Hello to to my fellow bloggers, readers, curiosity seekers, and those passing through. I have so much to say and I feel like there is a connection between many of us from what I've been reading on some of the other blogs lately.
I am feeling like so many of you, confused about the "perfect" way to weight loss and more importantly good health. What is the one right answer? What is the easiest way? What will make the pounds fall off effortlessly? Is is the BFC? Maybe Wheat Belly? The Virgin diet? How about Paleo/Primal? Atkins? A combination? UGGHHHHHH!!! STOP THE INSANITY!!!!
I started reading some blog posts today and started with Kay's. Is she reading my mind I thought? It was such a good post, and it really resonated with me. Then I went to Trina's blog, and after reading that post I thought, I have to stop and write about all the thoughts that are flooding my mind.
I am an early adopter? A what? It's a term given to me by my daughter-in-law. She works in human resources and gives a sort of personality type test to new hires. I took the test and one of the descriptions shown by my test results is that I'm an early adopter. I took it to mean, I like to know what's new and trending and I'm open to a change in ideas from the standard way of thinking. I googled that term, and found this description from a marketing website. I'd say it's pretty accurate for me.
In comparison to other social
groups, early adopters are more likely to adopt a new product or
service comparatively earlier than other groups of consumers.
These studies also showed that early
adopters tend to be more likely to share information they have
gathered about a specific product or service with other members of their local reference groups.
Numerous studies have shown that early adopters are heavy users
of commercial, professional and interpersonal information sources.
They are more likely to disregard the
risks associated with new products or services.
Yep, that's me. I'm an early adopter! Always looking for the next best thing, a better way, a better answer.
I remember the first time I heard about the Belly Fat Cure. I was so excited. I ran out and bought the books, found the blogs and started right on the plan. It made and still makes sense to me. Cut the sugars way down and limit those carbs. But somewhere along the way, I didn't follow it so strict and then the fast track came out. That's what I need I thought. Cut the grains and the weight will drop off. I couldn't do without the grains for long, so back to a combination of both. Then I found Maria Emmerich's blog. She makes great sense, but no dairy and no grains. Not sure I can do that. I like my cheese and my butter. But wait there's a new guy in town. Dr Davis, and his book Wheat Belly has great ideas and wow, wheat could possible be the missing link to the puzzle of why it is so hard to lose weight. But he uses artificial sweeteners and doesn't care much about limiting the sugar. Is that the right way to go?
And then there are all those letters and testimonials by people for one program or the next and that just make me want to jump right on the wagon and do what they're doing. These peoples' lives have been dramatically changed almost overnight. They grab you and make you want to try and have the same overnight transformation to health and well being. They are an early adopters nightmare.
Well here's the deal. Here's what makes sense to me. Nothing is a one size fits all, because we are all different sizes. I don't mean that literally, but in the sense that our bodies are very complex machines. And they are all different Some of us may be like a hybrid car and some like an Italian race car. You can't put economy gas in the race car, and the hybrid doesn't need high performance tires. Both have engines, but they are so very different.They are designed to move, but move differently. They have different requirements for them to operate the way they are designed. And they come with manuals, and experts who tell you how to take care of them and what you need to do to have them function properly. These manuals come from the designers.
For us humans, first we have to figure out what type of car we are in terms of design and then we have to figure out what makes us function the best. Note I said WE HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT! We don't come with a manual of instructions. That's where it gets tricky.
It's so unfortunate that we don't come with instruction and performance manuals based on our individual body and metabolism. We don't even know what we really are, so that's why it's hard to hit the right combination of what works on the first try. It takes many tries for most people. It's trial and error for us.
Some may get lucky and find the exact perfect way for them to reach their goal....like Rosalie. She happened upon what works for her. She does the same thing every day regarding her diet because she likes the way she eats and she knows it works for her. She doesn't count calories, but she has an instinct about what she should stay away from and she does that. That's her way of counting calories. Her body tells her, no butter on your popcorn, steer clear of that because it has too much fat, etc. But from what I read, that's the exception, not the norm. We are all trying to figure ourselves out, and anything new that comes along piques our interest. Maybe this new plan will be our ultimate instruction manual.
The bottom line is give yourselves a break. It doesn't have to be all or nothing regarding whatever plan you are following.Do what makes sense for you. Keep trying things if what you are doing isn't working, or you just can't eat the way the plan suggests. Tweak it and try new things. Come up with your basic road map and then go from there. Listen, read, try things out, but then do what makes sense and what is right for your personal comfort level. But this is important....when something works BE CONSISTENT. Stay with it, do it day in and day out unless it stops working. Lack of consistency may lead us to think the plan we're on is not the right one, but in actuality we never stayed with it long enough to know. I know from experience.
There are many ways to achieve a healthy body and your ideal weight. My mom eats wheat and desserts and she lost 40 lbs on weight watchers and has kept it off for several years. Rosalie doesn't eat sugar, does eat wheat and she lost weight and kept it off too. Different strategies, same results. But both are doing what they found to work for them and they are doing it consistently.
I know for sure without discovering the Belly Fat Cure, I would have never known how detrimental sugar is to me. When I limit it, I feel better, I don't have cravings, my skin doesn't break out, and my energy and mood are better. I can't say staying off wheat has had the same effect, but maybe I haven't done it long enough. So for me, the original Belly Fat Cure may be the best way to go. I like to have a few days here and there that are free of grains, but I can't do that forever, and I know it.
So stop trying to fit yourself into an all or nothing type eating plan. There are many ways to achieve this goal. The answer for some might not be the answer for you. But we all want the same end result and that is to find a way of eating that helps us lose and maintain our weight, and one we can do and ENJOY for the rest of our lives.
Thought for the day:
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
,
I am an early adopter? A what? It's a term given to me by my daughter-in-law. She works in human resources and gives a sort of personality type test to new hires. I took the test and one of the descriptions shown by my test results is that I'm an early adopter. I took it to mean, I like to know what's new and trending and I'm open to a change in ideas from the standard way of thinking. I googled that term, and found this description from a marketing website. I'd say it's pretty accurate for me.
In comparison to other social
groups, early adopters are more likely to adopt a new product or
service comparatively earlier than other groups of consumers.
These studies also showed that early
adopters tend to be more likely to share information they have
gathered about a specific product or service with other members of their local reference groups.
Numerous studies have shown that early adopters are heavy users
of commercial, professional and interpersonal information sources.
They are more likely to disregard the
risks associated with new products or services.
Yep, that's me. I'm an early adopter! Always looking for the next best thing, a better way, a better answer.
I remember the first time I heard about the Belly Fat Cure. I was so excited. I ran out and bought the books, found the blogs and started right on the plan. It made and still makes sense to me. Cut the sugars way down and limit those carbs. But somewhere along the way, I didn't follow it so strict and then the fast track came out. That's what I need I thought. Cut the grains and the weight will drop off. I couldn't do without the grains for long, so back to a combination of both. Then I found Maria Emmerich's blog. She makes great sense, but no dairy and no grains. Not sure I can do that. I like my cheese and my butter. But wait there's a new guy in town. Dr Davis, and his book Wheat Belly has great ideas and wow, wheat could possible be the missing link to the puzzle of why it is so hard to lose weight. But he uses artificial sweeteners and doesn't care much about limiting the sugar. Is that the right way to go?
And then there are all those letters and testimonials by people for one program or the next and that just make me want to jump right on the wagon and do what they're doing. These peoples' lives have been dramatically changed almost overnight. They grab you and make you want to try and have the same overnight transformation to health and well being. They are an early adopters nightmare.
Well here's the deal. Here's what makes sense to me. Nothing is a one size fits all, because we are all different sizes. I don't mean that literally, but in the sense that our bodies are very complex machines. And they are all different Some of us may be like a hybrid car and some like an Italian race car. You can't put economy gas in the race car, and the hybrid doesn't need high performance tires. Both have engines, but they are so very different.They are designed to move, but move differently. They have different requirements for them to operate the way they are designed. And they come with manuals, and experts who tell you how to take care of them and what you need to do to have them function properly. These manuals come from the designers.
For us humans, first we have to figure out what type of car we are in terms of design and then we have to figure out what makes us function the best. Note I said WE HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT! We don't come with a manual of instructions. That's where it gets tricky.
It's so unfortunate that we don't come with instruction and performance manuals based on our individual body and metabolism. We don't even know what we really are, so that's why it's hard to hit the right combination of what works on the first try. It takes many tries for most people. It's trial and error for us.
Some may get lucky and find the exact perfect way for them to reach their goal....like Rosalie. She happened upon what works for her. She does the same thing every day regarding her diet because she likes the way she eats and she knows it works for her. She doesn't count calories, but she has an instinct about what she should stay away from and she does that. That's her way of counting calories. Her body tells her, no butter on your popcorn, steer clear of that because it has too much fat, etc. But from what I read, that's the exception, not the norm. We are all trying to figure ourselves out, and anything new that comes along piques our interest. Maybe this new plan will be our ultimate instruction manual.
The bottom line is give yourselves a break. It doesn't have to be all or nothing regarding whatever plan you are following.Do what makes sense for you. Keep trying things if what you are doing isn't working, or you just can't eat the way the plan suggests. Tweak it and try new things. Come up with your basic road map and then go from there. Listen, read, try things out, but then do what makes sense and what is right for your personal comfort level. But this is important....when something works BE CONSISTENT. Stay with it, do it day in and day out unless it stops working. Lack of consistency may lead us to think the plan we're on is not the right one, but in actuality we never stayed with it long enough to know. I know from experience.
There are many ways to achieve a healthy body and your ideal weight. My mom eats wheat and desserts and she lost 40 lbs on weight watchers and has kept it off for several years. Rosalie doesn't eat sugar, does eat wheat and she lost weight and kept it off too. Different strategies, same results. But both are doing what they found to work for them and they are doing it consistently.
I know for sure without discovering the Belly Fat Cure, I would have never known how detrimental sugar is to me. When I limit it, I feel better, I don't have cravings, my skin doesn't break out, and my energy and mood are better. I can't say staying off wheat has had the same effect, but maybe I haven't done it long enough. So for me, the original Belly Fat Cure may be the best way to go. I like to have a few days here and there that are free of grains, but I can't do that forever, and I know it.
So stop trying to fit yourself into an all or nothing type eating plan. There are many ways to achieve this goal. The answer for some might not be the answer for you. But we all want the same end result and that is to find a way of eating that helps us lose and maintain our weight, and one we can do and ENJOY for the rest of our lives.
Thought for the day:
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
,
Wow Pattie ... lots of thoughts :) Just to clarify, Dr. Davis does not promote "artificial" sweeteners (he himself uses xylitol, Swerve and stevia - all natural). He's not for aspartame or saccharin and says people need to decide for themselves about sucralose). As for him not counting sugar - I'm not sure where you got that idea. He's not a fan of sugar at all and actually advices for a lower carb intake than BFC. For me Wheat Belly is far more than weight loss. Wheat is not the wheat of 1970 (a fact) and I'm starting to comprehend what health effects it may have on us eating this product of geneticists. Eating wheat and losing weight are almost two different discussions in my mind (one about health and one about weight loss). I’ve tested my own blood glucose after consuming wheat and I know that it is worse than sugar. My FIL has tested as well and when he eats wheat it shoots up. Having said that, we all have free will to read what we want, believe what we want and eat what we want.
ReplyDeleteI don’t view my reading as jumping from one thing to another. For me, this has been a process that started with Jorge. He’s the first person I heard talk about sugar. I started with what he had to say but honestly, it’s very “thin” on the science (and we know how I love the science). So began my personal journey of reading and learning. I’ve loved EVERY minute of it! As I said in my post, all of these people have a similar message you just have to see that part and then I think it’s pretty clear. I love all of them (Jorge, Maria, Dr. Davis, Jimmy Moore, Dr. Lustig, Tom Naughton, Mark Sisson, etc …) because they all are spreading the most important message that the SAD American diet you are advised to eat is NOT in your best interest. Your hormones are at the root of a lot of your problems and when you get them under control (ie. insulin and blood glucose) I really do think the rest will be much easier (granted you don't have thyroid issues which are common). The simple message they all preach is carbs=insulin=fat.
Trina, I was on your blog and started to write a very long response to your post. This was before you commented on my blog. I don't know what happened but I did something on my laptop on another page and I lost the whole thing. I was telling you on that comment that I do have a thyroid issue. It was discovered several years ago as a large nodule on my thyroid and a sky high TSH. I take two thyroid hormones daily (T3 and T4) and have frequent monitoring and ultrasounds. I think being so severely hypothyroid for so long caused me to be sluggish, lethargic and slowed my metabolism and that contributed to my weight gain. Also eating too much didn't help. Now that I'm on the proper regime, the pounds haven't flown off, so there is more to it than just being in proper hormonal balance for me.
DeleteI want to clarify a few things that I should have said in my post. When I say I am an early adopter, and I indicted that any new book coming along piques my interest, I was referring to books preaching mostly the same eating philosophies of those I agree with, low sugar and healthy carbs. There are definitely areas that the books I spoke about overlap, but also areas that they do not agree on. When I refer to Dr. Davis and the sugar, I should have clarified that when I said he doesn't seem as concerned about sugars, I meant that he doesn't advocate watching and counting the sugars in fruits, as evidenced by his carrot cake recipe or banana blueberry muffins. Science tells us that fructose, sucrose, lactose all influence our blood sugar, albeit the fiber makes these items healthier that a piece of candy. Also Dr. Davis says on page 239 that he considers sucralose among the sweeteners he considers "safe and lacking the adverse health consequences of aspartame and saccharin." Many, many credible health researchers disagree with that. And, although I can't find the article I ripped out of First magazine, I thought he stated if you wanted to lose weight you should limit your added fats to two servings a day.I can't find the article, so I can't prove this and I can't find anything on the web, but I do remember thinking, aha, you can't just eat all the butter, olive oil that you want. I do believe that too.
I know you said Jorge is weak on science in his books, but if you look in the back of his books, he has quite a few research publicatons listed in his bibliography. I think he researched his stuff and tried to put in a nice, tidy, appealing marketable program. I think his philosophy got a lot of the mainstream public, like you and me to delve further into the link between sugar and processed carbs and the relationship that insulin plays in all of this in our diet. He really preached the insulin connection to weight gain. I still like his 15 gms of sugar a day guideline. It's way less than the American Heart Associations 24 gms, but even that would be a good number for most people to aim for.
So when I say you need to tweek things to fit your individual body, that is what I mean. You can believe in what Dr. Davis says about wheat, but disagree with his using soy. You can like and agree with the primal/paleo plan for the most part, but choose to eat some healthy grains.When I said tweak eating plans and philosophies, I meant that you can follow one persons plan without agreeing on everything they say.
For instance I like and believe in Maria Emmerichs recipes (and so does Dr. Davis) but they don't agree on the dairy and soy issue and she is very much against any artificial sweetener. Dr. Davis uses soy and tofu in his recipes. And if you are eating exactly the way any of these authors state and the weight is still not coming off, but you find if you cut back on some fruit, fat or almond flour baked goods and you start to lose, well then maybe you can't eat as much as you want of them.
Hope I cleared up some things. I love your feedback and I wholeheartedly agree that the typical american diet we are advised to eat is not in our best interest.
Hey Pattie, I'm not sure if you think the banana muffin or carrot cake is not acceptable for sugar content? I know (because my kids love the banana muffin) that they are about 7 carbs/3 sugars (the muffins). Dr. Davis would not recommend something too high in sugar - he often stresses that he has seen people become diabetic from too much fruit alone. He usually points out if a recipe is "higher" on the carb side and advises that they are OK for kids but maybe not for grown ups (with our blood sugar problems).
DeleteWhile he did use minimal soy in his first book he has since started to say (because it is a GMO crop especially) that it is not something we should eat much of (if any at all). And you are right; I would not use the soy :)
Just confirming, Maria is not against dairy (she uses cheese and butter) (she is against all artificial sweeteners though). I do not consume them (as there are other options) but I’m not convinced they are bad. Dr. Peter Attia (and Dr. Jay Wortman) both did pieces on this where they did go through all the literature and say there is no evidence they cause harm (of course if you search the internet you’ll find plenty of stories of your imminent demise if you eat them). Dr. Wortman actually said there is more evidence sugar is far more harmful than sweeteners. (Dr. Eades is also on record saying sucralose is safe). http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/what-are-the-side-effects-of-aspartame-stevia-and-other-sugar-substitutes
As for First Magazine, a lot of what was said in that article did not come from Dr. Davis (I know this because he discussed it on Facebook). He does not advocate for limiting fats whatsoever. More proof we can’t believe what we read – crazy eh?
I didn’t mean to insinuate Jorge didn’t “have” the science – on the contrary I totally think he does. I just meant the book wasn’t brimming with the science details. I wanted a deeper understanding of insulin and everything else. I don’t think Jorge even discusses “leptin” which is also very important to understanding insulin and fat storage. It was Jorge’s higher media profile that got the sugar message rolling I think.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could all get together for coffee and really have a great discussion! Easier than typing all this … lol.
amen to this Trina! :) It would be so neat to get together face to face and discuss.. :)
DeleteAmen sister:) This is where I go back to Dr. Oz in his very first book asking the question of which diet is best...his answer was simple, "The one you can live with for the rest of your life". The Diet industry is out to make a buck and help people along the way. I will never believe that just by eating certain things that my loved ones are going to die, or be sickly all of their lives. Too much of anything in any diet is probably bad.
ReplyDeleteWeight Watcher's has the most successful and long term success of all programs. It allows you to make yourself accountable for choices. Choices are good, but too many choices? Difficult!
You are on thyroid meds too right?
Great post Pattie! I know that if we continue to work at it we will all find the perfect (or mostly) way of eating for each and every one of us. Have a great day! ;)
ReplyDeleteYes I believe we are starting to see that what works perfectly for one person may not work as perfectly for another. Of course we all want to find the perfect "formula" which will make us healthy and thin while still enjoying life and food! I for one do like reading about everyone's journey and trying their tips and ideas. You never know when one of those tips or ideas will be THE one that you've been looking for! Also I think another reason we don't adopt to some of the ideas out there is convenience. For instance making all your own "non-wheat" bread and goodies is a lot of work and may, understandably, be one of the reasons people don't want to go that route. I LOVE Maria's blog but her way of eating does look like a lot of work. You do have to be very consistent to make any plan work. By the way, I didn't know she didn't like dairy. Good post today Pattie
ReplyDeleteWow what a long and great post. You are so right that we are all so different and what works for some may and will not work for everyone.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Pattie! I have been playing around with finding the right way of eating for me - a way that will allow me to lose the rest of the weight that I really want off. Something that will also be a way of eating that I can do for the rest of my life. I give credit to the original BFC because that was the first time that I started actually looking at sugars and carbs. I am still very much so watching my carb and sugar intake but adapting it for my lifestyle. Thanks for posting! Kim
ReplyDelete