Maybe its just me, but there is one buzz word that is so overplayed in my world. It may have something to do with the fact I work in an Environmental field, but seriously, each time I hear the word sustainability, I want to puke. This word has become so popular, it's made its way into everything, including describing how one eats and/or weightloss. The problem I have is the colloquial use of the word has drifted far from the true meaning of the word.
Immediately upon hearing grand stories of weightloss, or new diet fads the first question we ask others (or ourselves) is "is it SUSTAINABLE?!" Part of this is just due to the sheer nature of statistics with how many people lose a lot of weight, only to gain it back. Another part is hearing some exercise or eating pattern that sounds difficult and instead of just accepting that certain things work for certain people and move on, we need to tear it down. By reading many blogs and comments, there seems to be this undercurrent of sustainablility questioning anytime someone has success using methods that take us out of our comfort zone, or announces a new plan for themselves.
Let's bust out the definitions again (thanks Webster):
Sustainable:
1) pertaining to a system that maintains its own viability by using techniques that allow for continual reuse.
2) able to be maintained or kept going, as an action or process.
3) able to be confirmed or upheld.
4) able to be supported as with the basic necessities or sufficient funds.
Losing weight is not meant to be sustainable. I'm talking about the specific measures one takes to and during weight loss- eating less/moving more, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Atkins, Slim-Fast, lap-band, HCG, paleo, Medifast, DASH, etc. Any weight loss measure HAS to be temporary because if you keep losing weight forever, you will die. What someone is attempting to create with these tools is a system that maintains its own viability by using TECHNIQUES (WW, SB, Atkins...etc.) that allow for continual reuse. So, when someone gets done with the losing phase, they need to be able to rely on the techniques they learned during weight loss phase to keep them where they want to be. IF the tools/techniques work (even with many times of reuse), and someone can maintain a weight that they are happy at, sustainability is acheived. In my experience, the problem lies in the "many times of reuse" part. Until I went "paleo" I never had a way of losing weight that I actually liked (or one that continued to work over and over). I would try something, quit the rules of that said something, gain a bunch of weight back, and repeat. THAT was not sustainable since I kept selecting techniques that I could not repeat.
Maintenance of a weight loss is what everyone wants to be sustainable. Maintaining a weight loss requires action or some process to keep up. I know that when I get done losing, there will be an acceptable range in which I will feel comfortable. I have no idea what this range is yet, because I haven't got there yet. I do not have some arbitrary scale number in my head dictated by some calculation of my height and weight. So as I practice my losing techniques, I've learned that in order to maintain, I need to eat about 80% paleo. To lose, I need to be 95% or better, and obviously, less than 80% is a gain.
The only thing that can really confirm true sustainability (remaining in maintenance) is time. Ironically, the amount of time one spends practicing a technique is determined by its colloquial sustainability. I'll explain below.
Lastly, my possibly favorite, the idea of sustenance. Meeting the basic necessities of life. Every technique mentioned above requires some form of restriction. I think the colloquial sustainability comes from the restriction aspect of chosing a losing technique. Changing your patterns is hard, and hard = not sustainable? But, if we look at the definition of meeting basic necessities- whether or not something is hard has nothing to do with one staying alive and healthy doing whatever it is that is 'hard.'
If I chose to eat nothing but broccoli, chicken breast, avocados, and yams every single day, I will complain that it is hard but I will sustain just fine- physically. Emotionally, I'll feel restricted, see my friends eating all sorts of stuff and get mad/annoyed or something. The reason why I won't eat the same thing over and over everyday has much less to do with true sustainability, and much more to do with me simply not being forced to as a life or death measure. My dog eats the same thing over and over everyday. He has been alive for 6 years. He doesn't complain, and I bet he knows that if he doesn't eat what I give him, he will die.
The question isn't so much "is what you are doing sustainable?" It's more of "have you found a technique that you can apply over and over that is helping you to acheive your goal of maintaining a weight loss?"
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
204- Highs and Lows
February has been a good month for me. It was my "January" if you will...my month of renewed resolve, focus, and determination. I wanted nothing more then to bust through the 38 pound loss holding pattern I kept gravitating to, and stopping. I had an AWESOME challenge buddy- seriously, she was so great. We did pretty regular e-mail check-ins, and I hope those continue, even though our challenge month together is almost up.
So a little preview to how the month went can be summed up in a few of the experiences I had the past 2 days. I'll do my regular March 1st update with pictures and such, but until then, you get this:
Highs:
In reality, many of these things weren't new, I started increasing my water intake in January, aiming for a gallon a day. By the time February rolled around, getting a gallon down was not hard. For the past year and a half I have been striving to eat a diet that is high in quality protein, getting my carbohydrates from vegetables, no processed foods, and no sugar. I was unfaltering in this goal the past 24 days (check out my food/exercise log). I believe I have made much of this list habit, and plan to continue to stick to the list above as much as possible. If I go to a restaurant, it will be on a "refuel" day. I do plan on eating a wider selection of meats- um...haven't had bacon in over 3 weeks!? Ridiculous. Must rectify soon. :)
So a little preview to how the month went can be summed up in a few of the experiences I had the past 2 days. I'll do my regular March 1st update with pictures and such, but until then, you get this:
Highs:
- My Citizens of Humanity jeans officially fit me. I'm THIS close to being able to actually wear them in public. I haven't been able to fit into them like I do now for 7 years. 7 YEARS!
- I went wedding dress shopping on Saturday and it didn't suck. I went one month ago in mid-January and it TOTALLY sucked.
- My inches have changed significantly since January.
- Just for fun today, I decided to go old skool and bust out a Jillian Michaels Shred video (level 3) it was not even an issue. I did all the advanced moves, in fact, for one of the moves in level 3 (one arm cleans) I used my 35# kettlebell. I used to use (1) 8 pound weight. I think in the video they were using 5 pound weights?!
- I did the Crossfit Games Open workout #1 (12.1) yesterday in my living room. I did not sign up for the Open, but I know TONS of people that did. Facebook posts with numbers of burpees performed were flooding my page. I was curious, what would my number be? I discovered that the loft in my living room is a perfect 6" above my reach (which is the standard you must jump to at the end of a burpee for it to count). The majority of people I know got anywhere from 70-120. I thought 70 was an attainable goal for me, 10/minute. Oh, how wrong I was. 55. 55 was my sad, sad number. Actually, that was the impetus for doing the Shred video, I needed an ego boost. Thanks Jillian, worked like a charm.
- New LOW weight- ha, maybe this should be a "high" but its a new low, get it? I'm now 45 pounds down from where I started 2 years ago. Take that plateau.
1) one gallon water/day
2) began eating within 30 min of waking (I was waiting 1- or more hours longer and I guess that puts your body in fat storage mode)
3) Eat every 2-3 hours
4) Increased my protein like MAD (about 1g/pound of weight)
5) No sugar, lean protein, low salt
6) Increased veggies like MAD
7) Increased fish oil and added vitamin/amino acid supplements (AA's preserve muscle when working out a lot, also called Branch Chain Amino Acids)
8) Three days of high protein/veg/natural fat (burn days) followed by one day of refueling with carbs (sweet potatoes) but lower fat.
In reality, many of these things weren't new, I started increasing my water intake in January, aiming for a gallon a day. By the time February rolled around, getting a gallon down was not hard. For the past year and a half I have been striving to eat a diet that is high in quality protein, getting my carbohydrates from vegetables, no processed foods, and no sugar. I was unfaltering in this goal the past 24 days (check out my food/exercise log). I believe I have made much of this list habit, and plan to continue to stick to the list above as much as possible. If I go to a restaurant, it will be on a "refuel" day. I do plan on eating a wider selection of meats- um...haven't had bacon in over 3 weeks!? Ridiculous. Must rectify soon. :)
Friday, February 24, 2012
205- Paleolithic? Not so Much
Paleo. Short for Paleolithic. Webster's definition of Paleolithic-
: of or relating to the earliest period of the Stone Age characterized by rough or chipped stone implements
When people speak of the "Paleo" Diet, it becomes synonomous with "hunter/gather diet," "caveman diet," "original human DNA diet," etc., etc. The problem with the "Paleo" label is that 1) Anthropological Scientists (and others) take it too literally, 2) No one can agree on what persons in the paleolithic era ate (most likely whatever they could get their mitts on, and this probably varied immensly from region to region based on availability, duh) 3) The argument that our DNA has changed little relatively to how much our food sources has changed is not entirely accurate.
So, is the term Paleo a misnomer? Absolutely. Is the Paleo Diet what we are "supposed" to be eating? Who could possible know that? Only you. Everyone is different. Does this change the fact that the general principles that fall under the "paleo" diet label are good guidelines? No. I don't think the historical inaccuracy (or any other inaccuracy) of the name should take away from the legitimate elements of what the diet is intended to stand for.
In all honesty, I think the term Paleo is just kind of catchy. It's not meant to be taken literally (nor could it possibly be with so many of the creature comforts we have). Anything successful needs a good name brand, and well, whoever came up with this one ("Paleo") was FAR ahead of their time. Paleo is so much easier to say then "Processed food free- low sugar- find out if gluten/dariy/legumes bother you (by giving all up for 30 days), and if after isolating each one and introducing slowly they don't affect you, eat as you wish" Diet.
Just looking at my own experience with "paleo" eating, there has been tremendous evolution over the past 1.5 years. I have put the work in to find out the things that affect me- raise my blood sugar, cause me to retain water, make me sneeze, etc. Yes, I classify my diet as "Paleo" just because that covers most of the important bases. I don't eat grains, I rarely eat legumes (hummus is just too powerful), if I eat dairy, it's grass-fed butter, or cream, I have to limit my sugar to next to nothing (occasional fruit and small amounts of honey are ok), and the majority of my eats are meat and vegetables.
Some "paleo" die-hards would look at my rendition of the Paleo Diet and scoff. Others that claim to be "paleo" would find my choices overly strict. I don't give a shit, because I'm doing what works for me. That is THE. WHOLE. POINT. Find out what works for you by whatever means necessary, and do it. If you find that you stall out, or something isn't working, keep experimenting until you find your groove. When you find it, you'll know. This life is about what works for you, not about what works for someone else.
Further reading on the topic can be found here:
http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2011/3/30/paleo-20-a-diet-manifesto.html
And here (thanks L):
http://www.good.is/post/good-asks-the-experts-is-the-paleolithic-diet-really-better/
: of or relating to the earliest period of the Stone Age characterized by rough or chipped stone implements
When people speak of the "Paleo" Diet, it becomes synonomous with "hunter/gather diet," "caveman diet," "original human DNA diet," etc., etc. The problem with the "Paleo" label is that 1) Anthropological Scientists (and others) take it too literally, 2) No one can agree on what persons in the paleolithic era ate (most likely whatever they could get their mitts on, and this probably varied immensly from region to region based on availability, duh) 3) The argument that our DNA has changed little relatively to how much our food sources has changed is not entirely accurate.
So, is the term Paleo a misnomer? Absolutely. Is the Paleo Diet what we are "supposed" to be eating? Who could possible know that? Only you. Everyone is different. Does this change the fact that the general principles that fall under the "paleo" diet label are good guidelines? No. I don't think the historical inaccuracy (or any other inaccuracy) of the name should take away from the legitimate elements of what the diet is intended to stand for.
In all honesty, I think the term Paleo is just kind of catchy. It's not meant to be taken literally (nor could it possibly be with so many of the creature comforts we have). Anything successful needs a good name brand, and well, whoever came up with this one ("Paleo") was FAR ahead of their time. Paleo is so much easier to say then "Processed food free- low sugar- find out if gluten/dariy/legumes bother you (by giving all up for 30 days), and if after isolating each one and introducing slowly they don't affect you, eat as you wish" Diet.
Just looking at my own experience with "paleo" eating, there has been tremendous evolution over the past 1.5 years. I have put the work in to find out the things that affect me- raise my blood sugar, cause me to retain water, make me sneeze, etc. Yes, I classify my diet as "Paleo" just because that covers most of the important bases. I don't eat grains, I rarely eat legumes (hummus is just too powerful), if I eat dairy, it's grass-fed butter, or cream, I have to limit my sugar to next to nothing (occasional fruit and small amounts of honey are ok), and the majority of my eats are meat and vegetables.
Some "paleo" die-hards would look at my rendition of the Paleo Diet and scoff. Others that claim to be "paleo" would find my choices overly strict. I don't give a shit, because I'm doing what works for me. That is THE. WHOLE. POINT. Find out what works for you by whatever means necessary, and do it. If you find that you stall out, or something isn't working, keep experimenting until you find your groove. When you find it, you'll know. This life is about what works for you, not about what works for someone else.
Further reading on the topic can be found here:
http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2011/3/30/paleo-20-a-diet-manifesto.html
And here (thanks L):
http://www.good.is/post/good-asks-the-experts-is-the-paleolithic-diet-really-better/
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
207- Couple of Updates
I did my weekend long run on Sunday, and this time I changed it up a bit. Instead of walking 1 mile downhill to the path I ran/walked. I got to the path at 11 minutes instead of 17 minutes like last week. I ran my usual loop on the path, 1.1 miles to the park, up a set of stairs and back down 1.1 miles to the base of the hill. Last week, when I walked down the hill, I was able to run the whole 2.2 miles without walk breaks, even though my left calf (bad ankle side) was on fire. However, when I got to the large hill, I had to take a few walk breaks going up. On Sunday, I had to take 2 walk breaks during the 2.2 flat miles for fear of doing damage to my calf- it just didn't feel right. BUT, when I got to the base of the hill, it felt fine, and I RAN UP THE WHOLE 1 MILE HILL without stopping. I was pretty excited about that. The whole journey, walk breaks, stoplights and all (4.3? miles) took just under an hour. By summer, I'd like to knock 10 minutes off that time.
In other news, I've been working on my pull-up for some time now. If this bores you, just skip down to the next paragraph. If you are interested in the progression/explanation of what I've been doing, carry on. I see progress, but it is soooo slow. When I first started at CrossFit, there was no band thick enough to assist me in doing even one pull-up. I substituted ring rows (with all the other fatties). From ring rows, I began doing jumping pull-ups, and even now I use those most often as my scaling in workouts that involve pull-ups. There was a workout nearly a year ago where I used 2 bands to assit me in pull-ups (which sucks because you have to have someone help you into them, and that is annoying, plus time consuming when the clock is ticking), and then shortly after, there was a time when I was able to use the thickest (black band) to do a few pull-ups (again, difficult to get into/time consuming). Most girls that show up on day one are able to do a pull up with the medium-thick green band. Strong girls start with the medium blue band, and if you can do 10 blue band pull-ups, you can probably eek out a few kipping pull-ups. I've been taking time nearly everyday at the gym to hang from the bar, practice kipping swings, and generally flail around like I don't know what the hell I'm doing. A month or two ago at the new gym, I decided it had been a long time since I tested my luck at using the green band. I jumped up on a box, put my foot in the band, let myself fall into the band, and tried to rocket myself back up. Not even close. Oh, well.
Yesterday, we had some time left over after the workout, and I decided I'd take some time to work on my pull-ups. I practiced swinging and stopping myself, hanging, chalking up, etc. Then a green band was staring at me. I stuck my foot into it, let myself fall into it, and bam! One pull-up with a green band. Instinctively I went for another, bam! 2 pull-ups with the green band. Now THIS was progress. I could not get to three, but I didn't care. I took a short break, and knocked out 2 more before I decided to call it a day. Now, I can spend time each day before the workout knocking out a few green band pull-ups instead of flailing around on the bar! Soon, I can start doing green-band pull-ups as my scaling for workouts (like a normal beginner). Soon, I'll be using the blue band. And soon, I'll be doing unassited pull-ups.
I just happened to catch an episode of Biggest Loser last night and was delighted to see Bob doing CrossFit inspired moves with his team! He had them jumping on boxes, swinging kettlebells, and doing barbell work like hang cleans and overhead moves! Its not enough to get me to watch that show regularly (the shameless plugs for that Subway crap? GAWD...), but I do love the attention he's bringing to functional movements. Of course he's gotta throw them on the eliptical for some ridiculous amount of time so they can lose muscle mass because that's what shows up on the scale first (muscle loss) and the viewers want to see pounds drop. Its a billion dollar business. I get that. Afterall, its not the "Fittest Loser" its "The Biggest Loser" and losing muscle and water and some fat is a much faster way to get the scale to change than simply losing fat. But who wants to watch a show where it takes contestants years to lose fat and become healthy? No, americuns want instant results at any cost. To each his/her own- personally I feel the show would send a much better message if it showed inches lost in relation to scale numbers. As I've learned with myself many times, I can lose many inches without the scale changing one bit. That might just be too much head thinking for the average American mindlessly glued to the crap that network TV pumps out...I digress.
In other news, I read kind of a depressing blog post about fat cells. I have known for some time now that fat cell numbers are stagnant. You can not by any natural means lose fat cells. You can merely shrink (or grow) the fat cells you do have. When someone becomes morbidly obese, fat cells can even divide to create more storage, but once again, if that happens, you are still stuck with those new fat cells. Here is the depressing part. Bear with me, you're going to have to be a little visual. Lets say you have a plastic garbage bag full of balloons that have not been blown up. The plastic garbage bag retains its rectangular shape, and holds 2,000 balloons. Now, if there was a way to slowly begin inflating each of those balloons inside the bag, even a little at a time, what would happen? The bag would begin to expand. It would become mishappen and look awkward. If it were possible, some of the balloons would expand and split into two balloons. Right before the bag bursts, we begin to let the air out of all the balloons, and the newly created balloons too. The bag shrinks down. The bag is badly stretched. Even if all the air is let out, there are now 2,500 deflated balloons in the bag, and it can never return to that original rectangle. Even if the stretching recovers slightly, there are simply more elements inside the original bag that can not be taken out.
Complete post on fat cells is here:
http://www.health-act.net/2012/02/story-of-fat-cells.html
I like how his recommendation for obese people that "can't seem to lose the weight even with legitimate efforts" to just keep trucking. Yeah...I don't know about you, but if I keep doing something over and over and keep seeing the same thing, or no results, I do not just "keep trucking." I understand what he is trying to say- that eating well and exercising regardless of weightloss are far better than giving up, but he does a poor job of conveying it.
In other news, I've been working on my pull-up for some time now. If this bores you, just skip down to the next paragraph. If you are interested in the progression/explanation of what I've been doing, carry on. I see progress, but it is soooo slow. When I first started at CrossFit, there was no band thick enough to assist me in doing even one pull-up. I substituted ring rows (with all the other fatties). From ring rows, I began doing jumping pull-ups, and even now I use those most often as my scaling in workouts that involve pull-ups. There was a workout nearly a year ago where I used 2 bands to assit me in pull-ups (which sucks because you have to have someone help you into them, and that is annoying, plus time consuming when the clock is ticking), and then shortly after, there was a time when I was able to use the thickest (black band) to do a few pull-ups (again, difficult to get into/time consuming). Most girls that show up on day one are able to do a pull up with the medium-thick green band. Strong girls start with the medium blue band, and if you can do 10 blue band pull-ups, you can probably eek out a few kipping pull-ups. I've been taking time nearly everyday at the gym to hang from the bar, practice kipping swings, and generally flail around like I don't know what the hell I'm doing. A month or two ago at the new gym, I decided it had been a long time since I tested my luck at using the green band. I jumped up on a box, put my foot in the band, let myself fall into the band, and tried to rocket myself back up. Not even close. Oh, well.
Yesterday, we had some time left over after the workout, and I decided I'd take some time to work on my pull-ups. I practiced swinging and stopping myself, hanging, chalking up, etc. Then a green band was staring at me. I stuck my foot into it, let myself fall into it, and bam! One pull-up with a green band. Instinctively I went for another, bam! 2 pull-ups with the green band. Now THIS was progress. I could not get to three, but I didn't care. I took a short break, and knocked out 2 more before I decided to call it a day. Now, I can spend time each day before the workout knocking out a few green band pull-ups instead of flailing around on the bar! Soon, I can start doing green-band pull-ups as my scaling for workouts (like a normal beginner). Soon, I'll be using the blue band. And soon, I'll be doing unassited pull-ups.
I just happened to catch an episode of Biggest Loser last night and was delighted to see Bob doing CrossFit inspired moves with his team! He had them jumping on boxes, swinging kettlebells, and doing barbell work like hang cleans and overhead moves! Its not enough to get me to watch that show regularly (the shameless plugs for that Subway crap? GAWD...), but I do love the attention he's bringing to functional movements. Of course he's gotta throw them on the eliptical for some ridiculous amount of time so they can lose muscle mass because that's what shows up on the scale first (muscle loss) and the viewers want to see pounds drop. Its a billion dollar business. I get that. Afterall, its not the "Fittest Loser" its "The Biggest Loser" and losing muscle and water and some fat is a much faster way to get the scale to change than simply losing fat. But who wants to watch a show where it takes contestants years to lose fat and become healthy? No, americuns want instant results at any cost. To each his/her own- personally I feel the show would send a much better message if it showed inches lost in relation to scale numbers. As I've learned with myself many times, I can lose many inches without the scale changing one bit. That might just be too much head thinking for the average American mindlessly glued to the crap that network TV pumps out...I digress.
In other news, I read kind of a depressing blog post about fat cells. I have known for some time now that fat cell numbers are stagnant. You can not by any natural means lose fat cells. You can merely shrink (or grow) the fat cells you do have. When someone becomes morbidly obese, fat cells can even divide to create more storage, but once again, if that happens, you are still stuck with those new fat cells. Here is the depressing part. Bear with me, you're going to have to be a little visual. Lets say you have a plastic garbage bag full of balloons that have not been blown up. The plastic garbage bag retains its rectangular shape, and holds 2,000 balloons. Now, if there was a way to slowly begin inflating each of those balloons inside the bag, even a little at a time, what would happen? The bag would begin to expand. It would become mishappen and look awkward. If it were possible, some of the balloons would expand and split into two balloons. Right before the bag bursts, we begin to let the air out of all the balloons, and the newly created balloons too. The bag shrinks down. The bag is badly stretched. Even if all the air is let out, there are now 2,500 deflated balloons in the bag, and it can never return to that original rectangle. Even if the stretching recovers slightly, there are simply more elements inside the original bag that can not be taken out.
Complete post on fat cells is here:
http://www.health-act.net/2012/02/story-of-fat-cells.html
I like how his recommendation for obese people that "can't seem to lose the weight even with legitimate efforts" to just keep trucking. Yeah...I don't know about you, but if I keep doing something over and over and keep seeing the same thing, or no results, I do not just "keep trucking." I understand what he is trying to say- that eating well and exercising regardless of weightloss are far better than giving up, but he does a poor job of conveying it.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
213- I Eat Cauliflower for Breakfast
Is that weird? A few weeks ago, I would have thought so, but now, I think including a vegetable serving at each meal is necessary. So yes, at 7am I find myself munching on roasted cauliflower, sauteed broccoli, braised cabbage, or raw bell peppers.
As I was preparing my lunch today, I noticed that my vegetable bin was practically empty. I JUST went shopping. So I did a quick tally in my head of all the vegetables I ate between yesterday and today (including lunch, but not dinner!) and it goes like this:
1 entire head red cabbage
1 head organic cauliflower
2 whole bell peppers
1/2 of a HUGE white onion
That seems crazy to me, but impressive as well. Dinner tonight includes more cauliflower and some organic salad greens.
Oh, and I took this photo yesterday as I was making lunch- talk about eating the rainbow! Done and done.
.JPG)
As I was preparing my lunch today, I noticed that my vegetable bin was practically empty. I JUST went shopping. So I did a quick tally in my head of all the vegetables I ate between yesterday and today (including lunch, but not dinner!) and it goes like this:
1 entire head red cabbage
1 head organic cauliflower
2 whole bell peppers
1/2 of a HUGE white onion
That seems crazy to me, but impressive as well. Dinner tonight includes more cauliflower and some organic salad greens.
Oh, and I took this photo yesterday as I was making lunch- talk about eating the rainbow! Done and done.
.JPG)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
214- Fish Oil
A few days ago I made a sort of off-hand remark about not being sore after a pretty tough workout, and suggested that perhaps my recent increase in fish oil could be contributing to that phenomenon. I received a comment on that post that prompted me to do some quick internet research on the benefits of fish oil. Everyone is different, so I don't want to make any crazy claims about what fish oil can do for you, I only know what it seems to do for ME. In the times when I have been most successful with Paleo (as far as weight loss), it has been when I have been regularly taking fish oil. Recently, I increased my fish oil intake by 3 fold, and have seen my scale and inches numbers decrease faster than ever, increased energy throughout the day, soft skin, and a noteable lack of soreness after tough workouts.
For me to try and hash out all the benefits of fish oil here is an injustice, so I'll let you do your own research. However, I am including some places to start. Here is what credible people have to say about why fish oil (and/or Omega-3's):
Mark Sisson of Marks Daily Apple did a post, here is an excerpt (but read the whole link!):
"It all comes down to Omega-6/3 balance. You can’t talk about fish oil without getting into Omega-3 fatty acids, and discussing Omega-3 fatty acids is useless without understanding their relation to the Omega-6s. We’ve mentioned this relationship multiple times before, but I’ll reiterate: a 1:1 Omega-6::Omega-3 dietary ratio helps keep dangerous inflammation in check."
Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fish-oil-health-benefits/#ixzz1mn57fqBB
For me to try and hash out all the benefits of fish oil here is an injustice, so I'll let you do your own research. However, I am including some places to start. Here is what credible people have to say about why fish oil (and/or Omega-3's):
Mark Sisson of Marks Daily Apple did a post, here is an excerpt (but read the whole link!):
"It all comes down to Omega-6/3 balance. You can’t talk about fish oil without getting into Omega-3 fatty acids, and discussing Omega-3 fatty acids is useless without understanding their relation to the Omega-6s. We’ve mentioned this relationship multiple times before, but I’ll reiterate: a 1:1 Omega-6::Omega-3 dietary ratio helps keep dangerous inflammation in check."
Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fish-oil-health-benefits/#ixzz1mn57fqBB
Of course, Robb Wolf did a post:
Good ole' WebMD:
And a WHOLE wealth of information over at the awesomeness that is Whole9. The Whole9 crew give it to you straight ("you can't fish oil your way out of a bad diet") and provide a calculator so you can see how much you should be taking:
Its really the inflammation thing that got me to start taking fish oil regularly. Well, after awhile- I'd go through kicks of being good about remembering to take it, and then not. But when someone pointed out to me that being overweight is inflammation, something clicked. Fish oil (Omega 3's) are known for their anti-inflammatory properties (as you have hopefully read). Then, I started thinking about what happens to sore muscles- they get inflammed. Hence the creation of my latest theory of perhaps my increase fish oil is helping reduce my inflammation, and therefore I'm not getting sore after workouts. Even if it is just a placebo effect, clearly, taking fish oil is only to my benefit. As long as I continue to limit the Omega-6's (which Paleo does) and find FOOD sources for Omega-3's and not just rely on supplements for my Omega-3's (which I have been doing by eating a handful of walnuts/day, broccoli, cauliflower, occasionally tuna, and eventually grass-fed beef).
Friday, February 17, 2012
215- Throwing a Fit, Moving On
Yesterday I took the bus to work so the bf deluxe could give the car some love (fluid changes, a wash and such). My day becomes a little longer when I take the bus, since I get to work about 1/2 hour later than usual, and then leave work later in the evening, of course the bus takes longer to get home than driving...so...I end up leaving the house about the same time but get home 1 hour to 1.5 hours later than normal. I planned my eating around this, since part of my plan this month involves eating every 2-3 hours. Its kind of unspoken between us that whoever has the day off, had dinner ready for the other one when they get home (or shortly thereafter).
As luck should have it, there was some type of accident, and traffic was horrible. The bf deluxe picked me up at the transit center, and we hit even MORE traffic every way we went. It was ridiculous. I looked at the clock and began to get nervous, I should be eating soon...just then bf deluxe says "what do you want for dinner?" Enter the fit.
I began to panic as I quickly ran an inventory of what was in the fridge in my head, cooking times, what I felt like eating, etc. and near full meltdown ensued. Meanwhile bf was just sitting there, waiting for an answer, and we were STILL stopped in traffic. I began to fidget, I wanted to scream, there was absolutely nothing at the house that I wanted. Oh, sure, we had plenty of food to prepare, all of it in line with my current eating plan, but NONE of it sounded good. I got pissed. Why does this have to be so hard? Why can't I just eat food like a normal person? Why do there have to be so many rules?! (No grains, no sugar, no dairy, low salt, low fat, no red meat, today is not a day I can eat yams, yadda yadda yadda...). "Well?" he says. I was just silent. Oh, he knows what the silence means.
As quickly as this meltdown came on, it vanished with a little perspective: I did this to myself, and I'm doing this to myself. This challenge I'm giving myself is entirely up to me. I know what works for me and what I need to do. Sure, I could say eff it and go eat whatever I want, but where does that get me? I know the consequences of doing that, so I won't. We finally got home, and I was incredibly relieved to see that there was food in the fridge that I could re-heat and eat (even though it was the same thing I ate for lunch and snack) and didn't have to make anything new. I ate my food, calmed down, and remembered that the month is over soon, and I can return to eating bacon and pork shoulder and salting my foods like a normal person (but will I?). When I was done eating, the bf deluxe knew it was ok to speak again, and said "all good?" "Yes" I responded, "I'm fully aware that I am doing this to myself." He laughed and said "yup!"
Today is a much better day. It is my "refuel day" so I get to eat all sorts of delicious things, like strawberries, greek yogurt, and yams! Truth be told, I feel really good, my clothes are looser, my engagement ring is dangerously looser, and I have been working on some really good habits that I would like to continue on with once this month is over. I'm going to keep on this increased Fish Oil regimen (I will dedicate a whole post to Fish Oil soon since Patricia left a comment about it a few days ago). I'm going to continue to make sure I eat my first meal within 30 minutes of waking, that I measure my portions, and keep up with my coffee hiatus/1 gallon of water per day drinking. All of those are do able.
I have a feeling this months before/after pic's are going to knock your socks off, and my efforts will be realized. Moving on.
As luck should have it, there was some type of accident, and traffic was horrible. The bf deluxe picked me up at the transit center, and we hit even MORE traffic every way we went. It was ridiculous. I looked at the clock and began to get nervous, I should be eating soon...just then bf deluxe says "what do you want for dinner?" Enter the fit.
I began to panic as I quickly ran an inventory of what was in the fridge in my head, cooking times, what I felt like eating, etc. and near full meltdown ensued. Meanwhile bf was just sitting there, waiting for an answer, and we were STILL stopped in traffic. I began to fidget, I wanted to scream, there was absolutely nothing at the house that I wanted. Oh, sure, we had plenty of food to prepare, all of it in line with my current eating plan, but NONE of it sounded good. I got pissed. Why does this have to be so hard? Why can't I just eat food like a normal person? Why do there have to be so many rules?! (No grains, no sugar, no dairy, low salt, low fat, no red meat, today is not a day I can eat yams, yadda yadda yadda...). "Well?" he says. I was just silent. Oh, he knows what the silence means.
As quickly as this meltdown came on, it vanished with a little perspective: I did this to myself, and I'm doing this to myself. This challenge I'm giving myself is entirely up to me. I know what works for me and what I need to do. Sure, I could say eff it and go eat whatever I want, but where does that get me? I know the consequences of doing that, so I won't. We finally got home, and I was incredibly relieved to see that there was food in the fridge that I could re-heat and eat (even though it was the same thing I ate for lunch and snack) and didn't have to make anything new. I ate my food, calmed down, and remembered that the month is over soon, and I can return to eating bacon and pork shoulder and salting my foods like a normal person (but will I?). When I was done eating, the bf deluxe knew it was ok to speak again, and said "all good?" "Yes" I responded, "I'm fully aware that I am doing this to myself." He laughed and said "yup!"
Today is a much better day. It is my "refuel day" so I get to eat all sorts of delicious things, like strawberries, greek yogurt, and yams! Truth be told, I feel really good, my clothes are looser, my engagement ring is dangerously looser, and I have been working on some really good habits that I would like to continue on with once this month is over. I'm going to keep on this increased Fish Oil regimen (I will dedicate a whole post to Fish Oil soon since Patricia left a comment about it a few days ago). I'm going to continue to make sure I eat my first meal within 30 minutes of waking, that I measure my portions, and keep up with my coffee hiatus/1 gallon of water per day drinking. All of those are do able.
I have a feeling this months before/after pic's are going to knock your socks off, and my efforts will be realized. Moving on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)