Fitter at Forty

Over the past few years, blogging has had to be pushed to the background as I have focused on raising children, supporting my husband in his teaching and music pursuits (and he in my music pursuits and other interests), and doing it all within a fairly small budget. Our last child is now two years old and this past summer I decided to make good on what I had been promising myself for years. Now that there will be no more pregnancies with all the weight fluctuation and hormonal changes that brings, I wanted to get back to my slimmer self and gain control over some unhealthy issues I had with food. This wasn't only a desire to look better but to feel better and be healthier. Six pregnancies (and five babies) took its toll on my health and body and now I felt I could and should focus a bit more on myself so that I have more to give my family.

Initially my goal was to exercise more rigorously every day in an effort to lose weight, so I left early each morning for a brisk walk, ear buds inserted. I really enjoyed that time to myself and looked forward to it each day. It was good for my physical and emotional health, and my stamina increased--but I didn't lose any weight. So I thought, okay, I must need to tweak my eating habits as well, but I didn't know what. I had the gut feeling that my issues might be related to some hormones being out of whack and started looking up books that could teach me about that. I came across two books that looked promising and checked them out at my local library. They provided a wealth of information and many things rang true to me.

In her book The Hormone Reset Diet, Sara Gottfried explains the different functions of each hormone and what happens when they are adversely affected by things like poor diet, too much stress, bad sleep habits, and even environmental factors. Taking the survey at the beginning of the book helped me pinpoint where my problems were and with which probable hormones, which gave me a springboard for action.

I knew that many things wouldn't be an issue for me, like alcohol or caffeine, but others, like sugar, gluten, and dairy, would be very difficult. Going off sugar wouldn't be too bad--I'd done that plenty of times in my life--but I'd never tried to go off all gluten or dairy products. I was a little apprehensive about trying something so drastic, but the more I read and listened to my body and thought about the results I wanted, the more I felt that this was something I needed to do. Knowing that "diets" are so often ineffective or harmful because people don't/can't maintain them, I suspected that many of the changes I made needed to be permanent. So I needed to commit myself to being all in. While my kids didn't like the change in routine (though the food I made for them didn't change much), my husband was very supportive, which helped a lot. Everyone needs a cheerleader and sounding board when they're making a significant change like this!

Gottfried's approach seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but as I became more acquainted with it, I realized that she takes it one thing at a time, which helps it seem doable--particularly for women, for whom this diet is geared toward. In other words, rather than going "cold turkey" on everything at once, you give up one thing at a time in three day increments. So, while you are further restricting yourself every three days, it's still easier than restricting everything all at the same time. For example, the first reset you go meatless (red meat) to reset your estrogen and the second reset you go sugarless to reset insulin. The third reset is for leptin, which I suspected, for me, was broken, or at least limping along. (Leptin is the hormone that helps you know when you're satisfied and should stop eating.) I'd never restricted fruits before, so that was definitely something new for me and I started feeling the deprivation that is common at the beginning of a new diet. As it turned out, that was a feeling that was to remain my almost constant companion for about two weeks, as I gave up grains and dairy in turn. Those first two weeks were definitely the hardest as I dealt with things like regular hunger, fuzzy thinking, and light-headedness, and I have to admit that wasn't a very fun time in my life. But I was committed and just kept plugging along, focused on my goal.

One thing to be wary of in learning about new diets is their claims about how much weight you can lose in a specified small amount of time. In this case, it was 15 pounds in three weeks. That was how much weight I initially wanted to lose and the idea that I could in less than a month kept me going. But what such claims don't factor into account is that everyone's bodies are different and respond differently and at different times. So in my case, I wasn't way overweight (just uncomfortable in my own skin) and wasn't eating the traditional bad American diet. I already had many good health and diet habits that I had maintained for years and this reset diet wasn't going to magically melt off my extra pounds in three weeks. That was kind of a hard lesson to realize. In fact, it actually took me two weeks to lose two or three pounds! (As I recorded in my food journal, "I must have been eating better than I thought.") What kept me going--and I think this is critical in any diet change--is that I felt better. My stomach was flatter than it had been in a long while, I didn't feel bloated or gassy any more, and I no longer had an energy crash after lunch every day. So I knew something was working.

Another factor in creating a lasting change in diet, losing weight, and/or improving your fitness level is keeping a record. I learned that 1) keeping a health journal or diary and 2) recording what you eat for every meal is crucial to success. The first provides perspective--the ability to look back and see that yes, real progress has been made, even if not in the ways you expected. It also gives you a place to write your goals so you can see them regularly and remember why you're doing this--and reach them! The second provides accountability. Recording what you eat is a small (and often inconvenient) thing to commit to, but when you know you're going to have to record that snack or sweet, it does make you pause and consider if you really need it or if you could make a healthier choice.

On August 12, 2019 I wrote in my food diary: "My goal for this reset is to lose 15 pounds, to feel more energetic throughout the day, to be able to sleep better (consistently), and to feel more comfortable and confident in my own skin (not so self-conscious). Also, to have greater clarity of thought."

By August 18th, I had found an app for my phone that helped immensely in accurately recording my foods and their carb, calorie, and protein amounts to help me stay on track. Trying to find all that information online for each food was just way too time intensive! I had also learned that eating a pound of veggies a day was harder than I expected. Typically our family dinner is focused around vegetables (we still get a Bountiful Basket each week), so I thought I was already eating quite a bit of veggies. But making an effort to eat a minimum of three cups of vegetables a day has really changed things for me. Now I truly love vegetables in a way I never have before and I want to eat them at every meal and miss them when I can't. I even like beets now (when I used to hate them)! It really is true what Gottfried says about our taste buds regenerating every two weeks. In two weeks I had trained my body to want more healthful foods and my taste buds regenerated to agree with those desires so that I enjoyed my improved diet more than I thought possible. I learned that it is possible to survive without cheese and re-learned how good lemon/lime water is for those times when I want to snack but need to hold off.

Throughout this hormone reset experiment the word "nourish" kept coming to mind. I felt like the varied foods I was eating nurtured my body in a way I'd never experienced before and it made me feel that I loved and was taking care of myself. Instead of just eating what I knew would most fill me up and keep me full longer (namely a lot of whole wheat products), I was eating what would nourish my body with a variety of nutrients.

One big thing I focused on quite well for a while (and need to get back to) was my sleep. Science has proven that good sleep fosters healthy weight and I have long known how important adequate sleep is to my personal health and wellness. Gottfried recommends helping the mind and body prepare for sleep by taking nightly baths with epsom salts and essential oils. I've always been a shower person, but I really enjoyed getting back to baths and allowing myself that time to slow down and unwind. As the mother of five, it's not always possible to arrange this, but when I can do it it's a helpful routine--part of the "nourish" concept.

I did learn that keeping carbs to 75 g per day was very difficult and I hated feeling like carbs were the enemy. After some time I upped my limit to 100 g and that was much easier. I add fiber powder to my breakfast shake each morning but otherwise I prefer to get my fiber from foods in their natural form--which really seems impossible when you're keeping carbs to 75 g a day!

About this time I felt I should incorporate some of what I learned in the second book I checked out from the library, The Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson. I have always understood the importance of complex carbs and whole grains and their health benefits, and I didn't want to deprive my body of that. Christianson's focus is on strategically increasing carbs throughout the day so that dinner contains much more carbs than breakfast, since carbs increase cortisol output, which naturally helps our bodies prepare for sleep. (Did I mention how important quality sleep is to a healthy weight?)

Not surprisingly, I learned that I had been eating too much sugar and that I need to keep sugar and breads to a minimum because they are "avalanche foods" for me--meaning they are foods that, once I start eating, I have a hard time stopping or eating in moderation. And I learned that while 100% whole wheat bread is the best bread choice (which I've eaten all my life), it's still basically "refined" when it comes to how the body processes it, as opposed to eating whole wheat, brown rice, quinoa, etc, which are eaten in their natural state.

Even though I have lost those 15 pounds I wanted to at the beginning, I would still like to lose another five or more to get back to the weight I was when I got married. I'm not totally sure that's possible, but I think it might be. I figure as long as I keep getting back on the bandwagon when I fall off and keep making an effort to continue exercising five days a week and being as active as I can, nourishing my body as well as I can, my body will do what it should do. In the meantime, I have quietly reveled in the accomplishment of losing three inches around my hips and dropping 2-3 pant sizes (depending on the pants--since sizing practices have changed over the years). I am thrilled to have a little "thigh gap" back and to have a better body image and food relationship.

So the quest continues... Onward and upward!

Whole Milk

Over a year ago I posted about a study that linked skim milk with not losing weight. If you understand the value of whole foods, you weren't surprised.

So here's another article, which explains the reasons why not just whole foods but whole milk products are better for your health. It goes right along with something a friend of mine asked me a couple years ago, which I've meant to blog about ever since: Aren't vitamins A and D fat-soluble? The answer is yes. Which means, as the article states, "This makes fortified skim milk the biggest sham of all."

Sure is nice when what tastes best is actually more healthful! :)

Healthier Alternatives

Tomorrow night I will be giving a short presentation at my church on nutrition. My topic is healthier alternatives--which is much of what this whole blog is about. It was a bit difficult to condense everything I thought of to discuss, but I managed to fit onto one page what I felt were the most important things to cover (it doesn't fit quite the same here). I include it below for those who are new to my blog or those who may appreciate a refresher, complete with links to places where I talked about them (or found the information) in more detail.

COOKING WITH HEALTHIER (AND USUALLY CHEAPER) ALTERNATIVES

• Try to do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the store (or better yet, produce as much of your own food as you can). (See Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food.)
• Cook from scratch - Get as close to possible to the natural source. Ex: Kroger’s All Natural sour cream has only cream, milk, and enzymes. Use butter instead of margarine. Even make your own spice mixes and cook desserts from scratch too.
• When you do buy prepackaged/prepared foods, check ingredients: The fewer the ingredients the better--and if you don’t know what some of them are, it’s probably better to opt for something else. (Again, see Michael Pollan.)
• Avoid MSG (monosodium glutamate). It’s added to many bottled sauces, salad dressings, canned soups, premade spice mixes, bullion, prepackaged foods, and even some sausages (not to mention many restaurant foods).
• Eat more vegetables. Try planning some dinners more around vegetable (and bean) dishes than meat dishes. This can also be cheaper.
• Limit or cut out white flour and refined grains. Bake with whole wheat flour and whole grains, including whole grain pastas and brown rice. Whole wheat flour is best ground fresh, since wheat begins losing its nutritional value (particularly its protein content) 72 hours after it is milled. You can also save a lot of money by grinding your own.
• Add more beans to your diet (preferably cooked from scratch). Ex: Substitute hummus for your vegetable or chip dip. If you do use canned beans, be sure to rinse off the sodium. Beans are super nutritious and very inexpensive. (Tips on how to get rid of much of the gas when cooking dried beans.)
• Refined sugar: Cut it down or out! Examples:

- Use healthier substitutes like honey, fruit juices, or raw sugar.

- Drink 100% juice instead of punch or soda.

- Replace fruit snacks with dried fruit.

- Instead of pancake syrup, use honey. Buy items such as peanut butter and

applesauce without sugar.

- Conscientiously check for corn syrup on labels and limit intake (there’s even some

new ketchup without it!)

What's the Deal About Raw Milk?

The controversy over raw milk has provided fodder for a few recent conversations I have had lately. It is something I feel more passionate about each time I learn more, and I hope that at some point in the not too distant future, it is one health change my family can make. Cost and availability are the only two reasons holding us back at present. A few reasons I would like to make the switch: It tastes so much better!, it contains many more vitamins and health benefits (including for the immune system) than pasteurized milk, to get back to the natural state and avoid synthetic hormones, it is easier to digest and gentler on the bowels. One of my sisters has had a lot of problems with IBS, which began to turn into lactose intolerance. She tried several different changes within her diet until she hit upon the raw milk at her local health food store. The milk there is tested for impurities daily and if it's not safe, they don't sell it. Much to her joy and delight, my sister found that her system could tolerate the raw milk without any trouble. Obviously there is a big difference between pasteurized milk and raw milk and it's not in favor of the former--contrary to what government campaigns tell us. Do the research yourself and get the real facts! Below are quotes from leading authorities on the issue. Look up the websites below to read more facts about pasteurized vs. raw milk:

The Weston A. Price Foundation (see realmilk.com):
Today's milk is accused of causing everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer, but when Americans could buy Real Milk, these diseases were rare. In fact, a supply of high-quality dairy products was considered vital to American security and the economic well being of the nation.
What's needed today is a return to humane, non-toxic, pasture-based dairying and small-scale traditional processing, in short . . . a campaign for Real Milk.

DANGERS OF PASTEURIZED MILK (see realmilk.com/rawmilkoverview.html): Many studies have linked consumption of pasteurized milk with lactose intolerance, allergies, asthma, frequent ear infections, gastro-Intestinal problems, diabetes, auto-Immune disease, attention deficit disorder and constipation. During a period of rapid population growth, the market for fluid pasteurized milk has declined at 1% per year for the past 20 years. Fewer and fewer consumers can tolerate pasteurized (and ultrapasteurized) milk (Don’t Drink Your Milk, Frank Oski, MD, 1983).
PASTEURIZATION HARMFUL: Many of these anti-microbial and immune-enhancing components are greatly reduced in effectiveness by pasteurization, and completely destroyed by ultra-pasteurization (Scientific American, December 1995; British J of Nutrition, 2000:84(Suppl. 1):S3-S10, S75-S80, S81-S89).

LACTOSE INTOLERANCE: In a survey of raw milk drinkers in the state of Michigan, over 80 percent of those advised by a healthcare professional that they were lactose intolerant were able to consume raw milk without problem. (LactoseIntoleranceSurvey.doc).

BENEFITS IN EARLY HUMAN STUDIES: In early studies involving humans, raw milk was shown to be superior to pasteurized in protecting against infection, diarrhea, rickets, tooth decay and TB; and children receiving had better growth than those receiving pasteurized milk (Real Milk PowerPoint--see realmilk.com/ppt/index.html--slides 54-56, 58).

ASTHMA: Three recent studies in Europe found that drinking “farm” (raw) milk protected against asthma and allergies (Lancet. 2001 Oct 6;358(9288):1129-33; J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006 Jun;117(6):1374-8; Clinical & Experimental Allergy. 2007 May; 35(5) 627-630).

PROTECTIVE COMPONENTS: Raw milk contains numerous components that assist in:

• Killing pathogens in the milk (lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin, leukocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, antibodies, medium chain fatty acids, lysozyme, B12 binding protein, bifidus factor, beneficial bacteria);
• Preventing pathogen absorption across the intestinal wall (polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, mucins, fibronectin, glycomacropeptides, bifidus factor, beneficial bacteria);
• Strengthening the Immune System (lymphocytes, immunoglobulins, antibodies, hormones and growth factors) (Scientific American, December 1995; British J of Nutrition, 2000:84(Suppl. 1):S3-S10, S75-S80, S81-S89).

DANGERS EXAGGERATED: Although raw milk, like any food, can become contaminated and cause illness, the dangers of raw milk are greatly exaggerated. In an analysis of reports on 70 outbreaks attributed to raw milk, we found many examples of reporting bias, errors and poor analysis resulting in most outbreaks having either no valid positive milk sample or no valid statistical association (see realmilk.com/documents/ResponsetoMarlerListofStudies.pdf).

Also enlightening is Cheeslave's top 10 reasons to drink raw milk, complete with pics and more discussion on the economic and rural impact that the Raw Milk campaign can help bring about.

And for a dramatic visual demonstration of the results of the above differences, check out this site about a study conducted very recently with calves. (Note: It gets a bit graphic but is very interesting.)