Friday, May 19, 2017

Ketogenic diet…Please… Don’t be Stupid!!!


Ok…here we go again.

The Devil's Diet Circle;

“A man lost in a desert can trudge for hours through the sands until he sees ahead of him an unmistakable line of foot prints leading to the horizon. But his joy on finding a trail turns to despair when he realizes the tracks are his own. Since one limb was a few millimeters longer than the other or habit or injury inclined him to step fractionally further with one leg, he consistently veered to the right or left. Without a path or landmark to guide him, he traced a vast circle while convinced he was walking in a straight line.”

Regardless of what our past diet history has told us, we feel compelled to struggle ahead, unaware that this diet is no different than the last. We are blinded by the illusionary promises that this time will be different than the one before.  We seek what makes us feel good, rather than seeking resolution.  Like an impulsive child with amnesia, we rush forward with no memory of past experiences, only caring about the emotional high that an illusionary promise provides.

Ok…enough of the poetic hyperbole.

“These diets work!”

If I had any hair left on my head I would pull it out when I hear that comment.

Clarification:

Number one... we’re all on a diet. It’s just some people's diets are more stupid than others.

Number two... just because you lose weight doesn’t mean it’s a “good thing” or that “it works!”

Let’s look at some of these diet methods that “work”:

-Starvation diets (Anorexia)

-Low carb diets (low-cal)

-Blood type diet (low-cal)

-Cleanse diet (Juice...really?)

-Eat and throw up diet (Bulimia)

-Crap it out diet (Laxatives)

And now!

Ketogenic diet!

Sigh….

What is the ketogenic diet?

The ketogenic diet involves eating foods high in fat such as meat, fish, nuts and cheese, and eating a very low amount of carbohydrates.

(*The ketogenic diet recommends taking supplements to make up for the nutritional deficiencies that the diet doesn’t provide. I’m sorry…how stupid do you have to be to start a diet that requires supplements to make up for the deficiencies of the diet???)

KH: Same as Atkins, sugar busters, zone, and so on and so on….they’re just repackaging the same stupid s--- for people who are looking for something other than eating healthy
This diet recommends that people eat 30 grams (g) of carbohydrates or below per day. The goal is to eat 3 to 4 g of fat for every 1 g of carbohydrate and protein.

Because the ketogenic diet restricts carbohydrates, there is not enough sugar available for the body to use as fuel, so it resorts to using fat. The process of breaking down fat is called "ketosis," and it produces a fuel source called ketones.

IMPORTANT!

KH: The body does resort to burning fat for fuel for muscle contraction; however, what does the brain use for fuel in the absence of carbohydrates?  The brain requires 120 grams of glucose (Carbohydrates) over a 24 hour period. When you don’t eat enough carbohydrates your brain sends a signal to convert muscle into glucose for neurological functioning. This process is called gluconeogenesis.

Gluconeogenesis is stimulated by the stress hormone cortisol.

Scientists have known for years that elevated cortisol levels: interfere with learning and memory, lower immune function and bone density, increase weight gain, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease... The list goes on and on.

Chronic stress (environment and nutritional) and elevated cortisol levels also increase risk for depression, mental illness, and lower life expectancy.

Other side effects:

As the ketogenic diet entails switching to a different source of energy, it can lead to some side effects. These may include:

-loss of salts

-keto-flu

-noticeable change in bowel habits, such as constipation

-uncomfortable leg cramps

-noticeable loss of energy

-mental fogginess

-frequent urination

-headaches

-kidney stones

-increased risk of bone fractures due to acidosis

Children may also experience stunted growth due to reduced levels of an insulin-like growth factor that can lead to bone erosion. This can mean weak bones that are highly susceptible to fractures.

Please… Don’t be Stupid!

The goal in our diet and life should be to reduce stress and become healthy. Reducing cortisol levels through healthy thinking and eating are definitely steps in the right direction.

Stress Reduction Techniques:

-Mindfulness (put things into proper perspective…less emotions and more logic)

-Balanced nutrition (55% carbs, 25 to 20% lean protein, 15 to 20% unsaturated fats)

-Exercise (Walk 20-30 per day, weight train 2-3 times per week)

-Prayer, meditation, yoga, reading, or various other peaceful moments in a chaotic world)

- “Pan Metron Ariston”…Moderation in All Things.

Moderation in all things is the key part of our personal growth. So the next time a “new diet” pops up… STOP. Awaken the impulsive child within us that wants immediate gratification and look for a long term solution.

It’s not about a radical new diet…it’s about a new radical lifestyle. That lifestyle is called self- control.

It’s not what we’re eating…it’s what’s eating us.....

Please…Don’t be stupid!


Monday, May 8, 2017

Words of Wisdom


Change your thoughts…Everything changes

We cannot change what we refuse to confront.

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

Don’t think of cost.  Think of value.

Sometimes we need to distance ourselves to see things clearly.

Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t know.

No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.

If a person wants to be a part of your life, they will make an obvious effort to do so.  Think twice before reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.

Making one person smile can change the world – maybe not the whole world, but their world.

Saying someone is ugly doesn’t make you any prettier.

The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well.

Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.

The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.

It’s better to be alone than to be constantly put down.

As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones.

Making a hundred friends is not a miracle.  The miracle is to make a single friend who will stand by your side even when hundreds are against you.

Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough and smart enough to let go and move on.

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc…

“They say we waste time as if that’s possible; we don’t waste time; we waste ourselves”

If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.

Don’t choose the one who is beautiful to the world; choose the one who makes your world beautiful.

Falling in love is not a choice.  To stay in love is.

True love isn’t about being inseparable; it’s about two people being true to each other even when they are separated.

While you’re busy looking for the perfect person, you’ll probably miss the imperfect person who could make you perfectly happy.

Never do something permanently foolish just because you are temporarily upset.

You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.

In life, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.

When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.

Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

There isn’t anything noble about being superior to another person.  True nobility is in being superior to the person you once were.

Trying to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.

You will never become who you want to be if you keep blaming everyone else for who you are now.

People are more what they hide than what they show.

Sometimes people don’t notice the things others do for them until they stop doing them.

Don’t listen to what people say, watch what they do.

Being alone does not mean you are lonely, and being lonely does not mean you are alone.

Love is not about sex, going on fancy dates, or showing off.  It’s about being with a person who makes you happy in a way nobody else can.

Anyone can come into your life and say how much they love you.  It takes someone really special to stay in your life and show how much they love you.

Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie.  Don’t save it for a special occasion; today is special.

Love and appreciate your parents.  We are often so busy growing up; we forget they are also growing old.

When you have to start compromising yourself and your morals for the people around you, it’s probably time to change the people around you.

Learn to love yourself first, instead of loving the idea of other people loving you.

When someone tells you, “You’ve changed,” it might simply be because you’ve stopped living your life their way.

Someone else doesn’t have to be wrong for you to be right.

Be happy.  Be yourself.  If others don’t like it, then let them be.  Happiness is a choice.  Life isn’t about pleasing everybody.

When you’re up, your friends know who you are.  When you’re down, you know who your friends are.

Don’t look for someone who will solve all your problems; look for someone who will face them with you.

If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.

No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life.  Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs.

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.

Many people are so poor because the only thing they have is money.

Learn to appreciate the things you have before time forces you appreciate the things you once had.

When you choose to see the good in others, you end up finding the good in yourself.

You don’t drown by falling in the water.  You drown by staying there.

It’s better to know and be disappointed than to never know and always wonder.

There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.

Happiness is not determined by what’s happening around you, but rather what’s happening inside you.  Most people depend on others to gain happiness, but the truth is, it always comes from within.

If you tell the truth, it becomes a part of your past.  If you lie, it becomes a part of your future.

What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.

You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.

If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.