Holiday Weight Loss - Timing is Everything.

Overindulged during holiday festivities? You probably find yourself in front of the mirror, wishing those extra pounds away, planning frequent trips to the gym. While working out is an important component to shedding pounds, there are some simple habits that can increase results exponentially.

The greatest mistake people make when they want to lose weight (and lose it NOW!) is to try to skimp on sustenance in the morning. The most common pattern is to skimp on or skip breakfast, to drink coffee (but a cup of coffee for breakfast actually worsens the weight issues!) or some other beverage in its place, and to eat a very light lunch. By late afternoon one finds oneself thinking: well I am starving but at least I am on my way to losing that weight. By dinner time, one is crazy with hunger. Dinner ends up being the main meal of the day. As the days go by, dinner ends up becoming more substantial as the suffering of daytime abstinence takes its toll.

Here is why this pattern of eating/dieting doesn’t work for weight loss: What this pattern does is to lower the metabolism, causing fewer and fewer calories to have more and more effect (that means pounds). When you skip breakfast you start a process in the brain in which it believes the body is starving. The more you deny yourself, the greater this belief. Thus the mind tries to compensate by engendering a greater desire to eat - to the extent where one is likely to lose control - to “pig out.”

The lowered metabolism that causes weight loss to slow or stop is a response to a denial of food. There is an important timing for calorie intake. Certain kinds of fats are needed by the body, and it will try to get them. You need to put the right calories and the right fats into your body at the right times. Whether you are losing a few holiday pounds or shedding years of fat, this is the key to establishing a way of eating that will keep you at an optimum weight.

I remember reading about a scientific study when I was about 14 years old. This information stayed with me and has helped me maintain a nice weight my whole life.

The study went like this: Three groups of people had only one 1500 calorie meal per day. The first group had their one meal at breakfast time. The second group had their one meal at lunch time. The third group had theirs at dinner time. The first group lost weight. The second group either lost weight or maintained their weight. The third group gained weight. It wasn’t really about what they were eating.

As an acrobat, I have always had to keep an eye on my weight. If ever I started noticing that I was gaining a bit, I would skip dinner after eating a satisfying breakfast and lunch for just one night; then I would eat light dinners after that until my weight was back where I wanted it. This way of eating kept my metabolism healthy, so it didn’t slow down. Read more info about the importance of breakfast.

I’m not saying that it isn’t important to eat healthy foods! I am saying that it is important not to panic about your weight and do harm to your body when you tackle the weight issue. Don’t get overwhelmed ever! Start with timing issues, then work into improving the quality of your diet. See my page on Food Combining for some good tips to get started.

Besides timing, a big issue for losing weight is nutrition: the more nutrition your food has, the less hungry you will be. Eat a lot more vegetables (not potatoes) with your meals. You will eat fewer calories because you are giving your body more of a variety of the nutrients it needs. See my article on kale salad and yummie veggies.

Check out my last article on Cleansing in the Morning for a great way to start the day, too.

Further Food-Combining Adventures

The basic premise of proper food combining is that when foods are combined correctly, the absorb properly during digestion and they digest efficiently. When foods are combined incorrectly, they can’t be absorbed during digestion. Weight gain is very often a result of improper eating rather than of too many calories.

Proper food combining is based on the chemistry of digestion - simple physiological formulas. For example when you combine starches with proteins (like meat with potatoes) they each conflict with the digestion of the other, causing digestion to slow, and even not properly to occur.

We are told about all of these new digestive disorders that now have names “IBS” “Acid Reflux.” I just don’t believe in them. My guess is that maybe 1% have the actual disorder as doctors are defining it. But I have known people personally and there are thousands on the web that have cured these “disorders” or “diseases” by changing their diets. For people who suffer from gas, indigestion, acid stomach, constipation, diarrhea, cramping, bad breath, proper food combining is one of these simple approaches that can cause huge transformations.

Today’s food combining lesson: don’t combine starches with proteins. They digest differently, each causing the other to digest more slowly and improperly. This contributes to afore mentioned problems like bloating, indigestion, weight gain, and many more problems.

Avoid combinations like meat and potatoes, chicken and rice. Eat veggies with your meats: lots of them. If you have steamed veggies, put them in a bowl (after cooking) and toss with a little extra virgin olive oil and good quality natural salt and pepper. If you eat sandwiches, stick to vegetable only sandwiches like avocado and sprouts, portabello mushroom with roasted peppers. Stuff like that.

For a complete chart of food combining dos and don’ts check out http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/foodcombining.html

An Apple A Day

Many people suffer from digestive problems and spend a lot of money on various forms of relief to varying effect. Personally I don’t believe in “IBS” (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) It wasn’t around when I was a kid. I think IBS refers to a number of digestive problems - from bad diet, to bad food combining, to parasites.

In this post I will begin addressing the issue of combining food. It is not that complicated, but I have decided to write about it in a few different installments so that readers can assimilate a little at a time. I truly believe that more people would make fundamental changes in their diets, lives, worlds, if they didn’t think they had to do it all at once. It is so easy to become overwhelmed these days.

So start with FRUIT!

Fruit digests much more quickly than other foods. The manner in which fruit digests is inhibiting to proteins and starches. Also the fact that it digests quickly means, my dears, that it starts to putrify while it is waiting for the heavier foods to get their digestion over with. One important specification: Melon - eat it alone or else leave it alone.

The best way to eat fruits are 30 minutes (or closer to an hour if you eat a lot) before a meal, or three hours after a meal. Some people like to have fruit for breakfast. In the world of yin and yang, fruit is considered very yin, or cooling. For many people it is too cooling for morning, except perhaps in summer.

There are exceptions to this, but it all gets confusing and there is disagreement about them. I think it is better to start here and keep it simple.

If you are hankering for more info on food combining right away, go to: http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/foodcombining.html Otherwise, see you next time!