Tis the Season for a Mini Re-Set
I am acutely aware of how easily an “event” can derail a healthy diet plan. And here we are, moving into the season of MANY EVENTS! I have personally designated Halloween to Easter the “Sweets and Feast” season with Memorial Day to Labor Day being the “family Q” season. Since the “sweets and feast” season is at hand, right NOW is the perfect time for a Mini Reset.
RE-SET THE ENERGY BURNING SYSTEM
The traditional 3 meals a day may be unwittingly causing your body to crave sugar and store fat. Shifting the body from burning sugar for energy to burning fat can be as simple as breaking with tradition. It takes approximately 12 hours for the body to burn the sugar stored in the body as glycogen. Most people never deplete their glycogen stores with the “eat small –eat often” trend or just the typical three meals a day. These eating patterns teach your body to burn sugar as your primary fuel and effectively shut off your ability to use fat as a fuel.
Dr. Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, studies meal timing and calorie restriction. Based on his research, he’s convinced the fewer meals you eat, the better you’ll fare overall.
As reported by Time Magazine: “Longo says studies that support a grazing approach tend to be flawed in predictable ways. They often look only at the short-term effects of increasing meal frequency. While your appetite, metabolism, and blood sugar might at first improve, your system will grow accustomed to your new eating schedule after a month or two. When that happens, your body will start expecting and craving food all day long instead of only around midday or dinnertime.”
Burning fat as fuel, has a number of benefits beyond weight lost. One molecule of fat yields 460 molecules of energy, whereas one molecule of glucose yields only 36 molecules of energy. The brain, as the primary energy user, produces its own insulin to ensure constant energy from glucose. It is the brain that stimulates the sugar cravings when steady fat energy (or ketones) is not available. Continuous energy surges provided by glucose tend to over stimulate the brain hormones. This manifests in feelings of anxiety and anxiousness. Slow burning, quality fat supplies not only the brain, but the entire system with steady energy (verses the highs and lows experienced during a day of traditional eating).
The solution seems simple enough. Wait at least 12 hours since your last meal before you eat your first meal of the day. Waiting 14 hours is even better if you can work it into your schedule. This may mean you do not eat any solid food until 10 or 11 am. During these few hours of “fasting” I drink charged water to avoid typical side effects like headaches or fatigue.
Also, I do not eat solid food after 7:30 pm. It is recommended that you eat no later than 3 hours before bedtime. The body uses a great deal of energy to digest food. Eating later and falling asleep soon after may result in waking up multiple times during the night.
REST THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Our bodies manufacture only 20 digestive enzymes. The building blocks or co-factors to these enzymes are protein, vitamins, (especially B vitamins) and minerals. If just one co-factor is missing, the enzyme cannot be manufactured by the liver and pancreas. It is important to realize that the body is built to SURVIVE. If co-factors are needed for a more vital function than digestive enzymes, these micronutrients may be prioritized away from the pancreas and on to say, the heart, lung or brain.
We were created to consume most of the much needed digestive enzymes in our food. Raw organic fruits and vegetables come with their own enzymes. These enzymes are the cause of your fresh food rotting over time. Raw is important because ALL ENZYMES are destroyed with heat! B Vitamins are also crucial to enzyme building and are lost during the cooking process.
RESTING the system starts with eliminating heavily processed foods. This not only reduces the burden on your digestive enzymes and micronutrients, it also reduces the burden on your IMMUNE SYSTEM!
Processed foods are void of usable micronutrients and enzymes. These fake foods cause a condition called digestive leukocytosis. This is the state in which the digestive system, cannot keep up with the demand. Consequently, ENZYME RICH white blood cells must step in to help. Processed meats like lunch meet and sausage or foods with multiple chemical additives will induce a white blood cell (leukocyte) reaction that is similar to POISONING!
Speaking of meat, ALL animal protein (red meat, poultry, fish and dairy) is difficult to digest and will create an acid residue in your system. The body’s protection mechanism must then rob valuable micronutrients, like calcium from bones, to prevent acidic harm to joints and delicate tissues. This process can be mitigated by eating small portions of animal protein with large portions of quality vegetables.
The animal protein argument is usually that it provides complete proteins (all 22 amino acids) and therefore, you get more “bang” for your buck. An 8 oz. steak contains approximately 2 oz. of protein. Less than 30% of that 2 oz. is actually made usable in the body. The complex structure of animal protein requires abundant supplies of stomach acid, bile and enzymes to metabolize.
Plant proteins, on the other hand, are more bio-recognizable. Hemp and spirulina are complete proteins that are simple in structure. Compared to meat, 8 oz. of most plant protein will yield 5 oz. of usable amino acids. Plant proteins create less acidic residue and this acid is easily expelled through the lungs.
My protein sources throughout the day are usually hemp seed, rice bran, almonds, cashews, tahini, dates, chlorella, spirulina, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries and of course multiple veggies which all contain some protein.
Adding raw options to every meal and snack will add usable enzymes and micronutrients. Consider adding foods rich in probiotics and extra enzymes like fermented foods and raw apple cider vinegar.
Introduce NUTRIENT DENSE recipes into your daily or holiday meals. Smoothies, dips and dressings can supply abundant micronutrients to mitigate a holiday meal or party. Try the Creamy Ranch Dressing or Pumpkin Seed Basil Pesto recipes. Both are loaded with nutrients and can serve TRIPLE DUTY. They can be served as a salad dressing, a veggie dip or a pasta sauce! Other great favorites are the Zucchini Red Pepper Hummus and Chocolate Tahini Dip.
ADDITIONAL MINI RESET PROTOCOLS
For one week, 100% of the time, try this:
- Wait 12 hours before you eat your first solid food (includes a smoothie)
- Start your day with filtered charged water
- Drink filtered charged water all day
- Do not drink soda; especially DIET!
- Do not drink alcohol
- Do not drink milk
- Do not eat packaged sweets (not even organic energy bars)
- Do not eat processed meats
- Do not eat farmed fish
- Do not microwave ANYTHING!
- Eat at least 50% raw; smoothies, salads, dips and dressings
For the same one week, 90% of the time, try this:
- Drink a morning smoothie
- Eat a salad at home with raw dressing. If not at lunch, then dinner.
- If you snack, make it a raw snack that is NUTRIENT DENSE
- Drink ACV in warm water before and/or after dinner (especially if dinner is at restaurant)
- Do not eat lunch meat or fake cheese
- Eat less than 6 oz. of animal protein combined all day
For the same one week, 50% of the time, try this:
- Wait 14 hours before you eat your first solid food ( includes a smoothie)
- Eat NO ANIMAL PROTEIN all day
- Do not eat grains all day
- Do not eat dairy all day (yes, this includes cheese)
- Eat 99% raw all day
- Drink the full apple cider vinegar tonic before bed
- Exercise
After your 1 week MINI RE-SET, consider carrying as many of the protocols as you can into your holiday season.
Taking time in between these two seasons to re-set the energy burning system, rest the digestive system and restore vital immune and regenerative nutrients will give you the best chance to enjoy HEALTHY along with the HAPPY holidays.
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