by Joan Kent | Aug 11, 2018 | Health and Wellness
People often tell me stories about how they lost weight. The stories begin with, “All I did was…” and end with something like: become vegetarian (or vegan); eliminate gluten; “go raw”; or cut out sugar.
A couple of these make sense, but others don’t. Let’s look at each one.
Becoming Vegetarian or Vegan
The two are different, but I’ll cover them together because my observations are the same in both cases.
Depending on which animal products someone was eating before changing her/his diet — and how they were prepared — eliminating animal products might result in considerable weight loss.
But there may be more to this story. Maybe the new vegan/vegetarian has eliminated dairy products, for example — and given up that pint of Ben & Jerry’s every night. Getting rid of all the fat and sugar in the ice cream could very well have had a profound effect on weight loss.
That change might even have helped by itself. So maybe it wasn’t just about animal products.
Eliminating Gluten
My first question is always, “How much gluten was this person eating before?”
It’s logical to blame gluten if the now-lean person was eating a stack of pancakes for breakfast, a large submarine-type sandwich for lunch, and a mountain of pasta with his dinner.
Cutting moderate gluten intake — say, a standard sandwich on 2 ordinary slices of bread per day — might not yield the same dramatic results.
But again, is there more to the story? The butter and syrup on the pancakes, high-fat sauce on the pasta, mayo and who-knows-what-else on the sub sandwich? Those changes would factor in just as much as the gluten.
Giving Up Sugar or “Going Raw”
Okay, in this case, I can definitely believe we may have found the “one thing” that helps someone lose weight — especially if the switch covers all sugar.
Giving up sugar would include giving up pastries, cookies, cakes, brownies, candy bars, ice cream, and more. Those so-called foods often contain fat, white flour, and yes, gluten — plus other junk, along with the sugar.
Someone switching to a raw diet would also eliminate most foods on the list above.
The drawback with a raw diet is that there are two “tracks.” The healthful track emphasizes vegetables. The less healthful track emphasizes fruit, various concoctions that contain fruit or fruit juice, and even cookies that look like Oreos, with some sort of creamy fruit puree filling between 2 cookies made of crumbled nuts.
I recommend the veggie track, but that may be a topic for another post.
Of course I’m in favor of anything that helps someone make a change for better health. But it may take a few things, not just one. And that’s not a bad thing.
That being said, the decision to eliminate sugar can, and often does, have far-reaching benefits: cardiovascular health, blood pressure, mood, appetite, focus.
So if you are still looking for the One Thing that helps you lose weight … giving up sugar might be that thing.
And if you’re looking for help with eliminating sugar — for weight loss or other health issues — perfect! That’s what I do. Just visit www.FoodAddictionSolutions.com and grab your FREE copy of “3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Trying To Quit Sugar.” Find out how you can make a big shift in your health with small changes that are easy and do-able.
by Joan Kent | Mar 1, 2017 | Engage Your Students, Health and Wellness
Do you have a persistent health issue that hasn’t responded to your nutrition efforts? More and more people are using nutrition and fitness to help them overcome problems that used to send them to doctors and pharmacies.
If you’ve been working on the problem for a while — weight loss, high glucose, headaches — you probably have tried many strategies. But others may exist. Don’t assume you’ve tried everything.
Here are 3 tips to help you get the most from your nutrition appointments — and your nutritionist’s suggestions.
– Don’t improvise.
Instead: Follow instructions to the extent you can.
A recent client had been to doctors, but now wanted to treat her diabetes without meds. She was taking 31 (really!) different supplements, and some of the supplements were for health issues she didn’t even have, like liver and thyroid.
She had poor results — her fasting glucose was not dropping any lower — but she kept taking every supplement.
Among other things, I suggested she lighten the stress on her liver and kidneys by eliminating any supplements that were not designed to lower glucose. We met a week later, and she told me her glucose had gone up, not down.
It turned out she had eliminated ALL the supplements, including the glucose-lowering ones.
– Don’t reject an idea for a ridiculous reason.
Instead: Be willing to try something new. Your health comes first.
The same client above was in terrible shape physically. Her workouts were barely getting her heart rate to 95 — and she was exercising only 3 times a week. She needed to work out with some serious intent.
She couldn’t exercise more frequently because it caused pain in her legs. I suggested she buy a Krankcycle — an absolutely brilliant piece of exercise equipment. I even found a certified, refurbished one for her at a terrific price. It would have enabled her to work out additional days each week by using her upper body instead of her legs.
Alternating the 2 types of cardio could (and would) have sensitized both upper- and lower-body muscle to insulin and produced solid results.
Why did she reject it? She said they didn’t have room. Her beautiful home is huge, so that made no sense. She wouldn’t consider putting the Krankcycle in any room but one — and wouldn’t consider putting it in the large garage. Who knows? Maybe 8 cars lived in it — or perhaps a family of 6.
Either way, the answer was “NO,” and the reason seemed ridiculous. The result? Again, her glucose didn’t move.
– Get out of your comfort zone.
Self-honesty is key here. Discomfort can be part of one’s comfort zone. Some people even cling to it, possibly thinking that the devil they know is better than the devil they don’t know.
Instead: Decide to do what it takes to move forward. And do that.
A former client had a sleep issue that was medically diagnosed as a deficit of serotonin, a brain chemical that can promote relaxation and is the direct precursor of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
This client rejected every suggestion I made to increase her bedtime serotonin levels — and, by the way, that’s an easy thing to do. My suggestions even made her angry, and they simply involved food.
The behavioral psychologist on our team informed me that this client seemed to feel “special” because of her sleep problem.
A comfort zone isn’t always the best place to be. For your health, do what it takes to move forward, even if it causes temporary discomfort.
Think of starting to exercise — it’s uncomfortable at first because it’s new. As we continue, we adapt to it, and that’s when the magic happens. Food is the same way.
If you’d like help with nutrition to improve your health and energy, perfect. That’s what I do. Just visit www.FoodAddictionSolutions.com/Coaching and request your FREE Eating Empowerment Consult. Find out how easy it can be to move forward and enjoy great health.
by Joan Kent | Aug 9, 2016 | Health and Wellness
A craving is an intense urge or desire to eat a specific type of food.
One of the most common cravings is for sugary foods. Some people have occasional sugar cravings and can indulge them without repercussions.
Others have cravings frequently. Giving in to the cravings repeatedly can undermine workout results. It can also lead to health issues: weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, mood swings, and more.
Let’s start with 2 explanations for cravings that we usually hear. I simply disagree that they’re the real causes of cravings.
Low Glucose
Dietitians often say sugar cravings are caused by low blood glucose. That occurs if someone hasn’t eaten in a long time, or skips breakfast for an early workout.
It’s true. But it’s not the whole story.
Sugar cravings occur when glucose drops too fast, rather than too low. That can happen if we eat junky carbs — sugar, white flour, instant mashed potatoes, and so on. Because they trigger lots of insulin, they’re fast “glucose-droppers.”
Biological Need
Some sources say cravings express a biological need and should be answered with the craved food. Salt cravings are the example they use to support this viewpoint.
Many people do crave salty foods after hard workouts, for example, and salt cravings may indicate a biological need for salt.
But that doesn’t apply to sugar cravings. We need some salt in our diets, but we don’t need sugar.
Besides, sugar’s an addictive drug. A drug addict gets cravings for his/her drug, but the drug isn’t a biological need. The cravings indicate withdrawal (more on that below).
Here are the cravings explanations I’d submit as the real ones.
Too Little Fat
Sugar cravings result from a diet that’s too low in fats. Research documents a sugar/fat seesaw — one decreases in the diet, the other increases. Hormones and brain chemicals are involved — namely, CCK (cholecystokinin) and beta-endorphin (endorphins).
Eating healthful fats can help stop sugar cravings.
Withdrawal
Withdrawal can occur when someone quits drugs, quits drinking, or quits eating sugar.
Alcohol, for example, stimulates 3 brain chemicals that are also stimulated by sugar. People in recovery often crave sugar and eat it frequently, possibly in large quantities. Sugary back-of-room treats at AA meetings illustrate this perfectly.
The problem is sugar can bring on a relapse.
Triggers
One type of trigger is external — seeing or smelling appealing foods.
Internal triggering is called priming: eating a small amount makes us want more. It’s the result of a specific brain receptor for the chemical dopamine. Some people are more susceptible to priming than others.
Chronic stress
Short-term stress tends to decrease appetite. Chronic stress stimulates appetite, alters brain chemistry, and results in mood changes and cravings for sugar.
Rotten Moods
Any bad mood can trigger a sugar craving. Sugar alters brain chemistry and changes mood temporarily. But it can make things worse in the long run.
Serotonin Disturbances
Low serotonin in the brain may be linked with depression, seasonal affective disorder, or PMS. Chronic alcohol use and menopause both lower serotonin. Low serotonin can bring on sugar cravings.
Serotonin is made from tryptophan, an amino acid, one of the “building blocks” of protein. Eating too little protein can decrease serotonin and lead to cravings.
Insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) can reduce serotonin production — it prevents tryptophan from reaching the brain. Insulin resistance may be caused by genetics, obesity, chronic stress, or a diet that’s too high in fats, junky carbs, or fructose.
Fortunately, insulin resistance is reversible through diet.
Other Causes of Cravings
Eating sugar can — and will — prime cravings. Cravings can also result from a low-protein diet or B-vitamin deficiencies.
So What Can You Do?
The fastest way to eliminate any craving is to take 1 teaspoon of TwinLab Super-B Complex. B vitamins are co-factors in the formation of key brain chemicals that stop cravings.
[Please check with your doctor. Certain medical conditions are contraindications for this strategy. Also beware of overdoing it — high doses can cause side effects.]
And One More Tip
You don’t have to deal with cravings at all. Eliminating them altogether is possible with changes in your diet. Yes, that’s easier said than done, but help is available. It’s what I do. Why not visit www.FoodAddictionSolutions.com/Coaching and request a Food Freedom Session, absolutely free? Find out how a few tweaks can end your cravings and make you feel fantastic.
by Joan Kent | May 31, 2016 | Big Box Instructor, Health and Wellness
The last post offered real-life examples that suggest the way you do anything is apparently not the way you do everything — in contrast to the common saying to the contrary.
I’ve saved the worst for last.
When I ran a weight-loss program in Silicon Valley, many of the participants were engineers, all very smart. Over the years, we had some excellent groups who followed instructions and achieved their goals, and also clueless groups.
The clueless groups couldn’t seem to manage anything pertaining to the training program.
They never showed up on time and were often up to 45 minutes late in a 90-minute program. They would forget to bring their workout equipment with them — heart rate monitors, cycling shoes, water bottles, towels, and more. They were undisciplined about making time for training on their own, between the scheduled studio sessions. They frequently failed to log their food as required. Some even had difficulty focusing on the training.
I asked one particularly scattered group to please start showing up as if they were doing it on purpose.
Clearly, people who performed their jobs with the same haphazard incompetence would be promptly fired. But these guys all had jobs and seemed to be good at them.
So the way you do anything is not necessarily the way you do everything.
How Can This Help Your Participants?
What have they done with great success? It may be any victory, small or large.
Are they great at planning the day? At making the most of in-between moments — spare blocks of 5 to 15 minutes, for example? They can find some stretching or strength exercises to do standing or seated, in office attire. (They do exist!) They an find a short but intense cardio workout to fit in first thing in the morning, or in the evening on days they can’t make it to your classes.
Are they good “just in case” people? Suggest that they pre-pack a gym bag and leave it in the car, even on days that seem too crowded for a trip to the gym. You never know. And if it’s packed and ready, they’ll never forget a key item.
Are they disciplined enough to get up an extra 15 minutes early? Suggest they wake up and immediately head to the kitchen and eat real food. It’s far better than waiting and grabbing something convenient but junky, like a granola bar, as you run out the door.
Bonus tip: Tell them to stop buying granola bars.
Are they adventurous enough to get away from standard breakfast meals? They can try healthful dinner leftovers for breakfast (something other than pizza and beer, right?). Seriously, if they start the day with protein and vegetables, they will probably notice a big difference in energy and mental focus.
Are they good at planning and pre-planning meals? Why not suggest they prepare lunches and snacks on the weekend, enough for a couple of days? Repeat midweek.
Many examples can be found in virtually anything they’ve done well. The obvious, but overlooked, trick is simply to assess their wins for the skills that made them possible. Apply those skills to fitness and wholesome food.
Then it’s easy to make them part of their lives — in a way that’s already comfortable for them. Maybe the way they do anything will, in fact, become the way they do everything.
