Monday, December 23, 2013

Be nice to yourself

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...Start being nice to yourself, your authentic self, then try being nice to everyone else." - Julia Cameron

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Fat Talk

Are you guilty of fat talk? What this video. It's only 2 minutes but it can really change how you talk to yourself!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Insulin Resistance = Carb Intolerant

If you eat a high carb diet (as in breads, starchy vegetables and processed foods), are overweight, been diagnosed with Type II diabetes or are insulin resistant, watch this video. I've included a summary of the highlights. Very interesting theories about what our bodies need and do not need to be healthy and at a healthy weight.

Disclaimer: For your information - I am not responsible for what you chose to do with the information.



Jeff Volek
http://youtu.be/GC1vMBRFiwE

Ketone Terminology

Ketones - small energy containing substances derived from fatty acids that provide fuel to the body.

Ketosis - a metabolic state characterized by an increase in ketone production, usually marked by blood levels greater than 0.5 mmol/L.

Nutritional Ketosis - the process of accelerating production of ketones through restriction of dietary carbohydrate.

Keto-Acidosis - a dangerous side effect of Type I diabetes where ketone production reaches levels above 10 mmol/L. this does not happen in non-diabetics.

Keto-Adaptation - the process the body goes through when it is exposed to limited carbs and continuous elebated ketone levels. It is characterized by a shift to using predominately fat for fuel, and takes at least several weeks if not months to fully develop. Evolutionary - we evolved with a low carb diet.

·         Once body adapts to low carb, ketones help with symptoms of hypoglycemia, can have lower blood sugars with no symptoms
·         less generation of free radicals with ketones
·         more efficient with providing ATP energy
·         act as signals to increase gene expression of whole array of anti-oxidant genes/suppresses oxidative stress
·         decreased inflammation
·         decreased blood pressure
·         improved insulin sensitivity
·         better fuel delivery to brain
·         decreased central fatigue
·         less lactate
·         better/faster recovery
·         improved host defense against infection

Insulin Resistance = Carb Intolerance

So when you are lactose intolerant you avoid milk, if gluten intolerant, you reduce/avoid gluten containing foods. So why, when we are carb intolerant do we continue to eat unhealthy carbs?

Carbs are more than fuel, it's a potent regulator of metabolism. They control how body burns fat.

·         Storage is limited, thus when we digest carbs and absorb it as sugar, the body is forced to prioritize burning that sugar while simultaneously impairing access to and use of fat. Most peopple do not burn all the energy from carbs from activity so instead it is stored as fat. This also locks people into storage mode.

Ideal scenario of carb use:

Ingest carb - blood glucose - converts to glyogen - oxidized in muscle (burned for fuel)

If insulin resistant/carb intolerant:

ingest carb - blood glucose - glycogen - lipogenesis (fat synthesis) in liver and makes saturated fat - damage (metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes)

How low to go?

Some need to restrict to 50 grams a day to bring on nutritional ketosis, but for highly insulin resistance, may need to lower to 30 grams/day.

Despite being higher in saturated fat, a low carb diet decreases circulating levels of saturated fatty acids. The SFA's are being used for fuel in absence of high carbs.

Clinical applications of low carb, ketogenic diet:
  • ·         prevent/reverse type II diabetes
  • ·         weight loss
  • ·         decrease cancer
  • ·         neuroprotection: epilepsy, aging, Alzheimer's, etc.


 "Half of what we know is wrong, the purpose of science is to determine which half." - Arthur Kornberg

Food Lies!

food lies
empoweredhomeschooler.com

Let's be honest, how many of these lies do you believe? I have been guilty of number one and number four. I actually didn't think I needed to eat so much to keep my metabolism up (isn't there some rule though about eating breakfast and metabolism?) I was eating frequently to keep blood sugars up. I used to have a problem with hypoglycemia because I was eating way, way too many carbs! I manage it with a healthy, low carb (read healthy carb) diet.

My reason for number four - the bag was almost empty - was because I hated putting an almost, but not quite empty package back in the cupboard. Now, if the package is almost empty but I've measured out my serving, I just throw it away. I know, I'm wasting food, but buying into the "must clean your plate" mentality has not helped our waist sizes. Another thing that helps is that I seldom eat anything that comes in a package as it is more than likely some overly processed and non-nutritious food.

So read the list, see where you are and let me know what you think! Do you have other lies you tell yourself about food?


The Food Lies We Tell Ourselves

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

10 Lessons Running Teaches You About Life


10 Lessons Running Teaches You About Life

1. When things get tough, just keep going.

When most people encounter a rough patch, they quit.  The truly successful people in the world keep going no matter what.  Never let your setbacks win.

2. Consistency creates habit.

To incorporate anything into your life, you have to make it a habit.  To make something a habit, you have to be consistent.  Whatever it is you’re aiming for, make it a part of your life.

3. You’ll have to get through hell before you get to heaven.

Like all things worth pursuing, you are going to get knocked down, stepped on, and rejected along the way.  Consider this to be part of the path to your goals.  Sometimes it’s more about the journey than the destination.

4. Reaching your goals will take a lot of work.

If it doesn't, it’s either not a goal, not worth pursuing, or will not have any fulfillment.  Never expect to not put in work and get somewhere.

5. Every aspect of life is mental.

It’s not about what you do or what happens to you, it’s about how to respond to it.  It’s how you decide to carry on.  Your power comes from inside your head.

6.  You do have time– you just have to make it.

If something is important to you, you’ll make time for it.  If not, you’ll make excuses.

7. You define your own limits.

Your limits aren’t put unto you by your parents, other people, or the universe.  You are in total control of it.  You decide whether or not to shoot for the moon or stay right where you are.

8. If you wait for the right conditions, you’ll never get anything done.

Don’t wait for anything or anybody.  You know what you have to do to reach your goals and get things done. Just go do them!

9. Go beyond your limits every day and watch the magic happen.

You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve if you just push yourself a little further.

10. There is peace even in the most chaotic times.

No matter now grueling, stressful, sorrowful, or painful your situation is, there is always a silver lining and something positive to be found.  Seek it out, learn from it, and keep moving on.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

The following is an excerpt from an interview with "Home and Family" Co-host Mark Steines by Web2Carz


Remove diet from your vocabulary — period. Three of the four letters spell die. If dieting is killing you, then it’s telling you something. You need to do an overhaul of your life. Dealing with that big shift, I can congratulate you on making that shift and recognizing that change needs to happen, but you need to give yourself a break. Be honest with yourself and have realistic goals, but set them, and hold yourself accountable.
What’s your favorite part about hosting the show?
A show like this helps people understand a better way to live their life and how to be healthier. I’m making such better decisions at the grocery store and about what I feed the kids. I’m not always on target, but I know that feeding them stuff out of boxes means there are going to be a ton of preservatives and it’s not organic. We’re really learning so many things now about what’s in our food — our meat is full of estrogen that increases the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer in young men. It all goes back to what’s in our food. Once we start addressing on a clearer level what’s in our food, we’ll start to see changes in cleaning up food, instead of now where it leads more and more into the obesity epidemic. Right now we’re mass producing food by injecting it with things that could lead to cancer. Shows like ours try to take on that responsibility without being too heavy-handed. We’re not dictating what people should eat, but empowering them with that information.
You’re also a fitness enthusiast, (Steines was featured in People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue and Men’s Fitness magazine’s “25 Fittest Men in America”) what is your workout regimen like?
I’m more committed than most. I’ve always worked out in some kind of fitness level, I played collegiate sports, and television is a vain existence. You’re always looking in the mirror questioning yourself, “is my hair falling out?” or “is my butt getting bigger?” Three years ago I was approached by Beachbody — they also do P90x, Insanity, etcetera — for their 10 Minute Trainer. And I’m typically against products like these, because I think they exploit people and take advantage of them saying, “Hey just workout for 10 minutes and you can look like this.” It’s trick marketing. And then I got to understand their philosophy. It’s an entry-level workout program to get someone off the couch. The philosophy is just to get people moving, to fight obesity, and if they can get dressed and just give 10 minutes, then it might be possible to get them for 20 or 30.
I took that philosophy and dropped 30 pounds in 90 days following exactly their routine. I thought it would be impossible at 40 to get in the best shape of my life, but I was dedicated to the fitness program. I needed to get in shape — my cholesterol was dangerously high, it runs in the family — and I wanted to drop it without medication, but I was borderline. My doctor said, “When you come back in, if you’re still elevated, we’re going to have to get you on something like Lipitor,” and I didn’t want to do that. This came along at the right time, like the show, and helped change my life.
What’s your fitness philosophy?
My philosophy is simple. I go to bed at night and am storing up all this energy so in the morning I’m ready to release it. I wake up at 4:30 or 5 a.m. every morning, check the news — that’s the journalistic bug in me — and then start working out. My oldest son has gotten up at 6:15 and joined me. I converted our garage into a gym. You can do Beachbody all at home, and I used to do it in the living room, but I wanted a bigger space. We’ll use resistance bands, I do pushups; it’s a lot of using your body weight, and some dumbbells. But, I work out with a video. I enjoy other activities like going road biking, but it can be so hard to get away in LA without taking out a life insurance policy — it’s dangerous biking around here. But that’s the broad strokes of it.
How do you try to instill healthy eating and exercise habits in your children so that it becomes part of their lifestyle too?
I do a couple things with the kids. My philosophy is kids will do what they see you do — they’ll model that behavior. When my kids see me race off to the gym and get all sweaty, all they see is me leaving them and coming home sweaty. They don’t see or understand the experience of what I’m doing. But when they come down for breakfast in the morning and see me working out to a video, they can connect the dots. As my oldest son is maturing, he’s starting to see girls and pay attention to his body and wants to work out side-by-side with me.
I try to have a balance; let’s have a good time and enjoy ourselves, but I also teach him proper form and technique. I try to keep them interested by keeping it fun, because I want to connect it to a positive experience, which can be hard when you’re asking them to reach failure or fatigue. How do I get a young kid to push themselves to where they fail and make it positive? So I keep it fun, we’re always laughing and high-fiving. And now my son is telling me he likes to wake up early and work out because he really likes how he feels when he goes to school, he feels really energized. He’s more alert and pays attention; he doesn’t have a stomach full of sugar and white bread that are going to put him to sleep. It’s my philosophy of taking good energy and being a good model for my kids.
Years and years ago, I realized how addictive video games are and my kids go through this. So, I hooked up the Play Station in front of the elliptical trainer and the rule is you work out while you play video games. I don’t play that many, but I love Madden Football — I’ve won so many Super Bowls on that trainer (laughs). But when I need a break, I can just go sweat and feel good with a consistent workout, not doing interval stuff, and that gets the endorphins moving. So that’s my guilty pleasure. It’s funny though, because I’ve had co-workers come over and walk in and be like “what are you doing?” “I’m working out AND playing video games.”
Home & Family hosts
Interior designer & lifestyle expert Moll Anderson shares creative tablescapes for Thanksgiving & Hanukkah
For many people Thanksgiving marks the start of the eating marathon that carries on throughout the holiday season. What is the best way to approach the upcoming holidays when it comes to eating?I approach the holidays the same way I approach every day: moderation and balance. When you look at the holidays, it’s what they’re here for. There are so many other days to focus attention on being healthy. Make healthy choices when you can, but don’t kill yourself.  Maybe don’t have that third piece of pie, but if you’re going to indulge, do it with family and friends, the holidays are for celebrating.
Gluttony is never a good thing, but I go back and forth on it. My stomach shrank so much because my meal plan was eating little meals throughout the day. The holidays are perfect for this because, there is always food out. I used to load up my plate, eat, and then slide into a coma. Now, I can only eat a third of what I could. But recognizing these habits, eating smaller meals and eating slower, I prevent myself from going into that hypoglycemic state where I’m just famished. I’ll grab a bar or something to offset that. So, if you follow those patterns throughout the year, they will be prevalent during the holidays too, and you won’t have that bulge to deal with afterward.
Beachbody and lots of these folks know when to start hitting the airwaves. The first of the year, everyone is making New Year’s resolutions coming off the holiday food marathon and they want to get in shape. They commit themselves at the start of the year and decide to make a change; this is when the videos fly off the shelf, because people think that January 1st is a great time to start. It’s great if it works, but lots of times people set themselves up for failure. If you eat right and are balanced across the board in life, you won’t have this big bulge to deal with.
You mention that people can set themselves up for failure. Lots of times, we just want to lose weight fast, but if you don’t make a lifestyle change you’re going to gain it back. What’s the best way to stay committed to your weight loss goals?
Remove diet from your vocabulary — period. Three of the four letters spell die. If dieting is killing you, then it’s telling you something. You need to do an overhaul of your life. Dealing with that big shift, I can congratulate you on making that shift and recognizing that change needs to happen, but you need to give yourself a break. Be honest with yourself and have realistic goals, but set them, and hold yourself accountable.
Beachbody wants you to take “before” pictures, and I thought “Oh god, really?” So I went out to the beach and had a friend take some before I started going through this. I looked at them and thought “I look kind of thick, I don’t look like that in the mirror.” I don’t see many pictures of myself, and I realized I thought I was in shape, but I kind of had a gut. Ninety days later, I looked at the pictures and thought “Wow! I can’t believe the transformation!” It was giant momentum for me during that time period to keep going back and see inches coming off. Clothes were no longer fitting; I had to have my suits at Entertainment Tonight altered. To see these physical changes taking place was very rewarding, and I’ve kept the weight off for three years now. I adopted their idea and philosophy, but it took that initial commitment. Sure, if I want to bust out and have dessert I do that, but I also know that if I have a real craving for sugar, I didn’t eat well enough during the day.
Lots of people are against this philosophy too, but I get on a scale every day just because I like to keep tabs on my body weight, but I don’t freak out about it. I know I’ll normally swing anywhere from 3 – 7 pounds in a couple days, so I do it to understand my body, but I don’t get too worried about it, I just want to know. There’s a little latitude here, but I’m not going off the road. 

Check out the full article