5.01
The holidays have come and gone, and we have the wonder and opportunity of a new year ahead. Hopefully you finished 2017 grateful for how far you have come, and all you accomplished in your wellness lifestyle. I know I'm very thankful for the journey, and the blessing of another healthy year completed, and a year of adventures ahead.
If you're starting out hoping to lose some weight, or just get things back 'under control' since the holiday feasting, there is some hope with an old approach that's getting new attention. Maybe it's time to give fasting a try.
Fasting is not very popular in some modern circles, but it has been with the human race since the dawn of time. Long recognized as the right way to recenter our thinking, fasting is simple and very worthwhile. From a faith standpoint, fasting combined with prayer is the best way to seek God's direction and check our own motives.
More recent research shows that fasting has really healthy results for folks who are in relatively good health to begin with. Check out this list of 20 benefits of fasting from the Global Healing Center in Houston, TX - Benefits of Fasting
The best way to get started with some intermittent fasting is to ‘skip’ some meals. Maybe you have something small and simple for lunch and supper and forgo breakfast a few days a week. I know a very accomplished leader at a local College who only eats two meals a day, and has followed that guidance for over a decade. And he's healthy and full of energy and vitality.
The point of intermittent fasting is to give our bodies a chance to clean up, regenerate and take a break from the abundance of empty calories so prevalent in our culture. It is a commitment, like other aspects of a wellness lifestyle- do what is healthful for your body. We are over fed and under nourished as a society, and intermittent fasting is a step in the right direction.
So as we settle into the new year, think about intermittent fasting as a way to gain control of your weight and food choices, and get your wellness off to a great start in 2018.
By the Way
Check out this short video from PBS Digital Studios about the basic and benefits of fasting.
Should You Eat Everyday?
2.13
I've shared on this blog before that my weight topped out around 220 back in the late 90's. Now my normal weight is about 155, give or take a few pounds. That's a big difference... I've carried 50 and 60 pound bags of stuff, and it's really tough to go for very long, much less a whole day or a whole year! And yet, I chose to carry that weight daily, and tolerate it in everything I did.
I have been reminded of this extra baggage lately, as I'm training for a half marathon coming up in April. I bought some 15 pound and 5 pound dumbbells and have added them to my workouts. Now I do flights of stairs with the extra 30 pounds, and I do my cardio / aerobic portions with the 5 pounders (maybe I'll size up... we'll see). The point is to work on my endurance and stamina with the extra weight so when I put it down and run for time or distance, my body has gained valuable strength for that longer, broader based exertion.
Interestingly, that extra 30 pounds gets me back up around 185, which was my target weight for years, prior to 2012. I figured it was a BMI of around 25, and that was good enough to keep me out of the overweight categories on the charts, so that became my number. Now, I can't imagine carrying that additional weight with me all day, every day, everywhere I go... how exhausting!
And it's not that shedding weight and keeping it off is easy because it's not. I still love to eat, it's just that now I eat really great, whole foods (with little to no wheat and dairy) which are filling and nutritious, so my body rewards me by maintaining a very appropriate weight.
If you're struggling with extra pounds, I get it... my struggle was decades, and maybe yours has been as well. The good news is that there is hope and help available through power pantry choices. Today is a new day, and you can push the reset button anytime to begin living out a healthy wellness lifestyle.
By the Way
The coolest thing about dumbbells is that I can choose to pick up those thirty pounds any time I want... and I get to put them right back down as well.
2.11
Simple wins every time, and sometimes simple can be pretty easy. Years ago, I heard of a really simple, effective diet, which was referred to as the "royal diet". And I'm not talking about how Kate Middleton slimmed down in preparation for her big wedding day... In reality, it's not all that hard to live out the royal diet; it just takes a little discipline and a shift in the daily flow of meals.
Here's the concept: at breakfast, eat like a king (or queen); at lunch eat like a prince (or princess); at supper eat like a pauper. It's so easy to remember and execute, I don't know why more folks don't try it. As it turns out, when we do try it, it really works. Our bodies are designed to handle extensive proteins and carbohydrates really well when eaten early in the day. And if we have enough discipline to eat more sparingly at lunch and even more-so at supper, our bodies reward us by shedding pounds and better utilizing the calories we consume.
Let's say we're looking at a 2000 calorie/day goal. When translated to the royal diet, it might look like this:
- 1000 calories for breakfast, heavy on proteins (eggs, nuts, lean meats), carbs (whole grains), and even a little bit of regular old sweets (empty sugar calories)
- 700 calories for lunch, heavy on fruits and veggies, maybe a little bit of lean meat and healthy carbs
- 300 calories for dinner, again, heavy on fruits and veggies, a little lean meat and healthy carbs (which doesn't go really far for only 300 calories)
By the time you wake up the next day, you're ready for a big breakfast! So the structure of the diet is self-perpetuating in a good way. The fact is, our bodies metabolize calories into useful energy over about a four hour time frame (some calories turn into instant energy, and others take hours...). It only makes sense that eating light at lunch and lighter still at supper would appropriately scale down the energy we're offering our bodies as the day winds down. By doing this, we leave less reason for spare calories to be turned from usable glucose into stored fat.
If you're interested in getting to your ideal weight, consider the royal diet. Begin indulging at breakfast, followed by discipline at lunch and a lot of discipline at supper. You're body will thank you, and I think you'll be pleased with the results.
By the Way
You can check out a little more on big-breakfast diets at these sites:
WebMD - The Big Breakfast Diet
LiveSTRONG - Benefits of a Bigger Breakfast
Dr. Oz - Your Weight-Loss Ally
2.10
The holidays are over, we're a month into the new year, and spring will be here in seven weeks... it's time to get serious about our wellness. There's no time like the present, even if we feel like we've been backsliding or fudging or cheating with our power pantry choices. Tomorrow is a blank page and we have the chance to write whatever we want, so let's write something awesome...
If you caught the first half of the super big game tonight, you saw a commercial for Weight Watchers that really hits the theme of choices in our eating. We're in control when it comes to either following or denying the standard American diet...all we need to do is choose well.
If you missed the football game, and the commercials, check out the "All You Can Eat" video from Weight Watchers, courtesy of iSpot.tv:
All You Can Eat
What I take away from this commercial is that there will always be a food industry more than willing to separate us from our money, in exchange for a shallow satisfaction and false fulfillment. But we need to think differently; we need to act differently.
To me, taking back control means choosing as if our life depends on it, because frankly, it does. Our choices need to bring whole foods into our diet: fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean meat need to be our constant companion in our pantry and on our plates. Artificial anything (flavors, sweeteners, preservatives, oils) need to be a thing of the past. Take back control of your health, and ultimately your longevity, by simply choosing wisely.
By the Way
You can check out a longer, uncut version of the Weight Watchers commercial on YouTube:
All You Can Eat (full length)
1.66
Millions of Americans have an unhealthy relationship with food. Our obesity rate has been on a dangerous increase since the 1990's, and it's affecting fundamental elements in our society. A staggering one third of our nation's adults qualify as obese; that's over 78 million Americans.
The changes this weight gain has wrought are many. For example, specific design criteria, which had been standardized for years, are now being challenged and increased. I remember some years ago hearing about high school and college desks for students. While the desks had been a standard size for decades, they needed to be increased because of the increased size (weight) of the average student. I remember thinking, "wow, that's just not right..." The eating and lifestyle habits of the average student were unhealthy enough to warrant larger accommodations...
Jennifer saw this article about crash-test dummies, with the same premise and result. Because the average American has grown larger, the 167 pound average crash-test dummy was no longer appropriate to run accurate trials - he / she needed to be enlarged. Here are the details from FoxNews:
As people get heavier, crash-test dummies gain weight
And if there's any doubt millions of us have an unhealthy relationship with food, check out the CDC stats on obesity from the 1990's until now.
- CDC's Obesity stats (from 2011 to present)
- Here is a powerpoint from the CDC from 1994 to 2010 showing the dramatic, regional increase of obesity in America: CDC PPT
This is sobering data, and strangely mimics a pandemic. No wonder our government is aggressively trying to instill healthy lifestyle choices in our nation.
So, what can we do about it? Individually, we can invest some time and thought into our own lifestyle habits. I'm content being an 80/20 or 90/10 eater. In other words, I try to get 80% to 90% of my calories from plant-based whole foods. I cheat every so often, and that's okay... hopefully it keeps me 'normal'. But my wellness lifestyle choices are radically improved over where they were just 5 years ago, and I'm so grateful for the health benefits which have come my way. Maybe it's time to set some simple, attainable goals for healthier eating and activity - I have no doubt you'll be thankful for it in no time at all.
By the Way
Our military has also recognized that, as a nation, we're "too fat to fight". It's almost becoming a national security issue. Check out the initiative at Mission Readiness; this is right from their home page:
"Currently, more than 70 percent of 17- to 24-year olds in the U.S. cannot serve in the military, primarily because they are too poorly educated, too overweight, or have a serious criminal record. Investing early in the upcoming generation is critical to securing our nation's future."
Whew... that's serious stuff...
1.46
I struggled with my weight for decades. Then starting about 3 years ago I grew through several significant resources which changed everything. First my perspective was broadened by Dr. Will Clower's Mediterranean Wellness program. Then in 2012 a business friend bought me Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live, and my view on food improved further. I realized that I consumed a majority of calories from foods which weren't nutritious, and I actually had an unhealthy relationship with food. Back then my 'target' weight that I struggled to maintain was 185.
Then everything began to change as I ate foods with a higher nutrient density (more nutrition per calorie). My weight started to drop. I even had friends concerned I was sick or something as 20 plus pounds literally fell right off. I continued to seek healthful approaches to a wellness lifestyle and lost another 10 pounds over the next year. So I've landed at 155 as my ideal weight and have hovered at that for well over a year.
Now I'm fascinated that a whole food, plant-based wellness lifestyle got me to this ideal weight. Not a diet, and definitely not 'starving' myself in any way. I'm actually surprised at the volume of food I eat daily; granted much of it is whole foods and easily satisfies my hunger. Now I eat to live instead of living to eat.
There are different perspectives on ideal weight levels and how to reach or maintain them. I definitely subscribe to the view that once we consistently feed our bodies healthful, nutritious foods we will naturally achieve and maintain our ideal weight.
What is the right weight for each of us? There are a variety of views on what it should be, how to maintain it, and even whether we should weigh ourselves to track it. A popular gauge for healthy weight is the body mass index, or BMI. This is a rudimentary calculation which compares our weight to our height and indicates if we are at a healthy weight, over-weight or under-weight. The goal is for our weight to be between 18.5 and 24.9 on the BMI scale. When I topped out around 220 pounds 17 years ago I was at a BMI of 29.8, just a ten of a point shy of being "obese". (Google 'BMI Calculator' for numerous online calculators).
The BMI scale isn't perfect (it doesn't account for muscle mass, so highly athletic people can tip the charts as overweight or obese when they're healthy), but it makes a great yardstick. As for the bathroom scale, I think it is fine to weight ourselves regularly (like weekly) as it helps maintain perspective. If our food choices are nutritious, our weight will naturally find a healthy level and we won't use the bathroom scale to whip ourselves into diet submission.
So, what's your healthy weight range? Are you in that range or close? If not, are you willing to improve your pantry and increase your activity level? The benefits are significant and may be life-saving. Literally.
By the Way
Dr. Fuhrman shared a quick guide to a healthy target weight in his book Eat to Live, page 24:
For women: approximately 95 pounds for the first 5 feet of height; then 4 pounds for every additional inch
For men: approximately 105 pounds for the first 5 feet of height; then 5 pounds for every additional inch
An example:
- A 5 ' 6" woman would have a target weight of 116 pounds (95 + 24)
- A 5' 10" man would have a target weight of 155 (105 + 50)
