Monday, January 14, 2013

New Year...Same Strategy


“The world we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them” ~ Einstein

 Eat less…workout more.
How many times will we attempt this misguided formula? It didn’t work in the past, why would you think this time would be different?

Let’s look at “eating less and exercising more” in the context of food as fuel.  If food fuels the body, can you see how “eating less and exercising more” presents a problem?
(Decreasing the fuel supply while increasing the demand creates a deficit)

You put in less fuel, and drive the motor harder than ever. That’s like running your car twice as fast, twice as hard and expecting to put in less gasoline. It doesn’t make much sense, does it?
What American dieters have always assumed is that fat will conveniently and completely fill in that gap. You deprive your body of fuel with the thought that if you create a void, the body will automatically choose fat to fill it. Then, according to this reasoning, you’ll lose “pounds”…right?

There’s just one problem with that…it’s not what happens. Fat can’t pay back the deficit you create by “eating less and exercising more,” because the body doesn’t run on fat alone. Carbohydrates are the human body’s primary source of fuel…the immediate source of energy we use to fuel our activities and most of the work of our cells. The body must always have glucose…the carbohydrate found in your bloodstream at all times, and virtually no fat can be turned into glucose.
Ideally, your body makes glucose out of food…carbohydrate food. But it’s common to cut out food, thinking that’s the key to “thin.” Perhaps you’re on a weight loss diet that restricts carbohydrates (as most do). Or else you’re too busy. You don’t have time for food, you forget.

So where does your body get glucose if you’re not providing it? If you don’t eat enough carbs-whether purposely or thoughtlessly-your body manufactures carbs for fuel by using existing materials…but not the materials you may have always assumed.
While your body cannot turn any significant amount of fat into glucose if you come up short, the system can make glucose by grabbing protein from your lean muscle tissue and converting it to carbohydrate (Gluconeogenesis). Your own muscle tissue is destroyed in order to replenish the too-low glucose supply.

This is a survival mechanism which is efficiently geared with numerous safety features to ensure that you stay alive. And since we’re designed to use glucose at all times, this is your body’s way of making glucose when you don’t keep it well supplied with the food to do it.
Now I can hear you say, “So what, I just want to lose weight. I don’t care if its muscle”

Destroying your own muscle for the purpose of creating glucose during a shortage is dangerous for several reasons…
~ One, your muscle obviously has a purpose. Your muscle mass is your strength…it supports your skeletal structure and protects your bones.

~ Two, burning muscle for fuel is inefficient and wasteful… It’s very toxic to your insides.  Because protein is nitrogen based, nitrogen is given off when muscle protein “burns,” leaving your body an unpleasant mess to deal with. Organs such as the kidneys and liver are unduly stressed as they are saddled with the task of safely processing and excreting these by-products.
~ Three, the heart is a muscle. You might hope your body has the good sense to save that muscle for last-and in fact it does, attacking the muscle tissue of the larger extremities first. However, people can do damage to heart-“muscle tissue” through constant dieting.

~ Four, along with loss of muscle comes the loss of other important body proteins. The antibodies that defend you against illness are proteins. Muscle contains enzymes designed to metabolize fats, which are lost when muscle is lost.
~ Five, it is impossible to break down fat without carbs-which diets usually restrict. Fat that breaks down without fuel from carbs does so incompletely, leaving more harmful by-products to join the poisonous leftovers of muscle/protein breakdown.

~ Six, if more than about one-fourth of weight is lost is muscle, and/or if the loss is very rapid, serious protein deficiency and electrolyte imbalances can create heart irregularities that could result in death.
Make sense? And to think…you could have avoided this entire process by including carbohydrates in your diet.

 "You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better” ~ Maya Angelou