Tag Archive for DCAC

Will Crunches Give You A Six Pack?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m away at my annual fitness convention, the DCAC, So Fun! I’m here with my sister Christy, who’s a trainer and pilates instructor; and my daughter Macy, – I love it!  Macy plans on becoming a yoga teacher after graduation, and this place is a great intro to the industry.

I’ve been in this business for 28 years.  Things have changed!  We’re having a greater awareness of why we need to exercise, which I’ve written about in a few recents Posts, here, and here.  We all know we’re in a stressed filled environment, and that exercise helps that, tremendously.

(Stressing about our body fat can make us fatter!)

Why do so many still pursue the 6 Pack? Why is weight loss still the number one goal of new gym members?  Smart marketing; promising weight loss hooks people.

It’s a lie, trust me, because weight loss and 6 packs come from the kitchen, not the gym.  It’s FOOD!  Food is so important!  Not just for losing weight or getting lean, but for how we feel day to day.

You know my mantra:  eat clean proteins, good fats, a TON of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts, some beans, good dairy if you tolerate it, and stay far away from flours, sugar, chemicals, and hydrogenated fats.

But about that 6 Pack, and weight loss: what negative goals, honestly!  Exercising to pursue those intents is just so…….. gloomy, and stressful! Delete!  Exercise for your mind. Exercise for your mood.  Exercise for your longevity and immune system and hormones.

It’s the same with eating well; eat Real Whole Foods because you’ll feel so darned good afterwards!

Guess what happens if we eat well and exercise every day? We lose weight. We become healthier, we feel more energetic, we’re happier, we cope with stress better, and we sleep better.  Why would we NOT eat right and exercise everyday?  It’s the consistency of our good habits, the repetition, that make us who we are.

Back to my conference:)  Have any of you ever taken Piloxing Barre?  O.M.G! What fun!

Fitness Conference, Habits, Keto Diet Update, and Why I’m Staying On It.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI just spent a 3 day weekend at the DCAC Fitness Convention; 13 classes in 3 days.  I split the time between actual movement classes and lectures; total FUN:)

What’d I learn?  A lot.  What am I passing on?  This: the day to day choices we make, all day long, really, really, matter.  Our food, how much we sleep, how we handle our stress, and that we move and laugh and smile, matters.  Our choices to either do these things or not, become our habits, and our habits makes us who we are.

More:  Habits Are Everything, and we all have to take the Action Steps to develop the habits make us healthier.  No one else can do it for us, and we can’t do it for anyone else. We can’t change our spouse, our child, our parent, or our friends.  We can only change ourselves, and then hope to inspire the people we love and care about. (The DCAC Fitness Conference isn’t just about exercise, there’s some great Positive Psychology lectures – I love that stuff!)

Keto Update:  I thought I’d stop the Keto Diet at the end of the month ( July ), and I did.  But I miss it!  I’m back on as of today!  I might do a little Keto Cycling here and there, but not for at least a few weeks. ( More on Keto Cycling later.)  It was honestly easier than I thought it would be except for 2 things:

I’ve been deficient in Salt and Fat, even though in the past few years I’ve really upped my in-take of both.  Ketosis makes the kidney’s flush out more water than normal, and with the water goes your sodium and electrolytes.  This is revealed in pretty painful and persistent leg cramps, which I’m prone to anyway.   My blood pressure also dropped a little too low, but with the conscientious salt increase, I can tackle that.

I needed 2 teaspoons of salt a DAY to counter-balance the cramps and hypo-tension, which meant adjusting my tolerance for a salty taste.  It’s impossible to “retain water” when you’re in even mild/medium ketosis, even with 2 teaspoons of salt a day.  No wonder Salt was so important throughout history!  P.S. I never did get above the “medium” levels of ketones.  Maybe next time?

I was also surprised at HOW MUCH FAT it took to get into ketosis – a LOT.  You can’t tell just by looking at my “What I Eat” page, but I had to LOAD on the butter/coconut oil/olive oil/cream cheese/MCT oil, and cream.  It’s not easy, or initially natural, to eat that much fat, and it took some thought and effort.

My weight stayed completely stable, even on the 2 days I did make an attempt at counting fat grams, and took in almost 3,000 calories – IN FAT ALONE, not counting my protein or veggie carbs.  Did you catch that?  My weight stayed stable despite all those fat calories.

We’ve been fed such a load of bull for all these years!

On that note, here’s a great article on Dr. Michael Mosley, in the Daily Mail.  He’s the author of the FAST DIET, and for years promoted a low fat, high carb way of eating, which he himself followed.  He gained weight anyway and developed diabetes.  Now he’s re-examined the science and has come to a very different conclusion about saturated fat and carbohydrates role in our health and our weight.  Please read!  The more you know, the easier it is to make good choices for yourself.  The easier it is to make good choices, the less your (lizard) brain fights you.  Your lizard brain is the deep, subconscious part, that HATES stress.  It’s hard to win a fight with your lizard brain, and far better to work on thoughts and habits that become STRONGER than the lizard.  Does that make sense?

When you’re done with that article, read Dr. Mercola’s latest article on the vindication of Saturated Fat.  Honestly, Good Fats are So Good For Us, here’s a few reasons why, and at the end of the list is the reason I’m going back on the Ketogenic Diet.

Fats make up every single cell membrane in our body, and saturated fat and cholesterol are a large part of those membranes.

Saturated Fats make up all our Sex hormones and Fight/Flight hormones.

Fat and cholesterol make up 60-70% of the dry matter of our brain.

Saturated Fats increase the size of our LDL cholesterol ( we want big, fluffy LDL!)

Saturated Fats raise HDL.

Saturated Fats are structurally sound and aren’t prone to damage by heat, light or air, which means they’re great to cook with.

Fats allow Fat-Soluble-Vitamins, A, D, E, and K,  and many minerals, to be absorbed into our cells.

Fats are critical to our immune system.

Here’s one of my Favorite Reasons:  Fats Trigger Satiety – especially in the absence of Carbs.  This is the best thing about the Ketogenic Diet to me:  No Hunger.  No Bloat.  No Cravings.  It’s awesome!

Besides that, the Ketogenic Diet fits perfectly into my Real Whole Food, Paleo-ish template.  Does my whole family eat this way?  NO!  But that hasn’t been hard to work around – at all.  I’ve been serving meats and tons of vegetables forever; for the kids or company, I add: bowls of watermelon, corn on the cob, roasted potatoes, low-carb/almond flour/coconut flour breads/cookies, ( you get the idea),  and everyone’s happy.

Angel Food Cake! What I’m Eating To Be Ketogenic, Pictures, and Recipes

angelfood cakeHere’s something that for a long time I considered “Healthy”, but it isn’t:  Angel Food Cake.  I remember my mom making it when I was a kid because my dad was told he had High Cholesterol, and Angel Food Cake had zero cholesterol, which meant healthy (in the old days!).  Then she’d make a fat free pudding with skim milk, and Viola!:  Healthy Dessert!

Here’s the Ingredient list for Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake mix:

Sugar, Wheat Flour Bleached, Egg White, Corn Starch, Leavening (Baking Soda, Citric Acid), Calcium Chloride, Modified Soy Protein, Salt, Cellulose Gum, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (A Whipping Aid), Nonfat Milk. Freshness Preserved By BHT And Sodium Ascorbate.

If you cut the cake into 12 pieces, there’s 32 grams of sugar per piece, along side a giant dose of Cancer Causing, Liver Damaging, CHEMICALS.

Here’s the Ingredient list for Jello-O Instant Fat Free Vanilla Pudding:

Modified Food Starch, Maltodextrin, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate And Disodium Phosphate (For Thickening), Contains Less Than 2% Of Nonfat Milk, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Salt, Calcium Sulfate, Xanthan Gum, Mono- And Diglycerides (Prevent Foaming), Aspartame And Acesulfame Potassium (Sweetener), Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Artificial Color.

Thanks to a big dose of Aspartame, this pudding only has 8 grams of Sugar per serving, mostly, this pudding is a Giant Chemical.  The food dyes alone make it Poison, but the rest of those ingredients are just as bad.

Don’t do it!! Don’t be fooled by pretty desserts that promise no Fat and low Calories.  Our body NEEDS fat, and nutrients!  All those chemicals aren’t just potentially cancer causing, they’re bad for our LIVER ( the BIGGEST source of our Calorie Burn), our Heart ( oxidized cholesterol), our WEIGHT ( all that simple sugar will raise Blood Glucose right out of the normal range), and our Brain ( some of those chemicals are “excito-toxins”, and literally stimulate brain neurons to death!)

At the bottom of this post I’m attaching a recipe for an AMAZING Angel Food Cake from Maria’s Mind Body Health blog;  Shelby says it’s the best thing I’ve ever made, and Shelby’s a tough critic 🙂

I keep getting questions about What I’m Eating to put myself into Ketosis.  It’s been 19 days on the Keto Diet, and I’ve been updating my What I Eat page pretty frequently.

Monday, my Ketones finally hit the “Medium” range, ( took a while!), my weight’s been incredibly stable at 129/130, my energy and sleep are great, and I’m finding this really do-able. That’s probably because I was already Real Whole Food/Paleo for the past few years, and said goodbye to grains and sugars a long time ago.

That said, on August 1st, I’m going back to my Real Whole Foods diet, with my occasional Potatoes, Bananas, and any vegetable I want! I’m glad I dove into the Keto Diet to figure out the nuances, because I think it’s incredibly Therapeutic and Beneficial for a number of health conditions, including:  Insulin Resistance, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Thyroid disorders,  and Diabetes, to name a few.  Oh, and for those who are having a difficult time losing weight:  It’s fantastic!  

Before I show some food pics, and post the Angel Food cake recipe, here’s a little info on my upcoming weekend.

I have the DCAC Fitness Convention Thursday night through Sunday; I’m packing my breakfasts and lunches, but I’ll eat out each night.  I’ll be sure to update food and workouts though out the weekend.  I LOVE the DCAC!!

Here’s some of my Keto Meals from the past several days:

chicken:cauliflower

 

This was bone-in/skin on Chicken that I cooked on foil ( less pans to wash), and in the skillet: 6 tbsp butter, 1/4 c water, a whole head of cabbage, cauliflower, onion, and chives.  Topped with Cheese:)

 

sausage:onion:cauli

 

 

To the right, that’s crumbled sausage, zucchini, cauliflower, chives, and garlic cooked in butter and you can’t tell, but there’s a whole skin from one of those chickens cut up and cooked in the pan too.  Topped with cheese of course!

And here’s the Angel Food Cake recipe, my notes are in BOLD throughout the recipe:

“HEALTHIFIED” ANGEL FOOD CAKE
12 egg whites
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1 cup Jay Robb strawberry protein powder (or EGG WHITE powder if Dairy Free) ***I USED VANILLA, NOT STRAWBERRY BC I DON’T HAVE IT**
1 cup Swerve confectioners’ sweetener (or powdered erythritol) (I USED REGULAR SWERVE, NOT CONFECTIONERS – WORKED FINE)
1 tsp strawberry extract (or other extract) ( I USED LEMON EXTRACT BC I DON’T HAVE STRAWBERRY)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift whey protein and confectioners erythritol together and set aside. In a large clean bowl, whip egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy (save the yolks for “healthified” creme brule, “healthified” coconut custard, OR “healthified” ice cream). Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until very stiff (you will be able to put bowl upside down and the whites won’t fall out). Add your favorite extract flavor. Quickly fold in whey mixture. Pour into a greased 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Makes 14 servings.

 

*****MY OVEN WAS TOO HOT – LAST NIGHT I BAKED AT 325 FOR 38 MINUTES******

“HEALTHIFIED” CUSTARD

12 large egg yolks
1 cup unsweetened almond milk *****I USED COCONUT MILK FROM CAN – WORKED PERFECT
3/4 cup Swerve (or erythritol and 1/4 tsp stevia glycerite) I USED HALF SWERVE, HALF STEVIA
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted – **I USED HALF OF EACH**

Whisk egg yolks, almond milk, and sweetener in medium metal bowl to blend. Slowly mix in the melted butter so the eggs don’t cook unevenly. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water. Whisk mixture constantly and vigorously until thickened and instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 140°F for 3 minutes, about 5 minutes total (or coats the back of a spoon). Remove mixture from over water. Serve warm or chilled. (If serving chilled, it can be prepared 1-3 days ahead and refrigerated. Re-whisk before serving.) Makes 4 servings.