Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Monday, May 29, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
BLOG 114 INTUITIVE EATING
BLOG 114 INTUITIVE EATING
Our bodies speak to us. Signals of hunger, pain, emotion,
etc. tell us an action is required. The act of eating is mandatory, but
certainly not a science we all have down pact. Intuitive eating is an anti-diet
line of thinking that involves listening to your body’s hunger cues and
responding accordingly. I’m not sure how I feel about this approach, but I
figured some solid research might help us understand this concept better.
Intuitive eating was an approach I discovered while reading
the weight loss memoir by Kelsey Miller (2016), Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting & Got A Life. Kelsey is a
writer for Refinery29 in New York and she created a project for herself at work
that got world-wide attention. She decided to write her articles on her own
journey of intuitive eating coming from a background of a lifetime dieter
seeking a way to find a suitable relationship with food. She simply ate what
she wanted, when she wanted, because she knew that if she wanted more she could
have it. There was no restriction or off-limit foods. Having that in mind let
her have a couple bites of French Fries instead of attacking them on her plate
then asking her friend to polish off their serving. This approach takes some
serious self-control.
This led me to that classic Google search. And I came across
Intuitiveeating.org. There is an entire community of counselors and books
available. Here are their 10 Principles: (http://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/).
1. Reject the Diet Mentality Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer
you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently.
2. Honor Your Hunger Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and
carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat.
3. Make Peace with Food Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself
unconditional permission to eat.
4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud “NO” to thoughts in your head that declare
you’re “good” for eating minimal calories or “bad” because you ate a piece of
chocolate cake.
5. Respect Your Fullness Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no
longer hungry.
6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of
their goals of healthy living In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often
overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence–the pleasure and satisfaction
that can be found in the eating experience.
7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using
Food Find ways to comfort , nurture,
distract, and resolve your issues without using food.
8. Respect Your Body Accept your genetic blueprint.
9. Exercise–Feel the Difference Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the
difference.
10 Honor Your Health–Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health
and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don’t have to eat a
perfect diet to be healthy.
This surely sounds like the diet to
end all diets, but gosh there’s not a lot of structure. I think that if we all
could just tune into our hunger and put down the fork when we should, well
there would be a whole lot less obesity in this world. If only it were this
simple. But I think the principle of this approach is great…. just don’t know
many who can successfully do it. For example, here’s a clip from another
article I read, “Some days, my body needed french fries. Other days, a
big salad. Sometimes I’d have two breakfasts because I was just that hungry.
Other days, a light dinner was more than enough. I learned that a small piece
of dark chocolate could actually satisfy a craving and that I didn’t actually need
three glasses of wine with dinner to enjoy it. Butter, burgers, donuts —
nothing was off limits as long as I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I
was full (but not stuffed). It took a few months, but it’s funny how once you
realize you can actually have any food at any time, a lot of food’s
irresistible draw vanishes” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennipher-walters/intuitive-eating_b_3976172.html).
I personally may not relate to this approach, but I’m in
full support of those clients who can do this. In fact, maybe I envy them haha.
Every BODY is different so we all have to find what works for us best. If
logging food and counting calories sends you into a resistance mode to not
follow orders, then by all means find another way. If 30 day tactics work for
you, then do it. Lifestyle change my friends. That’s what I believe. And one
better choice at a time we are getting to that level of success we are aiming
for.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Friday, May 26, 2017
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Monday, May 22, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
BLOG 113 FATS
BLOG 113 FATS
Society deems the term “fat” in a derogatory manner for
sure. The word doesn’t shout positive images or associations with good
concepts. Our bodies do need fat. Over the years we have learned of low-fat,
less-fat, and reduced fat items. So what are the healthy fats we are supposed
to have?? Let’s take a look at good vs. bad fats for us.
Fat in the body is an energy source for us. This to me is
ironic in the sense of the simplicity of the statement. Having more fat seems
like activity becomes harder to complete and health risks increase. But in
reality, “It helps you absorb some vitamins and minerals. Fat is needed to
build cell membranes, the vital exterior of each cell, and the sheaths
surrounding nerves. It is essential for blood clotting, muscle movement, and
inflammation” (http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good).
Good Fat = monounsaturated & polyunsaturated
Somewhere in the middle = saturated
Bad Fat = Trans fats
It’s that crazy cellular form jargon of hydrogen bonds that
make the different types of fat.
Good Fat:
Vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fish
These are liquid at room temperature
Monounsaturated
Fats: “Good sources of monounsaturated fats are olive oil, peanut oil, canola
oil, avocados, and most nuts, as well as high-oleic safflower and sunflower
oils” (http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good)
Polyunsaturated
Fats: “Polyunsaturated fats are essential fats.
That means they're required for normal body functions but your body can't make
them. So you must get them from food. Polyunsaturated fats are used to build
cell membranes and the covering of nerves. They are needed for blood clotting,
muscle movement, and inflammation” (http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good)
Good
sources are fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines, flaxseeds,
walnuts, canola oil, and unhydrogenated soybean oil
In the Middle Saturated Fats:
Keep to about 10% of calories per day because can increase
cholesterol (moderation right??)
“Common sources of saturated fat include red meat, whole
milk and other whole-milk dairy foods, cheese, coconut oil, and many
commercially prepared baked goods and other foods” (http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good)
Bad Fat
Trans Fat: Think solids
Increased risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes
Usually you see on the label as partially hydrogenated oil
So the fats turn solid and clog our arteries
That oil that fast food is cooked in
Our bodies are unique to exactly how much fat we need. Good
vs. bad as most choices become. Just know that a healthy fat doesn’t mean it’s
a free for all on the portions. Watch your total daily intake and plan
accordingly. And ask me questions. So maybe some fat is good, unlike what we
have been socially taught to believe.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Monday, May 15, 2017
Sunday, May 14, 2017
BLOG 112 GUT vs BRAIN
BLOG 112 GUT vs BRAIN
Well that good old Amazon Prime account of mine led me to
the movie, “The Gut: Our Second Brain” (2013) by Cecile Denjean. This
documentary was fascinating as so many clients suffer from stomach issues. I’m
sure we can all relate to our bellies trying to be the almighty ruler of our
day. So I’d like to share some of the research this movie explored.
Dating back to the cave man, our bodily features and
functions were developed as needed mechanisms to seek and find food. Think of
the “raw” diet that used to be consumed compared to our digestive systems now
that have undergone quite the change in the types of food we eat. Even when
cooking from “scratch”, realistically the flour or spices have been through some
type of manufacturing process already before our purchase of it. The stomach
cannot physically be the same as it was thousands of years ago.
The brain and the stomach use the same neurotransmitters.
Serotonin is the “well-being” chemical found in both the brain and stomach. 95%
of serotonin is produced in the gut. So if serotonin is said to dictate our
mood stability, no wonder the stomach is impacted when we feel stressed or
uneasy. Adding to this, 1 in 10 people are said to have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
digestive pain problems. The brain and gut have communication issues. I was
surprised to learn that Parkinson’s disease originates in the gut.
Different approaches are used to help with gut problems.
Recent holistic type methods and Chinese medicine suggest hypnosis and
acupuncture. This has also been shown to help with depression (again the brain
and gut communicating better). Chinese medicine believes in the finding the
source of the problem, which most times is the stomach.
Bacteria helps with digestion and we need it in our system.
Having this good type of bacteria date back to when we are babies and are
building immunity. Obesity and bacteria have been closely studied. Some
research has revealed that obese people have more of a certain type of
bacteria. Obesity boils down to 10% genetic, 10% bacteria and 80% lifestyle. Antibiotics
kill bad bacteria. Probiotics help develop the good type of bacteria we need
which can be found in yeasts and yogurt. There isn’t a clear understanding yet
of how probiotics work, but in a test that gave women yogurts, they were less
reactive to situations, meaning they were in a better stable sense of mind. The
images of the brain were in a calmer state.
The more we know, the better we set ourselves up for success
on our fitness journeys. This documentary help make sense of a lot of the
stomach issues clients face. There is more to that growl in the belly than we
think. Feed the mind and stomach as best as possible and listen to what your
body is trying to communicate.
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