Friday, August 19, 2016

Guest Post: Life Style Changes to Feel Good for Life

Failure is everywhere. People are sick and in pain. This is not necessary. Let's learn how to be successful in our health. People have lost 50, 75, 100 pounds with minimal effort. They feel so good, they would never go back to old habits.

Myths: 

If I stop eating, I'll lose weight.
I have to be hungry to lose weight.
I'll never be able to have a piece of cheesecake (substitute your favorite) again.
I'll feel deprived.
I'll have to exercise 2 hours every day.
Diabetes runs in the family.

Foods are either Carbohydrates, Proteins, or Fats. Meals should have 50% Protein, 25% good carbs, and 25% fats. Monosaturated are the best.

Carbohydates:  Which are good, which are not? Rule of thumb. Don't eat the white stuff.  Also known as processed. Eat fruits and vegetables for your carbs. Avoid white flour, white sugar, white potatoes, white rice, white pasta, and white bread. Substitute whole grains, sweet potatoes, brown rice, couscous, quinoa, pasta made of spinach, bell peppers, whole wheat. Bread made of whole grains. No enriched white flour.

Why?

The white stuff is highly processed. This means it gets into your blood stream as sugar way too fast. Your blood sugar spikes. Your pancreas has to quickly release insulin to get your blood sugar back down. It goes too far down. Now you are famished!!  Quick, eat something with sugar or highly processed to get your blood sugar back up. This roller coaster is bad for your whole body- every cell. Insulin is our fat storage hormone. Spike blood sugar, release insulin, hold onto fat like a sponge holds water. This happens when we eat high Glycemic foods.

Eat Protein, good fats, and unprocessed carbohydrates.

Your blood sugar stays within a nice normal even range. Your pancreas now releases Glucagon. Glucagon   is our Fat Releasing Hormone. Your blood sugar stays in the good range. No hunger, no shakiness, no foggy thinking, and Release Fat!! This happens when we eat low Glycemic foods.

Jump Start with low Glycemic foods for five days. Sugar cravings will go away. Drink 1/2 your weight in ounces of water. Flavor the water with fruits and herbs so it's not boring. Walk 30 minutes 3 times a week. Eat low Glycemic foods every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Nibble a little dark chocolate as a reward.

Focus on what you want, not what you don't want.

Our brains will believe whatever we tell it over and over. Say everything in the positive.
Picture yourself as your new You. Tell yourself how good you look, and how great you feel. 
     
+++
Guest post provided by Janice Moranz, MD.  Janice runs Albuquerque Health and Fitness MeetUp Group. The group has over 400 members. You can contact Janice at janicemoranz@comcast.net

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Nation of Fat People?

Almost everyone seems to be on some kind of diet these days. 

Most of us want to live healthier lives, lose a little bit (or a lot) of weight, and generally feel better about the food we put into our bodies. 

After decades of portion control and counting calories we still consume lots of empty calories and are becoming a nation of fat people. 

If we don’t seriously and effectively confront it, we may become a nation of inert, unhealthy, unproductive fat people by the middle of the 21st century.

One does not need a degree in science to understand why it happens. Diet fatigue and diet failure happen for a reason. If you restrict how much we can eat you are likely to end up with the following pattern. You take a break, and start again later, take another break, start again later and so on. 

Even if lose weight, you will regain your weight or more, when you jump right back to eating “normal” (pre-diet) size meals.