Four hours of working out everyday is not a sustainable lifestyle, unless you are a collegiate or professional athlete. I’m no longer either of those things. Some days I look back at my crazy busy, in-shape collegiate days as a curse. How will I ever get in that sort of shape again? Those expectations are ridiculous. I remind myself of that, but I also remember how fantastic your body feels when it’s in race shape. Every inch gets fatigued and sometimes eating is a chore because your arms are so tired…..liquid meals are tempting. Who am I kidding…eating has never been a chore for me! I always anticipate my next meal like Matt anticipates his next video game. Believe it or not, that’s an accurate analogy. Eating is always a chore for Matt…maybe that says something about my cooking skills. Nah 🙂
I wrote about the documentary “Food Matters” a while back. Still have not started my free online nutrition course, but I have started reading an Amazon bestseller entitled “It Starts With Food” by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig. They created an eating plan (or lifestyle) called the Whole30. I’m only 34% through it, so they’re beginning to shoot straight and knock some of my favorite foods off their life menu. The first seven chapters have been devoted to explaining digestion, the function of hormones and how food directly correlates to the actions taken by these hormones. Insulin, leptin, and cortisol are the primary hormonal players which eating habits can easily confuse. Certain ingredients throw off the way we operate. This is stuff I want to/need to know! I hate going to the doctor as much as you, so if food choices may stave off that next visit, sign me up. Their central argument is anti-sugar and artificial sweeteners. Even Stevia? That’s what I said….and here’s what they said:
“We dare you to find a Stevia leaf and chew on it for a while. It ain’t that sweet. At least, not until it’s refined into white crystals in a laboratory somewhere.” (pg. 92)
In addition to sugar, legumes and seed oils have been banned. And, this one is really sad….peanut butter. The Hartwigs say sunflower seed butter is a good peanut-free alternative. I’m willing to try SunButter (http://www.sunbutter.com/), but I’m willing to bet when it’s spooned up against JIF, I may side with the choosy moms.
The Hartwigs give scientifically-backed reasons for excluding these foods from our diets, and when I think about how swollen I feel after consuming (too many) peanuts, it’s tough to argue.
The 30-day challenge of excluding their condemned food groups is meant to be a trial to prove to yourself the benefits of their research. One standout point for me is accessing the body’s stores of glucagon. Glucagon is glucose taken from the blood stream and stored for later in the liver and fat cells. We never dip into these stores if we’re incessantly feeding ourselves. This overturns the eat every couple hours rule I’ve been abiding by. Digestion takes energy, which explains why snacking throughout the day does not, in fact, energize me. And by snacking I deprive myself the opportunity to dip into my reserves of glucagon, especially designed for between meals. The book does not preach food reduction. Simply reduction in food groups they have found to be inadequate fuel for our body. The anatomic process has been an education for me.
The gist of the Whole30 challenge:
I have not fully committed to the Whole30 challenge yet (peanut butter gets a bear hug goodbye if I do). Upon completion of the book and a personal trial, perhaps I’ll preach the Whole30/paleo gospel. Right now, I’ll just recommend the book as an interesting read.
