Rock Solid Over 50 | Nutrition, Health, Fitness and Wellness

How Does Your Body Burn Calories?

August 10, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

WORKSHOP REMINDER: I’ve got 2 workshops/talks planned on Blood Sugar, and it’s relationship and effect on Weight, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Thyroid, and Mood. The dates are Friday, August 23, 12-2, and Wednesday, August 28, 6-8pm, the charge is $30/person, and the venue is the Marshall Community Center, 4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall, Va. This is literally right off Rt 66 exit, and very easy to find. There’s plenty of parking and the room is big, so bring a friend or a family member if you’d like.

Ever wonder how many calories you burn during exercise? Do you hope that an hour or two of working out will empty the fat cells on your butt, your stomach, or your thighs? ( Or at least balance out some bad eating episodes??)

Exercise is wonderful, invigorating, and absolutely necessary for a healthy body and mind; but for weight loss or calorie burning, not so much. (Darnit!)

How does our body burn calories? Here’s a simple overview:

About 70% of TOTAL calories burned in a 24 hour period are burned while your body is “at rest”; actually, the number is 60-80%, and several factors play into this number: are you growing? sick? male? female? young? old? training muscle/lifting or doing HIIT (high intensity interval training)? ovulating? stressing? Because all these influence our bodies rate of burning calories.

What’s the biggest calorie burner in the 70%? Your liver – it’s BUSY. ( Yes, your liver burns many, many more calories than your muscles, no matter what. So if you’ve been telling yourself that you can’t lose weight because you never get to workout – you’ll have to think of another excuse.) Our liver performs hundreds of functions everyday, and thru the night too. It’s important that we not overstress the liver with chemicals, toxins, and sugar/flour. A toxic liver is a sluggish liver, and a sluggish liver is compromised in it’s ability to do all it’s jobs/do it’s jobs fully.

The heart and brain are the next biggest calorie users. They use between 20 and 30% of total daily calories.

Exercise/Muscles comprise around 20% of total, daily, calorie burn, (that’s formal exercise and activity, such as cleaning/gardening/walking etc), and digestion burns calories too, about 10% of daily burn (protein and fat digestion burn more calories than carb digestion, especially if the carbs are refined and processed, i.e. flours and sugars). Most of the calories your muscles burn get burned AT REST, not during your workout. Surprising? Want them to burn more calories? Lift, sprint, jump, do full body exercises: stimulate as many muscle cells as possible. Chronic cardio, especially if coupled with inadequate protein and calories, can actually cause muscle cells to be used as fuel. You don’t want that!

Want to really suppress your total daily burn? Go on a low calorie/low fat diet. Studies show this causes our Thyroid to suppress our Metabolism (the rate at which all our cells use fuel) immediately and dramatically. Not a good idea.

What do the liver, heart, and muscle cells actually use for energy? Well, their preferred fuel source is FAT, not glucose; but if your bloodstream is full of glucose, because you just ate a big bowl of oatmeal or pasta, or maybe you snack on carby foods all day, then you probably have a lot of glucose in your blood (you can test this with a Glucometer, normal is 80-100mg/dcl – and it’s FUN!!). Excess glucose, from any carb sources: fruit, vegetable, grains, sugar, or beans, is ALWAYS a priority of the body to get under control. If it’s floating around and above 100, glucose will be used for fuel – NOT FAT. Excess fat’s not toxic, it’s not an emergency, excess glucose is. (Darnit Again! Doesn’t our body know how much we hate that fat??)

Need to lose weight? It’s the food. Confused about what to eat? Focus on healthy protein sources, healthy fats, TONS of vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, some dairy if you tolerate it. Check out my what I eat page, or contact me if you’re still confused or need help. You can lose weight, permanently. I promise.

Category: Carbs, Question of the Week /

Workshops, Thyroid, and Iodine

August 7, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’ve got some great information on Thyroid today, but first I want to let you know that I’ve got 2 workshops/talks planned on Blood Sugar, and it’s relationship and effect on Weight, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Thyroid, and Mood. The dates are Friday, August 23, 12-2, and Wednesday, August 28, 6-8pm, the charge is $30/person, and the venue is the Marshall Community Center, 4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall, Va. This is literally right off Rt 66 exit, and very easy to find. There’s plenty of parking and the room is big, so bring a friend or a family member if you’d like.

Why this topic? Because Carbs/Glucose, blood sugar highs and lows, effect weight, hormones, inflammation, mood/neurotransmitters, and literally every disease out there. It really, really, really matters that you understand what blood sugar is, what your body does with it, and it’s very profound effects. The more you know, the better you can take care of yourself and your family.

Email me thru the contact page if you can attend.

On to Thyroid!

I’m going to bullet point some facts here:

Thyroid issues, hypo and hyper, affect millions of Americans; more people have thyroid issues than Diabetes. The thyroid gland is in charge of your heart rate, body temp, blood pressure, growth, and the metabolism( rate of activity) for every single cell in your body.

Fixing issues involves MORE than just supplementing with thyroid hormone or suppressing the gland. The Endocrine/Hormonal system is COMPLEX, and treating it as a “stand alone” issue isn’t smart.

The standard test for Thyroid Function is determining levels of TSH/thyroid stimulating hormone. The thyroid doesn’t make this hormone, the Pituitary does. It’s affected by the hypothalamus, BLOOD SUGAR, estrogen, iodine, gut function, and more. So just supplying a little more thyroid hormone in the form of Synthroid or Armor often doesn’t address the Real Issue behind thyroid dysfunction. Know anyone who has to constantly UP their meds because it doesn’t seem to be working? The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists have been trying to get guidelines (think: Insurance paid for tests) changed since 2003 to make the acceptable range of TSH smaller, 3 -5, and T3 and T4, active and inactive forms, tested. So far, in Main Stream Medical, it hasn’t happened. However, there are SEVERAL doctors out there now, regular MDs who practice Functional and Alternative medicine, NDs, ODs, Chiropractors, and more, who WILL order the right tests for you. Do a search of your area to find them. There’s probably more than you think. Anyway..

The Thyroid makes the hormones T4 and T3, the “recipe” is Tyrosine and Iodine (T4 is tyrosine and 4 molecules of iodine, T3 has had one iodine knocked off). T3 is called the “Active Form” of thyroid hormone, or what our cells actually use. TSH levels DO NOT necessarily reflect T3 and T4 levels!!!

The body has to convert T4 to T3, but many things can interfere with this: proper gut bacteria are CRUCIAL to and directly involved with this conversion (gas/bloat/indigestion – you probably have too much bad bacteria and not enough good), and an imbalance of good and bad bacteria can lower thyroid function.

Cortisol (from physical or mental stress) disrupts the T4 to T3 conversion, by blocking the enzyme that knocks off that extra iodine, and it also blocks the T3 receptor sites.

Estrogen dominance – a HUGE issue not just for women, but men, (soy, plastics, etc = estrogenic compounds) blocks receptor sites, making T3 unusable.

Don’t eat enough protein (tyrosine is an animo acid) or iodine containing foods? What if you have poor digestion and eat foods containing tyrosine and iodine, but you have insufficient stomach acid and enzymes that allow you to breakdown and assimilate those nutrients? Your body won’t have the components to make good T4 and T3.

T4 becomes T3 in the LIVER (primarily, it also converts in the Kidney and Lungs – NOT in the Thyroid gland – weird huh). If you have a “congested/slow/fatty” liver, from chemicals, sugar, alcohol, bad fats, toxins, etc, your liver function is compromised.

Leaky gut – from incomplete digestion of proteins – allows undigested protein into the blood stream. The immune system sees these “foreign invaders” and mounts an attack. Unfortunately, the attack often is directed to OTHER areas of the body (joints, pancreas..) like the Thyroid (Hashimotos). ( here we are back to digestion and the gut)

Poor diet? Too much sugar/flour, not enough fat and protein? Welcome to zigzagging Blood Sugar, which increases Cortisol, which blocks T4 to T3 conversion.

On a diet? Low calorie diets INSTANTLY slow down Thyroid function – after all, the thyroid is supposed to monitor incoming calories and determine if a starvation situation is at hand, or everything’s normal. If the thyroid suspects starvation, it slows down Metabolism to save your life. This will come in handy if you get stranded on a boat or in a snowstorm. (you never know.)

I could go on and on and on, but do you get the point that your Thyroid isn’t an Island? That dysfunction can be from so many other areas of the body, and that very very very possibly, you can fix and improve Thyroid Function thru Nutrition and Stress Control?

One more thing I want to talk about: Iodine.
There’s some differing opinions on Iodine in Hashimotos, some say yes, some say no. You’ll have to read and determine that for yourself (Chris Kressler and Dr. Brownstein are great places to start). But as for Thyroid Health overall, Iodine is vitally important. Supplement form is good, but food is always best. Eat your seafoods, and add seaweed, which is easy to get in any store now in dried forms. It’s salty, cheap, delicious, and easy to throw in your salads or casseroles. It has protective effects against cancer, and its vitally important to breast, prostate, eyes, and ovaries. It’s also CRUCIAL to fetal, infant, and children’s developing brains.

Wow. That’s enough for today. More on thyroid health when I give my talks. Eat Real Whole Food!

Category: Uncategorized /

Cholesterol Facts and Upcoming Talk

August 5, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Category: Fats, RWF /

Sunscreen, Vitamin D, Thyroid, and Exercise

August 2, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’m so excited! I have a Diabetes, Thyroid, and Cholesterol lecture this Saturday from 9 – 5, in Richmond Va, that promises to be fantastic:) I also have the Ancestral Health Symposium in 2 weeks. In light of this, I think it’s time for me to offer more classes. I’ve had a LOT of response/questions/comments on the Digestion/Blood Sugar classes I did in June, and feel the need to repeat – in a condensed version – these subjects and show their connection to Weight Management/Loss, Diabetes, Thyroid, and Cholesterol. Hint: it’s all about the Food.

I wanted to do a Question and Answer post today, as I’ve had some great questions. There will be NO theme to these questions whatsoever.

1. What’s the best Natural sunscreen?

You’re going to have to go on-line or to your local health food store to get “natural” sunscreen. If it’s from the drugstore, it’s probably loaded with cancer causing chemicals. Go on the EWG (Environmental Working Group) site to get specifics on the products you’re using, and specifics on the products they recommend. They do a “Best Sunscreen” list every year. This is a free site that’s LOADED with information, most of it from the FDA, on the specific chemicals in sunscreens, makeups, foods, body products, etc. If you click on their Skin Deep Page, you’ll get specifics on your exact make-up, hair, and beauty products/brands/colors, plus a safety rating somewhere between 1 and 10.

2. Best Vitamin D supplement?

Hmmm. We can take Vitamin D orally, and I do in the winter. I use Biotics products, and also Green Pastures Fermented Cod Liver Oil (loaded w very usable A and D, plus Omega 3s). However, oral Vitamin D is DIFFERENT than the D our BODY MAKES FROM THE SUN. (I didn’t even know about that until a lecture last year, I thought it was all from food – it’s not). Here’s how it should work: we eat healthy foods containing Cholesterol (shrimp, liver, eggs, meats), and our body uses that cholesterol to send to our skin (if we don’t eat enough cholesterol, our liver makes it). When we go out in the sun, the UVB rays interact with this cholesterol to form/produce Vitamin D ON TOP OF OUR SKIN. According to Stephanie Seneff, MIT researcher, this is a different D than anything in a supplement; it’s called Vitamin D sulfate, which is ONLY created w the interaction of sun and bodily cholesterol. This particular D possesses unique health-promoting properties including skin and immune health promotion. It also has antibiotic and cancer-preventative properties.

Here’s a blurb from Mercola/Seneff:

When you expose your skin to the sun, your skin also synthesizes high amounts of cholesterol sulfate, which is very important for heart and cardiovascular health. In fact, according to research by Dr. Stephanie Seneff, high LDL and subsequent heart disease may in fact be a symptom of cholesterol sulfate deficiency. Sulfur deficiency also promotes obesity and related health problems like diabetes
When exposed to sunshine, your skin also synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. This form of vitamin D is water soluble, unlike oral vitamin D3 supplements, which is unsulfated. The water-soluble form can travel freely in your bloodstream, whereas the unsulfated form needs LDL (the so-called “bad” cholesterol) as a vehicle of transport. According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff, there’s reason to believe that many of the profound benefits of vitamin D are actually due to the vitamin D sulfate. As a result, she suspects that the oral non-sulfated form of vitamin D might not provide all of the same benefits, because it cannot be converted to vitamin D sulfate

3. I can’t lose weight. Should I have my thyroid tested?

I get asked this all the time. You could have a slow thyroid, and addressing thyroid issues is important; but it’s probably NOT the reason you can’t lose weight. Sorry. In all likely-hood your weight issue is due to food. Let me take just a minute to address thyroid issues: if you have a leaky gut due to years of grains, sugars, and foods that you don’t digest well, your immune system could be attacking your thyroid (hashimoto’s). If you eat a lot of bread and soda, the Bromide compounds in them could be slowing your thyroid; if you don’t eat enough Iodine containing foods, that could be slowing your thyroid. Soy is a huge thyroid disrupter. If you’ve had a test that just looked at your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), and it says “normal”, that’s inadequate. You need to have your T3 and T4 looked at specifically. Doctors and insurance companies are slow to do this, but the American College of Endocrinologists has been trying since 2003 to make testing those hormones the “norm” as they say that’s a better reflection of thyroid activity and health. My TSH was normal, but my T4 and T3 were low. More on Thyroid after this weekend:)

4. What’s the best exercise to get the fat off my stomach/thighs/arms/butt?

Every single form of exercise if good for you; do what you like or love. The ONLY thing that will be fat off of you, is changing your diet. Exercise has so many benefits: improved cognition, better balance, better insulin uptake, stress reduction, endorphin production, pretty muscles, etc etc etc. Weight loss is NOT one of it’s benefits. I know I know, we’ve all been told for years that to lose weight we need to eat right and exercise – that’s because exercise is a healthy, NATURAL state for our body. We’re supposed to move. Exercise is a gift from God. But ask yourself this: if you’ve been a regular exerciser for years, have you whittled away to nothing yet? Have you been to a half or full marathon and looked at the participants? You can be a GREAT athlete/runner, and still carry fat on you. Our weight is about the food we eat and the hormonal response it induces. Have you read Gary Taubes book, Why We Get Fat? It’s a must-read for anyone who’s struggling to lose weight.

That’s a wrap for now. Plan your week, get organized, shop/prep/cook/pack Real Whole Food for yourself and your family.

Category: Question of the Week /

Eggs and Cholesterol, are they Really Scary?

July 31, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’ve had a few questions about Eggs recently; as in, are they really healthy? and won’t they raise my cholesterol? The short answers: Yes, and No.

Here’s more detail:

Why are people still scared of Eggs, one of Nature’s Super Foods? Because in the early 1970’s, the American Heart Association declared the egg a threat to the heart. Eggs contain about 270 mg of cholesterol, and our Food Scientists and Our Government had just decided we should eat no more than 300 mg of cholesterol a day. Levels above 300 were considered DEADLY.

Hmmm. The average human body uses about 1000mg a day. Study after study after study has shown that DIETARY cholesterol (what we take in thru our mouths), has LITTLE TO NO EFFECT on Blood Cholesterol. In 1999, the Journal of the American Medical Association stated: “We found NO evidence of an overall association between egg consumption and heart disease.” THIS WAS IN 1999!!!! How many of your doctors seem aware of this? This statement was made after a study of 118,000 people showed that PEOPLE WHO ATE 5 OR 6 EGGS PER WEEK HAD A LOWER RISK OF HEART DISEASE THAN THOSE WHO ATE 1 EGG PER WEEK.

There were earlier studies that showed damage from eggs, why? Those studies used dried, powdered eggs: liquidized, pasteurized, and spray dried, all which oxidizes the cholesterol and damages the nutrients. Oh, and these studies were done on RABBITS. Don’t use this to judge Real Eggs.

Real Eggs are a Nutritional Bonanza: Lecithin, which helps the body digest fat and cholesterol, is a huge source of Choline, a B-like vitamin vital to the brain. Eggs contain MANY antioxidants, including glutathione, which helps fight cancer, and the antioxidant carotenes Lutein and Zeaxanthin (more cancer fighting, and good for the eyes); eggs have a high concentration of Biotin, a B vitamin essential for hair, skin, and nerves (more than any food other than liver); eggs contain Betaine, which is an amino acid that reduces Homocysteine, which causes atherosclerosis; eggs from Pastured Birds (that eat bugs and plants), contain loads of beta carotene, and they have nice amounts of Omega 3s(O3s are from green plants). They also have more A and E, folic acid, lutein, and beta-carotene than indoor eggs. Eggs are a great source of Fat and Protein, and very easy to digest. Don’t throw out the yolks – that’s where most of the nutrients are!

But let’s get to the real issue, which is a fear of Cholesterol, right? Even though we’ve all read several times by now that cholesterol probably isn’t near the factor in heart disease we’ve been led to believe, the 40 plus years of Brain Washing by the Pharmacutical Companies have taken effect. Cholesterol lowering drugs are some of the most profitable drugs in the World. Can you imagine if there was a Major Decision to quit reducing cholesterol? Oh, the implications on Lipators bottom line……

We need to educate ourselves, and NOT depend on Big Pharma’s recommendations. They’re in it for Profits, not our health. Here’s some Cholesterol Facts:

Cholesterol is part of ALL cell membranes, with some cells consisting of 50% cholesterol. Along with stable saturated fatty acids, cholesterol provides STRUCTURE and STABILITY to the cell: nutrients can pass thru properly, and wastes can leave properly – this is IMPORTANT. Cholesterol is an ANTIOXIDANT and HEALING SUBSTANCE. This is the reason that when arteries are damaged (atherosclerosis) or the lungs are damaged (tuberculosis) cholesterol is PRESENT – it didn’t DO THE DAMAGE, it’s sent there to heal and patch. Cholesterol is a large part of all your Fight and Flight hormones, which is why in times of stress, your blood cholesterol RISES: your liver is making MORE cholesterol, and sending it to your adrenal glands to produce more cortisol. It also rises when there’s any type of injury or illness: your liver produces MORE because Cholesterol Is A Healing Substance. CHOLESTEROL ALSO MAKES BILE ACIDS AND VITAMIN D. Cholesterol is also a LARGE component of our Immune system, as it uses cholesterol to fight infections.

Cholesterol is part of the actual COMPOSITION of the Brain, the Nervous System, the Heart, the Liver, and the Kidneys. It’s so vital to Brain Development, that defects in cholesterol metabolism cause mental retardation. On that note, children under 2 DON’T produce enough; that’s why breast milk is LOADED.

The body wants to keep cholesterol levels steady (the body takes care of this – you don’t need too, I’m just explaining), so if you eat MORE, the liver makes LESS, and vise versa.

What damages the body that causes the liver to make more cholesterol? Sugar and Refined Carbs damage tissues; and the Insulin required to escort them out of the blood is VERY damaging to arteries (think of it like barbed wire coursing thru your arteries). Toxins, from cigarettes, foods, pesticides, and body care products do damage to our cells. High Fructose Corn Syrup’s very damaging to the liver. Hydrogenated Oils and Omega 6s (vegetable oils) do a lot of damage to our arteries, organs, and brain.

Getting the picture? Blaming cholesterol for your health problems is like blaming the firemen at the scene of the fire for the fire. They’re there to do DAMAGE CONTROL, just like cholesterol.

Before I sign off, I just have to spend a moment on Statins and Other Cholesterol Lowering Drugs, and the connection between Cholesterol and Heart Disease. About 25% of all adults over 45 are on a Statin/Cholesterol lowering drug, because they’ve been convinced, along with their doctors, that Cholesterol = Heart Disease/Clogged Arteries. It’s Bull. More than 50% of everyone who has a heart attack has NORMAL cholesterol levels, and people with low cholesterol often have heart attacks. But let’s talk about these drugs, which several doctors and scientists say do a LOT more damage than good(here, here, here, for starters). Studies show that Statins increase Coronary Plaque, that they cause Insulin Resistance, Hyperglycemia, Muscle and Joint pain, and they Interfere with the production of Steroid Hormones (fight/flight, and sex hormones), Vitamin D production, and Bile Acids (these break down fats in the gut). Also, the cells that make cholesterol also produce CoQ10 – which is vital to EVERY CELL IN YOUR BODY. Does this really sound like something you should take? Or should you focus on REMOVING the substances that cause Damage: sugar, flours, hydrogenated oils, Omega 6s, and toxins, and INCREASE your foods that heal and nourish, like eggs?

I included 3 links above to fantastic sites/books/podcasts with the latest information on cholesterol and heart disease. There’s still such misinformation out there, and there will be a friend/co-worker/family member who will castigate you for eating “too much cholesterol”. Inform yourself – don’t just take my word for it. Become educated to the point that when people make un-educated remarks, like “those eggs are going to kill you”, you have the right come back. We need to take our health into our own hands. It’s time to stop letting Big Pharma make decisions for us. Read, learn, and become informed. Make a difference in your life and your families life.

Category: Question of the Week, RWF /

Success Stories

July 30, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Want to change your life, your health, your weight? It’s all about the food! Honestly, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, digestive issues, blood sugar problems, allergies, mood disorders, headaches, … it’s all about the food. You have the power to make enormous changes. Other people have.

Here’s some success stories to inspire you:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/i-am-in-the-best-health-and-shape-of-my-life/#axzz2aY7HVZiu

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-beginning-of-a-new-life/#axzz2aY7HVZiu

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/i-have-never-felt-better-in-my-life/#axzz2aY7HVZiu

Category: Psychology of Eating, RWF /

The Power of a Mom

July 28, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Okay Moms, this Post is to you. Why? Because statistically speaking, whether you work outside the home or not, you buy most of the groceries, and make most of the meals. The control we have over what our kids eat – even our big kids – is pretty profound.

This is a Power NOT to be wasted; and definitely a Power we need to recognize and acknowledge, …… and use.

Kids today are the first generation of U.S. children EVER predicted to have LESS lifespan than their parents. Here’s some other facts – read them, and be scared into action.

1. By the year 2020 – 7 years from now! – HALF of ALL Americans will have Diabetes, HALF. Type 2 is COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE AND REVERSIBLE. COMPLETELY. It’s also deadly and debilitating. If your child’s normal diet is cereals, breads, crackers, sweets, sodas, and Standard American Crap, then your child’s risk of developing diabetes (whether they’re overweight or not) is VERY high. The scariest stat is that YOUR child’s risk of developing this disease – AS A CHILD – has skyrocketed, especially if you’re ANY minority at all, but the increase is still across the board. Here’s a link to current statistics

2. Cancer is skyrocketing, still. Despite Mainstream Health/Govt Advice. If you’ve been reading my posts, you know that I often highlight different chemcials used in junk foods and “Looks Healthy But Isn’t” foods that are CANCER CAUSING. Our own FDA has given “GRAS/generally recognized as safe” approval to chemicals (flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, preservatives etc) that their own lab tests show are unsafe; they’ve given full approval to chemicals that other countries have banned as unsafe. If there’s a chemical in your kids foods, it’s probably damaging their body. Here’s a link with some pretty scary statistics on 17 different cancers and their projected rise from 2010 to 2020.

3. Behavior/Mood disorders: this is so broad, and spans so many types of behaviors and moods that it’s hard to condense this topic. Suffice to say that every year for the past couple of decades, more kids are being diagnosed and medicated than ever before.

4. Allergies: OMGosh. Food allergies, food sensitivities, airborne allergies – EXPLODING. Here’s a GREAT post from Mercola here.

5. Auto-Immune Diseases – ON THE RISE, all of them.

Moms, FOOD IS AN ENORMOUS PART OF WHY ALL THESE CONDITIONS ARE INCREASING AND EITHER ARE OR COULD AFFECT YOUR CHILDREN. The foods I listed in the Diabetes paragraph: cereals, crackers, sweets, sodas and Standard American Crap, those “foods” will develop and sustain every single condition I just listed.

We’ve been brought up in an age where women are either encouraged to leave the home and work, or spend their time schlepping multiple children to numerous activities, or both, – every day and night of the week. Cooking, packing, and preparing food as part of the average woman’s daily life is generally pretty low on the priority list.

Big Food and Big Advertising have jumped right on this situation and convinced us that “they’ve got our backs”. Don’t worry, you’re busy, so stop by the store and buy a frozen Marie Calendars lasagna, or a big bucket of Kentucky Fried and 2 vegetables with biscuits, or just feed them Hot Pockets or Toaster Strudels or Lunchables, and everything will be okay. IT’S NOT OKAY. It’s all been a Big Advertising Lie, with devastating consequences. Have you read Sugar, Salt and Fat, by Michael Moss? The Food Giants recognized 100 years ago that women would be anxious for short cuts to feed their family, and an Industry was born.

All those cereals with the American Heart Association Seal of Approval? Have you looked at the ingredient list and the carbohydrate content? What about the ingredients in Baby Formula? The ingredients and carb count in snack food? THIS STUFF IS POISON FOR OUR KIDS. Seriously. It’s not a mystery that the Human Condition is falling apart, mentally and physically. It’s the food – and we have the Power to step up and change that.

Want to rid your house of junk food and cereal and crap, but afraid of the backlash? Because a backlash will happen. These foods cause (1) addiction, and (2) a mentality that encourages immediate gratification as a norm. Backlash hurts, but there are ways to handle it: (1) Cook more, so there’s a “good side” and (2) start saying ” you just had a snack /or your meal, dinner/lunch is in an hour or two, you can wait.” Really, practicing and learning delayed gratification is a PRICELESS skill. Teaching delayed gratification is one of our jobs.

Think it’s going to be too hard to revamp your kitchen and family eating habits? It could be. Is that a reason not to? When your kids tell you that learning to read is too hard, or math is too hard, or biology is too hard, what do you tell them? You tell them they can do it, and they better do it. Well, you can clean up your families eating, and you can stick to those decisions.

When I made the decision that NO MORE JUNK/SNACKIE/MUNCHIE foods were going to live in my house, my family was furious. My oldest was probably 10th/11th grade, and then the other 3 were 9th, 7th, and 4th. I had to endure MONTHS of fury, whining, griping, and anger, from them and my husband. It wasn’t cute, or funny, or easy. I stuck to my guns. It wasn’t about my weight any more, I truly came to believe that that crap was toxic for my kids. Every month, the negativity from them lessened a little, until it completely, totally stopped. Now, my kids would literally fall over if they saw a box of crackers or cereal in the pantry. And they WOULDN’T eat it, because they’ve pretty much lost their taste for “food products”. Three of my older kids have gone to college and made really good decisions about food; and they know how to cook:)

Moms, we have the Power to really really change the direction of the Health Crisis and Epidemic that’s sweeping the country. We can make decisions for our family, take steps, that could possibly change the course of their life, and even their children’s lives (ever heard of Epigenetics). Let’s take hold of that power, make a plan, and stick to the plan. Choose Real Whole Foods for the health of our children.

Category: Psychology of Eating /

How to make “Good Eating Days” your Norm.

July 25, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Category: Carbs, Fats, Psychology of Eating /

How to REALLY Burn Fat, and a Beach Pic

July 22, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

Have you been suckered in to buying a magazine because the cover promises a list of Fat Burning Foods or Fat Burning Snacks? I have! Obviously, it’s a successful line, or we wouldn’t see that used as a hook over and over again. Health Magazine has that line on the cover of their current issue, along with 20 pictures of “fat burning snacks” on the inside.

Bad news though. It’s not true. There is not one food on this entire earth that “burns fat”. Not one. Eat all the apples, or nuts or tuna on pita or hummus on a cracker (these are from the Health list), and not even one molecule of fat from your stomach, butt, or thighs will be used to “burn” it. Actually, the magazine says that in it’s article, ” So while there’s no food that will literally “burn fat” while you eat it, smart choices with these ingredients will help your body operate at maximum efficiency.”

I beg to differ that snacking helps your body operate at maximum efficiency in the area of Fat Burning – at all. Let me explain.

For years now we’ve been told to eat every 2 – 3 hours throughout the day to “keep our metabolism” up. Scientifically, this has been proven, over and over, to be a load of bull. (great for the snack industry though) Our “metabolism” doesn’t run higher just because we eat all day. The “thermogenic effect of food” (that’s how many calories it takes to literally breakdown food in our stomachs) is the same for a particular amount of calories/foods whether we spread out the meals, or not. That’s not what “burns our fat”. HORMONES BURN FAT. Period.

Carbohydrates are broken down to glucose (that’s a simple sugar), whether they come from fruit or vegetables or grains: carbs are reduced to glucose, always. Glucose has several VERY damaging effects on the body, and we only need a few TEASPOONS at a time in us. (4 grams of carb = 1 teaspoon of glucose) Everything over a few teaspoons is an EMERGENCY SITUATION for the body to get rid of. The pancreas releases INSULIN to sweep up the excess glucose, and shuttle it into the Muscle or Liver cells. After the COUPLE of TEASPOONS are stuffed in there, ALL THE REST OF THE GLUCOSE GETS REMADE INTO TRIGLYCERIDES AND STORED IN THE FAT CELLS. Insulin also has several damaging effects, so you don’t want your pancreas having to release loads of it all day long. Loads of Insulin and loads of Blood Sugar/Glucose = bad news for your arteries, brain, health, etc.

Back to Fat Burning. If you want your body to literally BURN FAT, Insulin must STOP, so Glucagon can be released. Glucagon is another hormone your pancreas spits out, but ONLY when Insulin is NOT present in the blood stream. Glucagon goes to your fat cells and gets them to release their contents into the bloodstream to be “burned” or used for energy.

This is why snacking or eating all day long is a BAD IDEA ( if you’re a grown adult; for growing children, it’s a little different). If you’re eating simple, refined carbs all day, you’ve probably got Insulin in your blood all day. Glucagon won’t ever have the chance to be released, fat cells won’t spit out their contents to be used for energy.

What happens when you eat a big bowl of Oatmeal or High Fiber Cereal first thing in the morning and then go workout? Your body will use the Carb/glucose from your breakfast – instead of the fat from your cells – to fuel your workout. It HAS to. Excess Glucose is Deadly, and the body must get rid of it ASAP. (By the way, a cup of oatmeal is 40g of carb, that’s 10 teaspoons.) If you want to “burn fat”, eat lots of fat, protein, vegetables, some fruits, some nuts and seeds, and some dairy. Space your meals out to 3 a day. Give your body a chance to release some glucagon.

Let me recap this: When you eat a diet loaded with carbohydrate, in any form, but ESPECIALLY the simple, refined carbs like pasta, bread, crackers, pretzels, and desserts and alcohol ( all of these are INCREDIBLY easy to break down, and quickly go thru the digestive wall into the blood stream) INSULIN is released, and carbs are CONVERTED TO FAT. Eat a diet of FAT, PROTEIN, and VEGETABLES and other Real Whole Foods, and very little/normal amounts of Insulin will be released; GLUCAGON will be released, and fatty acids will be released and used for energy.

Want to become a fat burning machine? Don’t rely on mythical fat burning foods, or fat burning pills – they’re not real. It’s your hormones you need to manipulate. The bonus in giving up the carbs to keep insulin low? Your moods and your health will improve dramatically. Better weight, better health, better moods,…. what more could you ask for?

Here’s a pic of me, my youngest next to me, and two of her friends at the beach a couple weeks ago. Still missing the Outer Banks!

Category: Carbs /

Raw Eggs and Raw Milk Haven’t Killed Me:)

July 20, 2013 / Debbie / Comments Off

I’ve been eating raw eggs in my smoothie now a little while, along with my year and a half of raw milk or raw cream every day – and I feel better than ever.

I’ve also consumed more fat in the past year and a half than I think I have cumulatively in my whole life – and not gained weight.

Check out my What I Eat page.

Mainstream Advice is full of fallacies! Check out the Weston A Price Foundation website

http://www.westonaprice.org/, and click on Health Topics – be prepared to be blown away with information – honestly. There’s also several great Blogs links to scientists who do research on fat, eggs, raw milk, feeding children, etc.

Want to improve your health and your weight ( if you need to)? Fill your head with the facts, not the Media Advertising Lines.

Category: Psychology of Eating /

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How to REALLY Burn Fat, and a Beach Pic

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