There’s so many reasons for a “mis-reading”:  you don’t have enough Iodine in your diet ( that’s a common deficiency) to knock a T4 down to a T3;  you don’t have enough selenium which keeps T4 low in the blood and reduces reverse T3 ( RT3).  Maybe you don’t get enough zinc and copper – which have vital thyroid functions, or maybe you get these nutrients, but don’t absorb them well because  your stomach acid is too low?  How’s your Vitamin D status, studies show it’s EPIDEMICALLY low, and vitamin D has a HUGE role to play in thyroid function, and auto-immune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s).  What if you don’t have the enzymes that help knock that 4th T (tyrosine – which is an animo-acid from protein – do you get enough protein?), down to T3, which is the thyroid hormone that actually is USED by our cells, unlike T4, which is basically just a pre-cursor to T3.  What if everything works up to the point of your cells using the T3, but most of your T3 is bound by “globulins” – which makes it Reverse T3 (RT3) and UNUSABLE.

Are you getting my point?  There’s many reasons for your “off” thyroid numbers, and throwing the typical meds (synthroid or armor) at it may not even come close to solving your problem.

Oh!  Stress/Cortisol has HORRIBLE effects on the whole chain of thyroid function – how’s your stress hormones?  Because if they’re shooting off like rockets, no thyroid drug in the world is going to fix that.

I bet I’ve confused you more – Good.  Get unconfused!  Here’s some great resources to read before you let anyone determine a course of action for you.  Dr. Brownstein is a renowned authority on thyroid, he has a great blog and books.  Dr. Izabelle is an expert – and she deals with it herself.    And then there’s the famous site: Stop The Thyroid Madness.

Next, I had a chance to review 2 blood work panels this week.  Interestingly, each of these people had very similar results:  slightly high total cholesterol, great/high HDL, “high” LDL, low triglycerides, and low VLDL.   Each was slightly worried about the TC/total cholesterol number.  I wouldn’t worry about either, and here’s why:  We now know CONCLUSIVELY that TC is a pretty useless, meaningless number when it comes to heart disease.  Even high LDL isn’t a sure thing, there’s 5 kinds of LDL and some are necessary and good.   Our body makes cholesterol in EVERY SINGLE CELL because it’s vitally important to life, health, and well-being.  We’d die without cholesterol, and low cholesterol is NOT linked to health and vitality, but to illness, shortened lifespan, and mental disorders.  Honestly.  Read This for an Expert Researchers/Scientist explanation of why we need cholesterol.

If you’re worried about risk factors for heart disease, look at your Triglycerides, your VLDL, your HDL to TC ratio, and your Triglyceride to HDL ratio.  Look here for the facts and equations. Read Cholesterol Clarity if you want to hear what 28 serious experts make of the latest cholesterol and heart disease information.

What I love seeing?   That 2 different doctors ran the VLDL numbers.  Very Low Density Lipoproteins are indicators of heart disease risk.  VLDL is small and dense, the “bad kind of cholesterol”.  It’s prone to oxidation and causes much artery damage.  Here’s the “good” thing:  our body only makes VLDL when we eat too many CARBS-SUGAR-GLUCOSE and has to convert the excess to TRIGLYCERIDES.  VLDL is made by the liver to carry these triglycerides through the blood to their designated destination ( usually, your abdominal area).  Want lower VLDL?? Eat less crappy carbs and watch your blood sugars.  It’s simple.

Thyroid and Cholesterol, two seemingly different subjects, but one single point:  quit trusting your Doctor to automatically determine the best course of action for you.  Read, learn, educate yourself about YOUR BODY.  We shouldn’t let the pharmaceutical industry (which is where doctors get their continuing ed from)  be our guiding light – they’re a BUSINESS who NEED TO SELL US DRUGS TO SUCCEED.

Drugs have serious consequences and side-effects.  Put some effort into figuring this stuff out before you travel down the path of taking pharmaceuticals, and then adding more pharmaceuticals to counter the side-effects of those pharmaceuticals.

Next:  I got asked what I’m eating for the Super Bowl.  Hmm.  That would just be my dinner around 6pm or so, and it’ll consist of meat and a pile of vegetables, maybe cheese.   I’m not dreaming of a binge, or planning one, or subjecting myself to feeling stuffed, bad, and then hungover.  Why would I do that to myself?

Last, I have to leave you with a few more facts, these are inspired from I don’t remember who in the Future of Nutrition conference:  Inflammation, and the conditions for Disease (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, thyroid…) are developing YEARS, even DECADES, before the manifestation of symptoms.  Actually, studies show that we build and nurture our diseases for an average of 20 years before they actually disrupt our lives.  Even pancreatic cancer and Parkinson’s, which seem to “suddenly-onset” and progress rapidly – studies show they’ve been brewing for an average of 20 years before the symptoms.  Take control of your life, your health, your eating, and your thoughts.  You really, really do have power over these things.

Make the connection between your foods, your eating habits, how you handle stress, how much you sleep, and how much you move, to YOU.  Your energy, your health, your general mood, your creativity, your vitality:  You.  What you do – every day, consistently, mostly, habitually – really, really matters.  Become a Real Whole Foodie:)