June 27, 2024
By Jen Stanbro
So much going on, I want to track it all here. I may need to do multiple posts with multiple themes. Not sure if that’s going to come out as chaotic or if I can wrangle it into followability.
We shall see.
I’ll start by picking up where I left off: The first of the eight pillars of health is Nutrition.
Before I dive in, here are some of my favorite resources on this topic:
Let Food Be Your Medicine by Dr. Don Colbert, MD
PALEO Power Bowls by Julia Mueller of TheRoastedRoot.net
The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD
Beyond Simply Keto by Suzanne Ryan
Meals That Heal Inflammation by Julie Daniluk, RHN
Clean Eating Magazine’s Special Edition: 30-Day Sugar Detox
This is Your Brain on Food by Uma Naidoo, MD
The Galveston Diet by Marie Claire Haver, MD
From these books, I’ve gleaned a ton of information, which translates for me into these 10 habits:
-1-
I aim for 25 grams of fiber per day. Fiber is great for lots of reasons. Read the books above if you want to hear that over and over again, with each author adding a little variation of the wonderful benefits, not the least of which is keeping sugar/insulin levels in check.
-2-
I try to get my vinegar every day in the form of salad dressing or a teaspoon in warm, filtered water, with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon-ish of honey. The benefits have to do with the body’s pH levels and a good pH level is important for many reasons. Again, I’m not here to list all the reasons. My name isn’t Cliff. Y’all go do the work like I did. OR, trust me and make the shifts. XD
-3-
I eat the equivalent of my weight in a pounds-to-grams ratio with protein. As in 125 lbs means I’m eating 125-145 grams of protein every day. The ratio is actually more like 1:1.3 or 1:1.6. They say you should go after the higher end as you age because the body needs more protein assistance as it naturally loses muscle. Boo.
-4-
I try to include healthy fats in every meal with foods like avocados and salmon. And in the form of Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, or Grape Seed Oil.
-5-
I aim for 1-2 cups of fruits a day and I largely go for anti-oxidant rich sources to counteract the fact that estrogen is being a loser and deserting me here in peri-menopause. Ready for this next one?
-6-
I aim for 7 cups of vegetables a day. Yup! PLEASE KEEP READING. My WHY is astounding. It is one revelatory landmark in the quest for answers to the question of why exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss for so many.
A while back, I learned something crazy about the way our bodies burn fat -it’s not random. It is in fact, pretty picky. See, the body wants to utilize the fat cells that are either the most recent (as in the ones that came in most recently) and/or the most nutrient rich in order to maximize effectiveness. The body is kinda like the witch in Hansel & Gretel. “Only the plumpest fat cells will do,” the body says in a throaty, cackle. Gross. That was gross. Sorry.
Anyway…
Here’s the kicker: if someone has been carrying extra weight/fat cells around for a while, those cells have been sucked dry of all their good stuff. They have nothing to offer when your body is searching for fat to burn. Guess what that means — those areas of fat you want to burn most are actually the lowest priority when your body is looking for fat to burn during a work-out.
Mind blown.
Heart-breaking, right? But it explains why eating less (depriving your body of essential nourishment) and working out more (increasing your body’s need for essential nourishment) doesn’t work for so many. Eating more of the good stuff actually increases the effectiveness of your workout with regard to fat-burning. This brings us to my next habit…
-7-
I vary all of the above: proteins, fats, vegetables, and fruits as much as possible. This is key. You want to give your body as robust a collection of nutrient-rich nourishment as possible. You are, in a sense, ‘plumping’ those dormant fat cells, getting them ready to consume. Along with, ya know, hundreds of other benefits to the microbiome in your gut, your immune system, your brain, your mood, your hormones, the list is really incredible.
But guess what the body does when all the fat cells are rich in what it needs for energy! It BURNS the fat! Can you imagine!?
Additionally, eating the same thing every day without variation has been found to lead to sensitivities, rendering an otherwise healthy food, harmful and inflammatory, triggering a taxing immune response. That’s no good.
Now, with those things in mind, there is NO PLACE for processed food during the week. Processed carbohydrates in particular, hit the body as sugar itself, spike the glycemic index, spike insulin (which leads to weight gain, btw) and ends up in the fat stores. Over time, this pattern can lead to insulin resistance, which has its own lovely list of risk factors.
-8-
So, I avoid processed food as a rule, and processed carbs specifically during the week. Not perfectly, but that’s the goal. And it’s a good goal. The problem is, sandwich bread and pancakes, French toast and waffles, scones and muffins, pasta and crackers, pretzels and goldfish, cookies and cake and pie, oh my! They’re all so freaking delicious, it would be horrific to never eat them again. And don’t come at me, but healthy versions of the above are not worth the effort or the consumption, in my opinion. If it’s your thing, I’m jealous. But it’s not my thing. I want it in whatever form it is MOST delicious or I don’t freaking want it at all (arms crossed, face set).
-9-
Soooo, I bake one thing every weekend, consume it earlier in the day (later-day crap-eating leads to faster weight gain for me than early-day crap-eating…for many others as well) try to keep my portion small, and I aim to have it following something healthy. Following something healthy means that my digestive system is already processing at a slower rate. I didn’t say my metabolism. What I’m talking about is a matter of not spiking the glycemic index with a speeding sugar truck. Said truck needs to wait in line behind the healthy Sunday drivers. The body processes all the food and converts it into energy much more efficiently when it’s not bombarded with an influx of sugar.
-10-
Lastly, I practice intermittent fasting (IF). For me, this looks like 16 hours of fasting, usually between 5:45pm-9:45pm-ish, and then my eating window is eight-ish hours. This is known as 16:8. Occasionally, I’ll do a 24-36 hour fast for detoxing. And if insulin resistance is a problem, I’d take six months and do a 24-36 hour fast once a week. This would allow my body to be quiet for extended periods of time, which would ideally cause my cells to become more sensitive to the “noise” of insulin when it knocks to deliver nutrients from food. That last bit of reasoning is throughly explained in The Obesity Code.
Well, that was a lot.
I aspire. I don’t do all of these things perfectly every day, but it truly does get easier to be consistent with time.
I hope you found some or most, or even all of it helpful in some way. I can tell you, I feel healthier than ever and more armed and equipped for all that’s to come. If any of my info above gives you pause, or you’ve heard something contradictory elsewhere, feel free to let me know. I’m always eager to learn.
Ultimately, I hope I’m setting a good example for my kids. I pray they’ll be empowered to pursue growth, knowledge, and health as a lifestyle.
Thanks for reading!