I follow a bunch of new healthful type blogs, all that deal with clean eating, but I still find within them “bad” information. I am able to utilize the good parts and weed out the bad, but for the general population, most will take the written words and videos for fact and this feeds into our multibillion dollar fitness and health industry. Like anything in life, question everything, do you own research, and then, only then, move forward. I, on the other hand, the eternal pessimist, will always look at any new information as a skeptic. I loved when "Snopes" came along, because as soon as something came across my computer that made me scratch my head, I would check it out from this resource that had done the work for me. I wish there was a one stop shop like this for the food and diet industry, but with a little googling, the true will inevitably be found. For almost 25 years now as a fitness professional, with my bachelors degree in dietetics, I also hold an AA in Culinary Arts, spent years as fitness director at a women’s health club, and as owner of several businesses, including a prenatal/postpartum fitness program called “Kicks 4 Two”, my own personal training business called “Energize with Gina”, and certifications as an aerobic instructor, personal trainer, and strength and conditioning coach, the bulk of my learning has been in the trenching dealing with clients on an individual basis trying to figure out the human mind and body.
Let's start with coconut oil....
Hailed as the latest and greatest health food, I quickly did my search that led me to this Web MD article. I will always listen to the likes of researchers from Harvard and Yale, over the so called fitness professional who "thinks" they know it all. First page of this article says it all.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health
Many of you know I am a Crossfit participant. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Crossfit gym, but as with everything I do, I only go two days a week, moderation, eh?? This group is big time into the "Paleo" diet fad and I love to hear what they have to say next. The last thing on FB from them was a question that stated, "Which food causes the most weight gain?" and listed three things, bacon, milk and bread, but the winner was "bread", and based on the “Paleo” diet, those people believe this. I, on the other hand, along with as dietitians, researchers, and others who refuse to fall prey to the “next fad” will tell you these pointers:
1. If you take in more calories then your body utilitizes, then you will gain body fat. For every 3500 calories of extra calories taken in, regardless of what those calories are, you will gain one pound.
2. Eat to fuel your body. The body’s energy cycle, remember biochemistry, produces ATP,
energy, by breaking down glucose. The problem is two fold, people eat what they want instead of what their body needs, and we have been conditioned to believe “carbs” are BAD. If you give your body what it needs, you will have more energy, which will allow you to have better workouts which will allow you will burn more calories, and you will feel better because of what you are putting into your body.
The original food pyramid was a good start, because we knew that the bulk of our consumption needs to be complex carbs, but nothing was addressed in terms of the type of carbs that needed to be consumed. Today’s revised pyramid focuses on the type of carbs we need to consume, those being complex....Complex carbohydrates should supply about 55-60% of your calories, however, the best complex carbohydrates come from legumes, vegetables, breads, pasta and cereals. Choose 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain brad cereal and pasta products over refined flour products because they contain more fiber. The extra fiber slows down the absorption of the carbohydrates so you feel full longer and be less likely to over-eat throughout the day. I prefer to choose only carbs that have at least 3 grams/serving, sometimes dipping down to two but only on occasion.
3. At some point you need to take responsibility for what you put in your mouth. I require all my clients to write all food they eat in a daily journal, initially just to see what they are eating so we can start to choose more healthful options based on what they like to eat, then we move toward keeping track of how much of each thing and when they eat, which allows us to start counting calories and determine “why” someone is eating when they are, and next I recommend buying an food scale to really realize how we tend to under report as a society and realize what portions sizes should look like.
4. Eat at least three meals and two snacks. Yes, you must EAT!! People who can’t lose weight have screwed up their metabolism. I have never met a women who could not eat about 1500 calories a day and lose a pound of body fat a week. The human body is amazing and reacts to stressors in our lives. Different stressors than our ancestors, but stressors none the less. Back in the early ages, when famine occurred, the body knew to hold on the the fat, so that the individual could survive longer with the lack of daily food intake. That same principle still exists today innately in our bodies, so when people don’t eat as many calories as they need to exist daily, the body will hoard that fat and give up muscle instead. As we lose muscle mass due to this type of dieting, along with the natural aging process, our metabolism decreases due to that lack of muscle, creating a vicious cycle of yoyo dieting for the individual.
5. Keep it simple stupid or sweetheart, what ever you wish to call yourself. Initially, you need to keep your meals basic which will allow you to calculate your calories. Making complex recipes with sauces and the like, do not allow you to report your calories correctly. If you are skipping breakfast, start eating it tomorrow morning. The friend I spoke of on my last blog NEVER ate breakfast. When she asked for my help, I told her first things first, eat breakfast every day. Funny thing is, she felt guilty when she enjoyed the foods I suggested for her, high fiber, low fat and low sugar cereals, whole wheat thin with almond butter and all fruit jelly, yogurt with granola and fruit, breakfast sandwich using ww thin, Canadian bacon or turkey bacon and an egg. We picked four meals she liked and discussed her keeping that meal at 300-350 calories. She has adhered to this request a week later and next week, we will start to talk about her lunch choices. Baby steps and I have guaranteed her and all of you, that if you fuel your body with what it needs, you will immediately feel better, have more energy and the weight will start to come off without you thinking about it. Of course I expect everyone to move their bodies, and for my friend, Jan, she golfs most days of week pushing her clubs, takes long walks on other days, and is now part of a hiking group that will go out a few times a month.
Well, this blog went in a totally different direction then expected when I started this morning, but tonight I finally finished and now off to make a healthy snack food which I will blog on soon. Gina
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