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Disabled Man with family practicing yoga outside.

Patient Activation Network Interview with Alene Brennan

Matt Cavallo, MPH, patient advocate, author and speaker, interviews Alene Brennan, a Nutrition Coach, Yoga Instructor, Personal Trainer and Natural Food Chef.  Alene overcame debilitating migraine headaches through diet and lifestyle and is now once again using a “Less Pharm, More Table” approach is managing her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.

Since receiving her MS diagnosis and seeing first-hand the power of using diet and lifestyle to create a healing environment in the body, she dedicated her virtual nutrition coaching practice to helping people with MS and autoimmune take back control of their health. She connects with clients around the world via phone and video chat to help them transition to a healing diet and lifestyle and manage the symptoms of chronic illness.

Listen to the podcast from Patient Activation Network:

 

Our health is truly the only thing that connects us. Whatever your age, gender or background, health is the great equalizer. The Patient Activation Network was created by patients for patients to accomplish real change in healthcare. Visit patientactivationnetwork.com for more podcasts.


Matt Cavallo, MPH is a patient experience speaker, author, and podcaster who motivates audiences worldwide with his personal patient experience and genuine storytelling style. At age twenty-eight, Matt was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Seemingly overnight he went from a fully-functioning, healthy man to someone who was numb from the waist down and unable to walk. As a result of his diagnosis, Matt has dedicated his life to improving the patient experience. Matt is the founder of PatientActivation Network

cereal-banana-oj

Breakfast is for Champions

I don’t have time, I’m not hungry in the morning and I’m on a diet are three common excuses for missing breakfast. Unfortunately, athletes who skip breakfast generally suffer needless fatigue. They tend to have trouble concentrating later in the morning, and they work or study less efficiently. They can easily overeat at night and gain undesired body fat. Clearly, breakfast is a very important meal of the day!

If you are a breakfast skipper and routinely miss this energizing meal, try this experiment: Eat breakfast for three consecutive days and observe the benefits: more energy, less hunger, better nutrition. You’ll quick­ly discover breakfast is a key meal for champions!

Here are solutions to some breakfast barriers:

I don’t have time

You really do have time to do what you want to do. If you can make time to exercise, you can also make time to enhance your exercise program by appropriately fueling your muscles. You’ll discover:

  • you can think, work, and recover better if you eat breakfast within an hour of your morning workout.
  • you’ll have much more energy during an afternoon workout if you have eaten a substantial breakfast.

If you won’t eat breakfast at home, then simply eat breakfast on the run: a bagful of raisins and granola at the bus stop, a bagel with peanut butter on the way to school, or a yogurt and almonds at work. You don’t have to eat breakfast immediately upon getting out of bed. Your morning break can be more than just coffee!

I’m not hungry in the morning

Most often, athletes who lack a morning appetite ate their breakfast at bed­time, the night before. Too many evening snacks can easily ruin your morning appetite and also contribute to weight gain (if you overeat), dietary deficiencies (if you displace healthful breakfasts with “junk food” for snacks) and muscle fatigue (if you eat high-fat evening snacks—such as chips, chicken wings, ice cream—that inadequately refuel your muscles). Plan to rearrange your meal pattern so you eat a heartier breakfast, fewer evening snacks—and wake up hungry.

I’m on a diet

The most successful diets start with a substantial breakfast and end with a lighter dinner. A wholesome, carb-protein breakfast both fuels and builds your muscles and also prevents you from get­ting too hungry. When too hungry, you are less likely to care about what you eat and more likely to indulge in sweets and treats. Research suggests athletes who under-eat during the day have more body fat than those who eat adequately during their waking hours. Remember: You are going to eat the calories eventually; you might as well enjoy them in the morning in the form of quality food that keeps you feeling well-fed.

What’s best to eat?

Any breakfast is better than no breakfast, but some choices are better than others for your sports diet. You can easily boost your energy with some of these breakfast foods that fuel your muscles and your brain: oatmeal, whole grain cereal, whole-grain waffles, French toast, bagel, English muffin, banana bread, grits, fruit, juice, or whatever carbohydrate-based foods that might be readily available. Add some protein to build and repair muscles: eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, nuts, and peanut butter.

One quick and easy “breakfast of champions” is iron-enriched cereal with lowfat milk, banana, and orange juice. This simple meal provides important nutrients that support your athletic program:

  • Carbohydrates: the best source of muscle fuel. Carbs should be the foundation of every sports-meal. A breakfast with whole-grain cereal, milk, fruit, and juice is an easy way to help meet that goal!
  • Iron: a mineral important for carrying oxygen from the lungs to your working muscles. An iron-rich diet reduces your risk of becoming anemic and experiencing needless fatigue during exercise. By enjoying orange juice along with iron-enriched cereals, you can absorb more iron. Note: the “all natural” cereals such as granola or Kashi, have no additives, hence no iron added. Combine them with enriched brands.
  • Calcium: from milk or yogurt eaten with the cereal. Calcium is important for strong bones, as well as for helping muscles contract properly.
  • Potassium: a mineral (electrolyte) lost in sweat. Bananas, OJ, whole grain cereals are potassium-rich.
  • Fiber: to promote regular bowel movements and reduce the risk of unwanted pit stops during exercise. If plagued by constipation, select raisin bran, bran flakes, All-Bran, or any type of bran cereal. If diarrhea is a problem, reduce fiber intake!

Summary

A carbohydrate-based breakfast that also includes some protein is a critical energy booster that helps athletes fuel and repair their muscles. Without this morning meal, you are likely to run on fumes, per­form less effectively, and reduce your intake of nutrients that contribute to health and top performance. Try these meals for a high energy day:

  • Bran cereal, banana, chopped almonds, and lowfat milk.
  • Whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, and a latte.
  • French toast, ham, orange juice, and Greek yogurt.
  • Greek yogurt with granola, almonds, and berries.

Reprinted with permission from Nancy Clark.


Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) counsels both casual and competitive athletes at her office in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). Her best selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer players offer additional information. They are available at www.NancyClarkRD.com. For her popular online workshop, see www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.

fast food

Fast Food Genocide

In his latest book, Fast Food Genocide, Dr. Fuhrman details the shocking role diet has played in derailing the American dream for large segments of our population. He explains how these foods destroy not only our physical health, leading to cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease — he also explores the previously overlooked association of diet’s influence on behavior, emotional health and intellect. The fast and processed food industries keep people hooked on their unhealthy, highly addictive products and that has led to a national health crisis. This tragic and far-reaching epidemic of inferior nutrition can be turned around, and Dr. Fuhrman offers hope, explaining the powerful way a Nutritarian Diet can solve what has become a national health crisis. It is an eye-opening book all of us need to read and share with our friends. Below, Dr. Fuhrman answers what motivated him to write this book and some of the questions surrounding it.

How Can Fast Food Be Genocide?

Genocide — the deliberate destruction of a population — is the most accurate way to describe fast food’s devastating effects on our society. Processed, nutrient-barren products are designed by the food industry to be highly addictive, cheap to produce, and highly profitable. These products do not contain the nutrients humans need to thrive, and in those using them as a primary food source, it has created an explosion of disease, much suffering and death. Fast food and processed foods also damage our genes, which we pass on to our children and grandchildren, and we are seeing dangerous increases in autism, learning disabilities, allergies, autoimmune disease and childhood cancer. This must be stopped.

Which Foods Are The Most Dangerous?

I define fast food in two ways: First, it is the food served at commercial chain restaurants, where processed meats, pizza, burgers, French fries, pretzels, soft drinks, and rich desserts are made in an assembly-line process, with commercial ingredients that are duplicated and dispersed all over the world. Second, it is any commercially-made convenience food that includes artificial ingredients, processed grains, sweeteners, salt, and oil, all with high-caloric concentration and minimal nutrient content. These foods have now become the majority of calories consumed in America.

Why Are These Foods So Damaging to Our Health?

A person who eats fast food, fried food and processed food has an increased risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disease, depression, and mental illness. Even moderate use of fast food is dangerous. For example, one serving of commercial French fries per week is linked to an over 25 percent increase in risk of developing breast cancer. The World Health Organization has declared that processed meats are a class 1 carcinogen in humans, which places them in the same category as asbestos and cigarette smoking. Fake food produces cancer-promoting signals, damages blood vessel and builds plaque. The food is most often high in calories and fattening. Weight gain has its own dangerous consequences. Body fat produces pro-inflammatory signals, raises blood pressure, drives insulin resistance and secretes growth signals that promote cancer.

How Does Fast Food Contribute to Depression and Mental Illness?

The scope of the effects of fast food on the brain is not yet known, but based on what we know so far, we greatly underestimate these effects, especially the effects on the brains of children. A single episode of elevated blood sugar has been shown to have negative effects on attention and memory. Eating commercial baked goods and fast food is primary causative factor in mental illness and major depression, and brain imaging studies have suggested that elevated blood sugar impairs the brain’s ability to process emotion. For young children, fast food, candy and soda consumption are linked to behavior and attention problems, and depression and suicide in teens. Mental illness now affects one in five in America, and our poor diet is at the foundation of this epidemic.

Why Isn’t This Information More Widely Known?

Some reasons why we are ignoring the devastating health crisis that is right before our eyes is that; we believe food industry propaganda and easily misled by conflicting information; we develop a desire for become addicted to these toxic foods; and we believe in the heavily promoted dogma that modern medical care can save us from nutritional-induced tragedies.

Food companies have discovered how to feed the most people in the most efficient and cost-effective manner to maximize profits. While the marketing spin promotes moderate consumption as safe, and encouraged by social norms. Scientific studies demonstrate otherwise.

REGISTER for Dr. Fuhrman’s upcoming webinar on this topic, Fast Food Genocide: How Processed Food Are Killing Us and What We Can Do About It. Watch live or recorded! Register now >


Joel Fuhrman, M.D.Dr. Fuhrman is a board-certified family physician specializing in nutritional medicine. He is President of the Nutritional Research Foundation and the author of 6 NY Times bestselling books, including The End of Heart Disease.  Visit him at DrFuhrman.com

action-athlete-athletics-618612

Eating for Endurance

What’s the best way to fuel for the Boston Marathon?

Should I eat a high fat diet to train my body to burn more fat and less glucose?   

What percent of calories should come from carbohydrate? protein? fat?

When it comes to eating for endurance, today’s athletes are confronted with two opposing views:

  • Eat a traditional carbohydrate-based sports diet, or
  • Eat a fat-based diet that severely limits carbohydrate intake.

What should an eager marathoner, Ironman triathlete, or other endurance athlete eat to perform better? Here’s what you want to know about eating for endurance, based on  the Joint Position Statement on Nutrition for Athletic Performance from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietietics, and Dietitians of Canada.

1. Eat enough calories.

Most athletes need ~21 calories per pound (45 cal/kg) of lean body mass (LBM). That means, if you weigh 150 pounds and have 10% body fat, your LBM is 135 pounds and you require about 2,800 calories a day. That said, energy needs vary from person to person, depending on how fidgety you are, how much you sit in front of a computer, how much muscle you have, etc.. Hence, your body is actually your best calorie counter—more accurate than any formula or app!

If you are eat intuitively—that is, you eat when you feel hunger and stop when feel content, you are likely eating enough. If you find yourself stopping eating just because you think you should, if you are feeling hungry all the time and are losing weight, you want to eat larger portions. Underfueling is a needless way to hurt your performance.

If you can’t tell when enough food is enough, wait 10 to 20 minutes after eating and then, mindfully ask yourself “Does my body need more fuel?” Athletes who routinely stop eating just because they have finished their packet of oatmeal (or other pre-portioned allotment) can easily be under-fueled. Even dieting athletes want to surround their workouts with fuel. Their plan should be to eat enough during the day to fuel-up and refule from workouts, and then eat just a little bit less at the end of the day, to lose weight when they are sleeping.

2. Eat enough carbohydrates.

According to the Position Statement on Nutrition for Athletic Performance, the optimal amount of carbohydrate on a day with one hour of training is 5 to 7 grams carb/kg. On high volume days, you need about 6 to 12 g carb/kg body weight. For a 150-pound (68 kg) athlete, this comes to about 350 to 800 grams carb a day—the equivalent of about one to two (1-lb) boxes of uncooked pasta (1,400 to 3,200 calories). That’s more than many of today’s (carb-phobic) athletes consume. You want to make grains the foundation of each meal : choose more oatmeal for breakfast; more sandwiches at lunch; and more rice at dinner to get three times more calories from carbs than from protein. Otherwise, you set the stage for needless fatigue.

3. Eat adequate­—but not excess—protein.

Protein needs for athletes range from 1.4 g/kg (for mature athletes) to 2.0 g protein/kg (for athletes building muscle or dieting to lose fat). For a 150-pound (68 kg) athlete, protein needs come to about 95 to 135 grams protein per day, or 25 to 35 grams protein four times a day. That means 3 eggs at breakfast (with the bowl of oatmeal), a hearty sandwich at lunch, portion of lean meat/fish/chicken at dinner, and cottage cheese (with fruit) for an afternoon or bedtime snack.

For vegetarians, generous servings of beans, hummus, nuts and tofu at every meal can do the job; a light sprinkling of beans on a lunchtime salad will not. By consuming protein every 3 to 5 hours, you will optimize muscle building and deter muscle breakdown.

4. Fill in the calorie-gap with fat.

Include in each meal and snack some health-promoting, anti-inflammatory fat: nuts, salmon, peanut butter, avocado, olive oil, etc.. Fat adds flavor, offers satiety, and is a source of fuel for endurance exercise. Training your muscles to burn more fat for fuel happens when you do long, steady “fat burning” exercise. By burning more fat, you burn less of the limited carbohydrate (muscle glycogen, blood glucose) stores. You will have greater endurance and avoid or delay hitting the wall.

A (tougher) way to train your body to burn more fat is to severely limit your carbohydrate intake and push your fat intake to 70% of your calories. That could be 1,800 calories (185 g) of fat per day. This very high fat diet produces ketones and forces the body to burn ketones for fuel. Keto-athletes endure a tough, 3 to 4 week adaptation period as their bodies transition to burning fat, not glucose, for fuel. While some keto-athletes rave about how great they feel when in ketosis, the sports nutrition literature, to date, reports little or no performance benefits from a ketogenic sports diet.  It might nix sugar binges, but it’s unlikely to make you a better athlete.

5. Drink enough fluids.

A simple way to determine if you are drinking enough fluid is to monitor your urine. You should be voiding dilute, light colored urine every 2 to 4 hours. (Exception: athletes who take vitamin supplements tend to have dark colored urine.) You want to learn your sweat rate, so you can strategize how to prevent dehydration. Weigh yourself nude before and after one hour of race-pace exercise, during which you drink nothing. A one-pound drop pre- to post-exercise equates to 16 ounces of sweat loss. Losing two pounds of sweat in an hour equates to 32 ounces (1 quart). To prevent that loss, you should target drinking 8 ounces of water or sports drink every 15 minutes. Athletes who pre-plan their fluid intake tend to hydrate better than those who “wing it.”

6. Consume enough calories during extended exercise.

If you will be exercising for longer than 60 to 90 minutes, you want to target 40 to 80 calories (10 to 20 g) of carbohydrate every 20 minutes (120 to 240 calories per hour), starting after the first hour (which gets fueled by your pre-exercise food). If you are an Ironman triathlete, long distance cyclist or ultra-athlete who exercises for more than three hours, you want to target up to 360 calories per hour. The key is to practice event-day fueling during the months that lead up to the event. By training your gut to tolerate the fuel, you’ll be able to enjoy the event without fretting about running out of energy.

The bottom line:

If you are going to train, you might as well get the most out of your workouts. Performance improves with a good fueling plan. Eat wisely and enjoy your high energy!


Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) counsels both casual and competitive athletes at her office in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). Her best selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer players offer additional information. They are available at www.NancyClarkRD.com. For her popular online workshop, see www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.

Reference:

Thomas, T at el. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance. J Academy of Nutri and Dietetics. 2016; 116 (3):501-28

balanced-diet

How To Gain Weight Healthfully

“No matter what I eat, I can’t seem to gain weight…”

“What about those weight gain powders … do they work?”

“How much more protein should I eat to help me bulk up?”

Although two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, a handful of skinny people—including many athletes—feel very frustrated by their seeming inability to gain weight. Their struggle to bulk up is on par with that of over-fat folks who work hard to lose weight. Add in rigorous training for a marathon, soccer team, or other sport, and scrawny athletes can feel at a disadvantage, fearing that no matter how much they eat, they’ll get even skinnier.

Clearly, genetics plays a powerful role in why some athletes have so much trouble not only gaining weight, but also maintaining any weight they manage to add. “Hard gainers” tend to be fidgety. They rarely sit, to say nothing of sit still. They are constantly puttering around, or when sitting, they are tapping their fingers, swinging their legs, twirling their hair, and shifting around in the chair. All of these activities burn calories that commonly end up in the midriff of calmer people who can sit motionless for hours.

If you are a hard gainer, you might have been told that consuming an extra 500 to 1,000 calories per day will lead to gaining 1 to 2 pounds per week. Unfortunately, Nature often confounds this mathematical approach. For example, in a weight gain study where the subjects were overfed by 1,000 calories per day for 100 days, some subjects gained only 9 pounds, whereas others gained 29 pounds (1).

How could that be? The answer likely relates to Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (N.E.A.T.), the technical term for spontaneous movements that naturally occur in fidgety people. When you overfeed a fidgety person, they can become even more active, as if Nature wants them to burn off those calories.

Seven Tips to Gain Weight Healthfully

Fret not; even very lean people can gain some weight when they systematically enhance their diet. Although they cannot change their genetics and their tendency to fidget, they can boost their calorie intake. If you are a scrawny athlete, have a teenage eating-machine who wants to weigh more, or are trying to bulk up for football, here are some tips to help you gain weight healthfully.

1. Eat consistently. Do NOT skip meals; doing so means you’ll miss out on important calories needed to reach your goal. Every day, enjoy a breakfast, an early lunch, a later lunch, dinner, and a bedtime meal. This might mean breakfast at 7:00, lunch at 11:00, second lunch at 3:00, dinner at 7:00, and a protein-rich bedtime snack at 10:00.

2. Eat larger than normal portions. Instead of having one sandwich for lunch, have two. Enjoy a taller glass of milk, bigger bowl of cereal, and larger piece of fruit.

3. Select higher calorie foods. Read food labels to discover which wholesome foods offer more calories. For example, cranapple juice has more calories than orange juice (170 vs. 110 calories per 8 ounces); granola has more calories than Cheerios (500 vs. 100 calories per cup); corn more calories than green beans (140 vs. 40 calories per cup).

4. Drink lots of 100% fruit juice and low-fat (chocolate) milk. Instead of quenching your thirst with water, choose calorie-containing fluids. By having milk with each meal, you can easily add 300 to 600 wholesome calories a day. One high school soccer player gained 13 pounds over the summer by simply quenching his thirst with six glasses of cranapple juice instead of water (1,000 vs. 0 calories). He consumed the fluid he needed (juice is 98% water) and bonus of more carbohydrates to refuel his depleted muscles, plus a good dose of vitamin C to enhance healing.

5. Enjoy peanut butter, nuts, avocado, and olive oil. These foods are high in (health-promoting) fats. They’re a positive addition to your sports diet; they help knock down inflammation. Their high fat content means they’re calorie-dense. To boost good fats, add almonds to cereal & salads, spread extra peanut butter on the PB&J sandwich, dive into the guacamole with baked chips, and add extra olive oil dressing to your salads. That’s an easy extra 500+ calories/day.

6. Do strengthening exercise as well as some cardio. Weight lifting and push-ups stimulate muscle growth so that you bulk-up instead of fatten up. Plus, exercise stimulates your appetite and, sooner or later, you’ll want to eat more. Exercise also increases thirst, so you will want to drink extra juices and caloric fluids.

Take note: You will not build bigger muscles by eating extra protein. While you want to target a protein-rich food with 20-30 grams protein at each meal (and 10-15/snack), having more will not build bigger muscles. Resistance exercise builds muscles. To have the energy to do the muscle-building training, you need extra carbs. That’s where drinking more 100% fruit juice and chocolate milk offer benefits; you’ll be better-fueled & better able to lift heavier weights.

7. Don’t bother to buy expensive weight gain drinks. A hefty PB&J with a tall glass of chocolate milk adds about 1,000 calories for about $2.00. You would spend at least $10 get-ting those calories from Muscle Milk.

Conclusion: By following these tips, you should see progress, but honor your genetics. Most people do gain weight with age as they become less active, more mellow, and have more time to eat. Granted, that information doesn’t help you today, but it offers optimism (or a warning) for your future physique!


Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) counsels both casual and competitive athletes at her office in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). Her best selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer players offer additional information. They are available at www.NancyClarkRD.com. For her popular online workshop, see www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com

References:

1) Bouchard, C. 1990. Heredity and the path to overweight and obesity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 23(3):285-291.

Healthy Lifestyle

Why Is Today’s Society So Unhealthy?

As we look back, our ancestors never worried about their thyroid, gut, heart disease, cancer or any of the issues that are top of mind today. So why are they popping up everywhere? It all comes down to they simply ate real food. Seasonal fruits & vegetables, grains, eggs and dairy. They avoided fake foods, such as crackers, cookies and frosted cereals.

In reality, half of Americans are over indulging and the other half are on a diet. So, why are we not taking care of ourselves? Why are we overweight, ill and struggling every day? The news changes our health regimen daily. One day, we’re told to cut out carbohydrates, then the next, cut out fat or reduce the amount of daily protein. I can see why, as a society, we are confused and just let go. Our lives are busy and the average consumer doesn’t have time to research what’s good and bad for them. Looking back, our ancestors got their nutrition through killing large mammals and picking fruits and nuts. Studies have shown that our body is better acquainted with consuming meat and natural sugars and has a hard time digesting fiber. Therefore, not obtaining the protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber or any other nutrients that we need to maintain our bodies at optimal levels.

We are no longer growing our own food, but obtaining our meals through the drive-thru because of convenience and time. Let’s put it this way: our bodies can’t breakdown large amounts of vegetable oil and our bodies were not meant to sit all day. I remember growing up thinking, “when do we actually get a break?” When you live a life of a farmer, there is no downtime. It seemed from the moment I got off the bus until it was time to go to bed, I was on my feet. We didn’t have computer games, smart phones and only had a couple channels to watch on TV — which seemed like all there was to watch was news or cooking shows!

So, what is the root of such a growing concern? It’s simply poor lifestyle choices…. We overindulge, choose the wrong foods, we’re less active, and let stress and anxiety take over our lives. What can we do today to take action on our health?

Tips to Maintain a Simple Healthy Action Plan

ABM – Always be moving. Keep physically active, whether it’s getting away from the office chair for a walk downstairs or going outside during lunch to gain some much needed sunlight. Just doing stretches can get the blood flowing and revive that inner energy to regain focus. Strive for 30 minutes of exercise 3-5 days a week. Find an exercise you enjoy so you’ll maintain a regimen

Get cooking. Be creative in the kitchen and make your own meals at home. This way you incorporate the ingredients and you stay healthier. Plus it’s fun, gets you on your feet and a great family activity.

Choosing the right foods. Always shop around the outside perimeter of the store, as this is where you’ll find the wholesome goodness of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy and unprocessed, preservative-free foods. Keep in mind that dietary guidelines have changed to where half our plate should be filled with fruit and vegetables. Plus, you never have a label to investigate prior to purchasing as there is only one ingredient. Keep in mind, to benefit from satiety, wait 20 minutes after your meal to cue into your hunger levels.

All in moderation. Keep a balance in your daily regimen. There will be days when life happens and you can’t maintain the My Plate routine along with the daily exercise plan. That’s OK. Keep yourself in check knowing you’ll get back on the wagon tomorrow. Life is all about things coming at you when you least expect it. That’s why you have a backup plan to slide the goal to the next day and never overwhelm yourself with anything, especially something that is out of your hands. This will, in turn, help alleviate the stress and anxiety that you get if you’re a perfectionist. I’m one to always have everything in check, but I’m realistic and know there will be surprises, so let yourself go if everything doesn’t fall into place.

Live a simple life. Sometimes going off the grid isn’t a bad thing. One thing I’ve learned is to not let social media rule our lives. It can consume our time, lead to insecurity, stress and anxiety. Limit your time on electronics and spend quality time with family and friends. Take time to eat at the dinner table while discussing how the day went or what’s new in your lives. It seems we get so wrapped up in what others are doing, thinking, feeling and finding out what’s going on with our family and friends through a Facebook post. Remember, you’re not living their life and they aren’t living yours, so take care of yourself first! Otherwise, you can’t be there to help others.

Meditation. It may seem silly at first, or make you feel out of place, but studies have proven the effectiveness of certain breathing methods and poses that will relax you and alleviate some of that stress from your day. Try sitting by yourself for 10 minutes and just take a breath in. Breathe through your nose to let go of all the chaos that may have happened throughout the day. You can also incorporate yoga, which aids in the meditation process.

Let’s not forget sleep! Strive for 6-8 hours. Remember, your body is like a machine, you need to keep it oiled and in tip-top shape for it to run at it’s best. If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re causing oxidative damage, which causes your cells and DNA to build up, reducing our longevity.

Laugh. Amazingly enough. if you laugh for 10-15 minutes per day, you can burn up to 40 calories! So why aren’t you laughing?! It helps release endorphins to help you feel relaxed. Spend time with family and friends to gain the much needed benefit of humor and in-person social interaction.

In summary, living longer depends on how we react, what we choose to do, and how we live. Revive yourself from the inside with wiser food choices, letting go of the things beyond your control, and finding ways to alleviate stress in our lives. All you have to do is remind yourself of the simple life that our grandparents lived and how much of a difference it made in longevity and happiness.

As always consult your health professional. I hope this article finds you in good health.


Connie Stoltz-McDonald is an Integrative Nutrition-Certified Health Coach, CPT, Wellness Educator, Blogger and Author. From her passion for writing, she is excited to announce her first book release titled “Healthy Lifestyle- The inside secrets to transforming your body and health.” If you’d like to get a copy, you can connect with her at her website, www.lifestylehealthmentor.comFacebookTwitterLinkedIn, or Instagram.

Sources:
www.scientificamerican.com
www.offthegridnews.com
www.mindbodygreen.com

Fibromyalgia signs

Living a Happy Life with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Pain

A chronic pain diagnosis can sneak up from nowhere, throwing our lives into a whirlwind. You might feel overwhelmed, depressed or even terrified. Perhaps you’re uncertain of where to turn for help coping with your symptoms.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Hundreds of millions of people live with chronic pain. In the United States alone, tens of millions of individuals suffer from fibromyalgia – just one of many conditions which can cause long-term pain. If you have fibromyalgia, chronic pain or any associated conditions, keep reading for some ideas for how to improve your quality of life.

Maintaining a healthy diet is one of the simplest – yet quickest – ways to manage chronic pain and other troubling symptoms of fibromyalgia. Simply put, when you feed your body wholesome, nutritious foods, you’re giving it the fuel it needs for healthy organ function, fighting off illness, and even healing. Enhancing your diet with a few select superfoods can help with fibromyalgia pain, and you probably already have many of them in your kitchen! Red grapes have a compound called resveratrol that helps keep muscle tissue strong, ginger and cherries have natural pain-fighting properties, and fish rich in omega-3s gives your brain the boost it needs to send relief to tender spots when they send pain signals. Similarly, there are lots of foods that have anti-inflammatory properties – like whole grains, leafy greens, tomatoes and olive oil – which should replace all or most of the processed foods consumed by fibromyalgia sufferers. That’s because the additives in processed foods may increase pain sensitivity, making physical discomfort feel even worse. If you’re enduring chronic pain, it’s critical that you take a look at your diet, and choose nutritious, natural foods over unhealthy, high-processed foods as often as you can.

Despite our best efforts to take care of ourselves, when your health starts to feel out of control, you might find yourself frustrated with your physical body and your life. During these difficult times, experts say it can be helpful to refocus your mind.

Author and transformational coach Sean Meshorer recommends redefining the things that make us happy. Meshorer can speak to the power of the bliss method from his own personal experiences living with chronic pain. This allowed him to develop “the bliss method” which completely focuses on finding happiness, contentment and peace – all without depending upon external factors.

By refocusing our minds to search for happiness within ourselves, we can better cope with our chronic pain. These techniques also help ease the depression, anxiety and fear that can come with our diagnosis, and help keep us from practicing harmful coping methods – like turning to our prescription pain pills – for comfort. In fact, you may be able to ease up some of your pain naturally via vitamins B, C, and D. If you aren’t already taking a vitamin supplement, it is worth looking into. There are several trusted brands, such as Ceregumil Vitamix Plus, which are great for joint pain.

Dr. Joseph Christiano, ND, CNC, agrees. “Refocusing the brain, using mental imagery, and practicing [breathwork],” he says, “are a few of the many techniques used for managing chronic pain in order to thrive while moving closer to pain-free living.”

Once you begin shifting your attention to the positive aspects of your life, you’ll find it easier to tap into your own potential for happiness. This is a skill that can be learned. Start by getting a piece of paper and a pencil, and creating a list of all the enjoyable things you can still do despite your chronic pain diagnosis.

Your personal reasons to stay positive might include having a warm, loving relationship or finding creative, new ways to serve humanity. Write down your favorite show to binge on Netflix. Be sure to include relaxing in bed with high thread count sheets, if that’s your ideal day. Whatever it is that brings you joy, write it down – and don’t be afraid to get creative. These are the things that will give you hope each day.

Many people also find a sense of calm, purpose and well-being by helping others. For some of us, that could mean blogging about our illness, with the underlying hope that others with chronic pain will realize they’re not alone. If you’re not a writer, you can still help others by donating to your favorite charity or finding other ways to help those in need.

Why are these techniques so powerful? The answer might have something to do with cortisol, the stress hormone. Many doctors now screen chronic pain patients for cortisol levels. Cortisol levels can be naturally reduced through lowering environmental stress factors. Activities such as yoga, meditation and massage also help by stimulating a calming neurotransmitter in the brain.

As you can see, there are various ways to cultivate hope and happiness, even with a chronic pain diagnosis. From yoga to bodywork, from acupuncture to meditation, try a variety of practices until you find something that works for you. As always, check with your doctor before trying any new activity or holistic treatment method. You’ll want to make sure it is safe for your personal condition, and that it won’t contribute to further pain or illness.

If you have a chronic pain diagnosis, you can still live a blissful life. Don’t give up; use the tips above to train your brain. Keep searching for things that bring you joy. Your body and mind will thank you for it.


Henry Moore is the co-creator of FitWellTraveler. The site blends two of his favorite subjects (travel and health) to provide readers with information about how to get the most out of both.

References

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20705881,00.html
http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/diet-tips-fibromyalgia
http://bodyredesigning.net/how-to-thrive-when-battling-chronic-illness.asp
https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/cortisol-screening-chronic-pain-patients
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/eating-healthy-important-7166.html
http://www.aarp.org/food/diet-nutrition/info-03-2011/pain-fighting-foods.html
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20705881,00.html
https://www.healthcentral.com/article/vitamins-b-c-d-may-prevent-pain
http://www.drugrehab.org/the-45-warning-signs-of-prescription-drug-abuse/

scale

Weight: Is It a Matter of Willpower?

Is weight simply a matter of willpower? You might think so, given the number of dieters who add on exercise, subtract food, and expect excess fat to melt away. But it does not always happen that way. Older athletes notice the fat that creeps on year after year seems harder to lose. And others who have slimmed down complain how easily they regain lost body fat.

The Endocrine Society (www.EndocineSociety.org) took a close look at why we can too easily accumulate excess body fat, as well as why it’s so easy for dieters to regain lost fat. (1) They describe fat-gain as a disorder of the body’s energy balance system, not just a passive accumulation of excess calories. They highlight many factors other than food and exercise that influence body fatness, including genetics, the environment, and evolution.

If you are frustrated by your seeming inability to easily shed a few pounds, here are some facts to ponder.

  • Studies with identical twins, as well as adopted children, suggest 25% to 50% of the risk for becoming obese is genetic. Identical twins who are raised in different homes tend to weigh the same, despite eating different foods.
  • Some people might have a “thrifty gene” that conserves calories and resists fat loss. In terms of evolution, this would be important for surviving famines (a.k.a., diets).
  • Genetic factors alone fail to explain the rapid increase in obesity during the past 40 years. Genetic factors get influenced by the environment. We need to learn more about the combined impact of genes plus: environmental toxins, highly processed foods, a sedentary lifestyle, antibiotics, the microbiome, maternal obesity, and fetal exposure to a mother’s obesity-promoting diet.
  • Some “experts” say sugar/carbs are inherently fattening. They claim carbs trigger an insulin spike which drives sugar into fat cells, creates hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and stimulates the urge to overeat. The Endocrine Society does not support this controversial hypothesis. They say eating too many calories of any type is the problem.
  • Respected research shows no differences in fatness when subjects ate the same number of calories from carbohydrate, protein, or fat. A calorie is a calorie; 100 excess calories from fat and carbohydrate are no more fattening than 100 excess calories from protein. That said, some calories are yummier and less satiating than others; they are easier to overeat. For example, I could easily devour a lot more calories from ice cream than from boiled eggs!
  • We need to learn more about the brain’s role in body fatness. What is the metabolic impact of carbs, protein and fat on the brain, and the psychological impact of enjoying rewarding foods? Does the brain-on-a-diet get signals about the amount of fat stored in adipose tissue and, in response, trigger the body to want to eat more and move less, in order to thwart fat loss and survive a perceived famine (diet)?
  • Social situations can promote fat gain. At parties, the presence of a lot of people, as well as a wide variety of foods, triggers overeating. In contrast, a repetitive daily diet with the same breakfasts and lunches every day can triggersensory-specific satietyand curb food intake.
  • Dieting/restricting calories to lose fat increases the desire to eat, as well as reduces the metabolism.In comparison, forcing weight gain by over-eating increases spontaneous activity (fidgeting) and curbs hunger. That’s why genetically skinny athletes have a hard time maintaining the weight they have forced their bodies to gain.
  • The rise in childhood obesity might be linked to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as bisphenol A (BPA), perflourinated chemicals (PFCs) and pthalates. EDCs pass from mother to fetus across the placenta, and later, to the infant via breast milk. They alter the signals given by estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormone. Some research suggests they stimulate fat deposition.
  • BPA is used in hard plastic bottles, food-can linings, and food packaging. BPA is thought to promote the creation of new fat cells and change metabolism at the cellular level. To determine the obesogenic effects of BPA, we need more comprehensive research that looks at men, women, and younger and older people. Some studies indicate BPA may be linked to behavioral problems in boys. To be wise, limit your use of plastic containers with the number 7 in the recycling symbol on the container.
  • The types of bacteria that live in your gut, your microbiome, likely impact weight. Hence, the microbiome is becoming a target for obesity research. Your best bet is to cultivate a healthy microbiome by regularly eating fruits and vegetables—and limiting processed foods with little fiber.
  • Exercise plays a role in weight management—but less than you might think. Exercise alone is largely ineffective as a means to lose weight, even though it contributes to a calorie deficit. For some people, exercise triggers the urge to eat more. Hence, you want to be sure your reason to exercise is to enhance health, not burn calories to lose weight. Once you’ve lost weight, exercise does help maintain the loss.

After reading this information, you may be left wondering if you will ever be able to reach your desired weight. Perhaps yes, if you can take these positive steps:

  1. Enjoy a satisfying breakfast, early lunch, and a later lunch (or hearty snack), to negate hunger and a perceived daytime famine. Consume a lighter dinner, to enhance fat-loss at night, when you are sleeping.
  2. Focus meals and snacks on satiating whole foods with protein, fiber: apple + cheese, Greek yogurt + granola, peanut butter + crackers.

Above all, be grateful for your healthy body. Give it the fuel it needs, and trust it will perform best when it is appropriately trained and well fueled on a daily basis. The best athlete is not the leanest athlete, but rather the genetically gifted athlete. If you trying to force your body into a too-lean physique, think again. Weight is more than a matter of will power.


Sports nutritionist Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD has a private practice in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875), where she helps both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes create winning food plans. Her best-selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook, and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer are available at nancyclarkrd.com. For workshops, see www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.

Reference
Schwartz M et al. Obesity Pathogenesis: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement. Endocrine Reviews 38 (4):267-296, 2017. https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/38/4/267/3892397

Intermittent Fasting: Everything You Need to Know

Intermittent Fasting has been around for a few years now and has been making the rounds on the health circuit due to its many benefits. When it was first introduced, intermittent fasting was thought of as an extreme form of dieting which was scrutinized by skeptics who felt it could be harmful. However, as more and more studies come out, the many advantages of the diet are being realized and today intermittent fasting is one of the most popular fitness trends. Not only is the diet being used to lose weight but also to improve overall well being, slow down the aging process, and to live longer.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting consists of periods of eating and fasting. Unlike other diets, the focus of intermittent fasting is on when to eat, instead of what to eat. Although there is no restriction on what to eat, for the diet to be effective, it is recommended that you eat healthy foods.

Because there is no restriction on what to eat, intermittent fasting is more of an eating pattern rather than a diet. Generally, intermittent fasting involves 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating for at least two days of the week.

As extreme as fasting to lose weight may seem, humans have been fasting throughout history. Oftentimes people fasted because they were short on food, other times they fasted because it was part of their religion.

Fasting may look like a tall task but it is surprisingly natural for humans.

How to do Intermittent Fasting

The first step of intermittent fasting involves the splitting of the week into two periods of fasting and periods of eating. Note, that during periods of fasting, you’ll eat either nothing or very little – around 500-600 calories a day.

There are 3 main methods for intermittent fasting.

  • The 16/8 method: In this method, you give yourself 8 hours to eat and 16 hours of fasting. 16 hours of fasting may look like a lot but think of all the time you spend sleeping; all those people who skip breakfast are probably already fasting for this long.
  • Eat-stop-eat: This method of intermittent fasting consists of a day or two of complete fasting.
  • The 5:2 Diet: In this version of the diet you eat just 500-600 calories for two consecutive days and eat normally the rest of the time.

Since you’re surviving on a limited number of calories, you should be able to lose weight easily.

The key to the success of intermittent fasting is commitment to the periods of fasting and eating.

How it works

When you fast, your body becomes more dependent on stored fat for energy. To make the stored fat more accessible, the body adjusts hormone levels in response to the lack of food intake.

Here are some ways your body’s internal makeup changes:

Human Growth Hormone: The levels of growth hormones spike which leads to the buildup of muscles and the loss of fat.

Insulin: Insulin levels plummet causing the body to turn to stored fats for energy.

Cellular repair: Fasting sends your body into repair mode. As you fast, aged or dysfunctional protein is removed from cells.

Gene expression: Fasting modifies gene expression and enhances your ability to fight illness, protecting you against diseases. The changing gene expressions is what allows people to live longer lives.

Intermittent fasting’s effects on cell repair, gene expression and levels of hormones is what gives it the added benefits (reduces aging, sculpts muscle and increases longevity).

How it works for weight-loss

The primary reason for taking up intermittent fasting for many people is the fact that it helps with weight-loss without having to give up certain foods. People are able to lose weight because of reduced calorie intake during the week and the changes in hormones. Also, short-term fasting has proven to speed up metabolism. As a result of taking in fewer calories and burning more, people are able to lose significant amounts of weight. To increase the number of calories you burn, make it a point to do simple exercises every day and remember to control your calorie intake on the days you eat.

Research has found that in a matter of just 3-24 weeks, people have experienced 3-8% drop in weight and 4.7% decline in waist circumference.

Other benefits

In addition to weight loss, intermittent fasting has other health benefits:

  • It lowers insulin resistance and blood sugar, reducing the risk of diabetes.
  • It reduces inflammation which makes the body susceptible to diseases.
  • It improves heart health.
  • Reduces risk of developing cancer.
  • Augments the functioning of the brain.
  • Since it promotes cellular repair, intermittent fasting slows the aging process.

Intermittent fasting is fairly new so more research needs to be done, but most experts will stand by it as it has improved the health of many people.

As for now, the results from intermittent fasting have been incredible. If you’ve been trying to lose weight and have failed miserable, you may consider giving intermittent fasting a go!


Britney Whistance is a passionate health and lifestyle blogger who loves to write about prevailing trends. She is a featured author at various authoritative blogs in the health and fitness industry and currently associated as a blogger with WishShape.com, your one stop-shop for professional waist-trainers and compression clothing . You can find her on social media: LinkedInTwitter, and Facebook.