I like research. I do some of my own and heck, I like to do mini-experiments on myself (thus the creation of this blog), but I find it fascinating, nay, more-than-a-coincidence that since the induction of "Fat is bad for you, cut out the butter and use margarine" in the 80's, our obesity rate has spiraled out of control! Why? More fast food joints? Not really. Actually, 'they' made McDonalds change from frying their fries in real fat, to hydrogenated fat! No wonder their fries are the worse things on the menu (next to the McNuggets), but I digress.
What if it's all been a BIG FAT LIE!?
Take a look at this article. It's lengthy, but worth a read. I agree with him in that, "...researchers point out that there are plenty of reasons to suggest that the low-fat-is-good-health hypothesis has now effectively failed the test of time. In particular, that we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic that started around the early 1980's, and that this was coincident with the rise of the low-fat dogma. (Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, also rose significantly through this period.) They say that low-fat weight-loss diets have proved in clinical trials and real life to be dismal failures, and that on top of it all, the percentage of fat in the American diet has been decreasing for two decades. Our cholesterol levels have been declining, and we have been smoking less, and yet the incidence of heart disease has not declined as would be expected."
Stop believing the crap that your fat next-door neighbor believes, "fat is bad for you", because BAD fat is bad for you. Cut all fat out completely or severely minimize it in your diet and you will suffer the dire consequences.
Tom Naughton, in "Fat Head"
Do your dietary habits stem from basic 'public' knowledge?
Thursday, June 18, 2009Calculate the BPM of your Workout Music!
I am currently working on keeping my Heart Beats Per Minute in more of a 'Fat Burning' range (BPM), since I am now trying it out for my once-daily cardio, instead of my 'balls-to-the-walls' HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).
I came across this from the "Life Hacker" blog and found it a rather interesting concept!
Just drag n' drop tracks and it'll calculate the BPM for each song!
I find it EXTREMELY difficult to be properly motivated, at times (at least in terms of HIIT), when exercising without proper 'tunage', so this looks like a pretty nifty little program.
And....It's free!!! Can I get an 'AMEN'?!
Going 'Primal' is the best thing I've done with my 'diet' yet!
Well, 5 lbs lost in 2 weeks! I can't complain! Here is my macro count for the day, yesterday:
I really can't seem to get my calories higher, but I am stuffing my big mouth with lots of food and my energy is great. I hit one energy lull in the middle of the afternoon yesterday, but after my workout, it was back up.
My lovely 'monthly visitor' showed up this week and I am happy to report NO bloating, NO cramping & NO mood swings! Wow.
Click here to order your copy today! I have a lot of 'health books' at home, so I was surprised that I even ordered this, but I am sure glad I did!
That's all for now!
Keep on searching for that healthier you and live your life to its fullest potential!!
Light & Sound Therapy - Is it for you?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
I thought I'd share something in regards to neurological modifications in our brain.
With the prevalence of insomnia, ADD, ADHD, Autism, memory-loss and other neurological issues, one has to wonder if these pathways can be 'fixed' or the damage 'reversed'. Well, as you may know with the fact that I even started this blog, I believe that the body is capable of some VERY fabulous 'self-healing', our neuro-pathways being one of them.
Can you recall that lovely little time and space between your rest and drifting-off-to-la-la-land? Remember how it always seems to be where you could fix the entire world's issues in that time and space? Scientists, in fact, have found an incredible increase in the brain's cognitive ability during this period. Some say, in fact, that this is where many of our past brilliant scientists were able to find their "Aha!" moment and create such things like the light bulb, the helicopter, the theory of relativity and so on and so forth.
What if you could retain 80% more information than before by taking a fancy cat-nap? What if you could help your autistic child immensely with a $100 gadget and 15 minutes a day? What if you could alleviate or eliminate your headaches or even migraines? What if your sports performance was greatly enhanced? Insomnia relieved? A Light and Sound machine is supposed to get your brain to that 'aha' state, by gently guiding your brain waves to that level and beyond, if necessary.
Now, I'm not promising anything, but I used to have one of these machines and it was lovely.
I used to have people standing in line to try my 'new-age' device. Mine was a little fancier than most, since it had thousands of pre-programmed options and could integrate with other CD's, even your own music CD. My favorite program to 'show off' the machine was one that integrated the blinking lights to the rhythms of the music! Try that program with the "Legends of the Falls" soundtrack and you have one fancy night of blissful alone-time (followed by a lovely nap, I'm sure!), with the back of your eyelids as the movie screen.
My dad is a truck driver and he uses it in his hotel room after his destination, so that he can immediately get his brain into the REM cycle for a faster, more rejuvenating sleep cycle, in less time.
and eBay. The very basic models are all you need. The more expensive ones
have some fancier options, but are not really necessary for most of the basic benefits mentioned in this post.While you're at it, buy me one too! My expensive machine AND it's replacement were BOTH destroyed by a cat's gnawing jaw.
NOTE TO SELF: Keep expensive cords AWAY from animals with sharp teeth! (and 3 yr olds with the nickname 'destroyer' applied to them).
Are you an 'Artificial Sweetener Hound?
Funny thing I've noticed through my 10 year progression in my search for health (well, more like a bouncing between the search for 'ultimate health' and simply just trying to 'LOSE WEIGHT NO MATTER WHAT!'), I found that I had a HUGE sweet-tooth and no matter what I did, I couldn't seem to kick that 'weakness' for good!
I tried Atkins in my biggest hour of desperation (I lasted MAYBE a week) and in doing so, I stumbled upon this wonderful (ahem) new sweetener named "Splenda". I wanted to buy stock in the company! Oh how I sang its praises! "Ingrid, it's made with chemicals" my parents BOTH chided me. Whaaaaaa? So, what ELSE am I to do???
I am happy to report that my sugar cravings are currently dropping rapidly (thanks to going 'Primal'!), but if you have a really hard time letting your sweets drop out of your daily 'GOTTA-HAVE-SWEET' demands, then let me enlighten you as to the possible dangers.
Click here to find out a little bit more on how these Manufacturers like to personally finance their OWN studies on just HOW safe their new chemical, er, I mean 'product' is for you!
Is there really "Life after Aspertame"? What if it is an 'Excitotoxin', one that kills
Going 'Primal' & STILL Loving It
These are my completed macros for yesterday. This is pretty much how a typical day looks. A lot of healthy fat and protein, with minimal carbs. The carbs I do ingest appear to be from Almonds, Cherries, my liquid Multi-Vitamin and Vegetables.
Can I say it once more? YAY!! My acne, tendinitis and eczema are all STILL not afflicting me!
I need to finish this book, stat, so that I can hand it off to my mother. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis around my age and has more recently been diagnosed with Lupus. Cancer is very prevalent on both my mother and father's sides of the family. We lost my dad's sister to bone-marrow cancer, not too long ago and that was after she battled breast cancer.
My mother, bless her heart, immediately took to this new 'diet' idea with a firm belief!
I personally know that she'll begin to feel a whole lot better once her inflammatory conditions ease up. Her mind's sharp as a tack, but her body is making her feel 20 - 30 years older than she should.
Here is a look at what I ate yesterday. I never seem to make my caloric goals, which are set at a 500 calorie deficit from my max activity needs and then another 500 below that for my minimum caloric requirement (based on my usual daily activities). I guess it is true that low-carb, high protein and high fat will make you less hungry. Take THAT 'Conventional Wisdom'!
Have you ordered or read the book? I love how simple it is, but even with some of the scientific knowledge that I attempt to absorb through research daily, I am still a 'babe' in many ways and learned a great deal from his very basic, yet thorough description of how your body utilizes, stores and extracts the glucose it needs.
Turns out, that stupid Food Pyramid has some pretty serious flaws!
Give it a try, what have you got to lose? Oh, yeah, all of that fluffy 'conventional wisdom' about NEEDING whole grains for a balanced diet, for one. Trust me, I'm much better off without THAT bit of fluff confusing me day-in and day-out ;-)
Get Your Fix of Sun and Vitamin D
Friday, June 5, 2009
It's sunny here in the Great Northwest (shocker, I know, we are all wandering around right now in a state of absolute 'awe') and you're thinking "Time to go get some 70 - 100 SPF for the BEST protection I can find, right?
Well, to piggy back off of Mark's Daily Apple and his recent post about sunblock, it's important to note that we NEED sun. Yeah! Get past your standard 'Media-induced' ideas about avoiding the sun at ALL costs and get at least 15 - 20 minutes a day of unprotected sun exposure!
Vin Miller, with "Natural Bias", wrote an intelligent article that I believe EVERYONE concerned with their health should read.
Read his article and you will find that "Vitamin D deficiency is associated with cancer, autism, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other debilitating diseases". Hmmmmmm....
You just might save your life by exposing yourself... (easy now, I mean your non-naughty parts, k?).
Eating 'Primal' and loving it!
I pre-ordered the "Primal Blueprint" book and so far, I really enjoy the simplification on how the body functions on insulin and how it affects your body's glucose use, storage, transportation, etc.
As for following the "Primal Blueprint", I really like it.
Normally you would assume that a Low-carb diet is bad for you, but like Mark points out, he'd rather it not be a 'Low-carb diet', rather an 'Eat the right carbs diet'.
I was confused as to how I was going to properly track actual carbohydrate consumption, so, I used Nutrition Data & FitDay to calculate my BMI, Daily Caloric & Macro needs so that I could shoot for a proper goal of calories and protein to fat to carbohydrates ratio.
I went ahead and finished my actuals for yesterday's meals so that I could compile a full analysis on my results.
As you can see, everything was spot on. My protein, my fats, my...eh, well, ok, so I was 7+ carbs over my maximum goal.
These caloric and macro goals are, mind you, set for my height and activity, as well as for faster weight loss. Maintenance daily carbs would be around 100 - 150 grams, and weight loss is around 50 - 100 grams (short-term Ketosis is 0 - 50 grams).
I'm not over by a lot, so I still feel great about that (I blame darn sweet tooth while I was watching TV last night!!! The peanut butter and honey were a healthier, smart choice, but ultimately pushed me over my numbers - especially with the sheer amount that I consumed!!! *Gulp!*).
I challenge you to take a look at your personal macro needs and track your daily food just to get the idea of what you are putting into your mouth. I think I'll shoot for mainly weight-loss carb goals with intermittent days of Ketosis and some 'cheat/ break days' at the maintenance levels.
It's not hard to do. Sure I don't eat oatmeal, bread or brown rice anymore, but honestly, I haven't lamented it once. With all of the consumption of my yummy protein and veggies, fruit and peanut butter will be for my indulgences. The 'icing on the cake', as it were (mmmmm...I still love a good cake!!!).
I am down 2.25 lbs since last week, so all of my exercise and eating healthy has made its mark, but now's the time to experiment with intermittent fasting, Ketosis and weight-loss zones to see if I can kick this body into its final stretch for that 20+ weight loss that I so desperately long for!
Did you order the book or take a look at Mark's site?
It's always worth a look. Let me know if you've had any opinions on the matter, along with any experiences that you'd like to share.
Let me know if you have any questions. As usual, I am not an expert, but I do love my research, so I will do my best to answer to the best of my 'research ability'.
* By the way, did I mention that since going to Cast Iron skillets (I'm allergic to Nickel, so Stainless Steel is not a good choice for me) and cutting out grain products has lead me to a clear complexion and a drastic reduction in eczema? No? Well I am loving it so far! Even my 'Tennis Elbow' has been keeping its dang mouth shut, in regards to pain, when I lift heavy weights! I can feel the tendon click still, however, no inflammation or pain!!!
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