OMG!! NOTHING'S WORKING...(Weight Loss Woes..)

GLYCEMIC INDEX & GLYCEMIC LOAD (As promised..)

OK, guys--here's the best, most complete list I've come across. USE THIS FOR YOUR WEIGHT LOSS FOOD PLAN! Due to copyright infringement laws, I won't attempt to post his rather thorough list, so here is David Mendosa's link with great information! You can also find him on Facebook! Click on the link below to view or copy the list for your own personal use.

http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

And contact me with your questions! Till next time..

High Carbs? Low Carbs? What IS The Answer??

Well, that’s exactly why I’m writing this—I’d asked that very question for years to no avail. I’ve tried a high “healthy” carb diet, a low carb diet, a no carb diet, an evenly distributed diet, (in terms of protein, carbs and fat ratios) and on and on.

Let me say this: like many females, my body tends to respond poorly to a high (if healthy) carb diet. Now having said that, I can honestly say that I did seem to do better with a relatively high carb diet in my twenties and thirties, as long as I consumed the more benign forms like potatoes, (even potato chips if they were cooked in lard—or technically all “natural”) and I steered very clear of “sugar” in any form. 

By the time I reached my forties, however, it was different story. Now, if I ate white potatoes in any form I’d begin to see a weight gain almost immediately, but not necessarily a lot of water retention or bloat. Throughout that decade I almost constantly had to watch and reassess my carbohydrate intake—something I’d never had to do before—it was disconcerting.

Hahahahaa.. I had no idea what I was in for in my fifties; I’m currently 52. The changes to my body have been what I consider to be radical. Although in some ways it’s almost easier for me to maintain a fit body, (most likely because I’ve been at it for so long) I have water retention and inflammation issues that I couldn’t even have comprehended prior. Now I find myself battling not only my allergies almost constantly, (an inflammation reaction) but a harsh sensitivity to carbs in terms of water-weight and even swelling. (I also experience far greater water-retention from sodium than I had previously.) Even “healthy” starchy carbs can bloat me to a depressing extent if eaten late in the day, or in a somewhat larger quantity throughout the day than is the norm for me.

So what’s my point?—you may be asking. Well my point is this exceedingly important and far too commonly overlooked one. One diet clearly, does not fit all.

Having done this kind of “Health/diet consulting” for many, many years now, I can’t stress enough how contradictory my experience with clients has been to the “This is the diet that works” one size fits all mentality that saturates our culture. Is it any wonder that women, (women in particular since they’re the target market) have low self-esteem regarding their weight? How undeniably discouraging it is to try the latest surefire techniques, one after another, only to fail miserably—again.

In the spirit of reader retention, thus hopefully brief enough to be “readable” I’ll cut to the chase here and provide you my objective, as I could indeed go on (shocker).  : )

Out of necessity, I’ve researched this seemingly wide variance in diet results for some time now. After all, it’s not so easy to be touted a fitness guru of sorts, when you’re at a complete loss for answers regarding the topic of weight loss—even and especially with the traditional knowledge base. (Isn’t book learning for the birds on some topics??)  But a simple assessment of the results, (or lack thereof) in your own circle, screams that it’s no secret—no one really has “The Answer” do they? If they did, I wouldn’t be pounding out this blog at seven thirty in the morning, as it would clearly be a colossal waste of my time. But there most certainly IS an incredibly enduring need as evidenced by the multimillion dollar diet industry that continues to flourish.

The most recent conclusion I’ve reached is that a person’s insulin reaction to carbs (and eating a meal in general by the way) is highly individual. For reason’s I won’t go into now, many things occur throughout one’s life that influence current homeostasis, which may or may not be in a healthy state. If you have what seems to be an inconsistent reaction to carbs, meaning that on any given day carbs seem to make you feel better—more energized and clear headed, suddenly followed by a feeling of lethargy, body aches and brain fog, you probably have a low sensitivity to insulin (or you’re insulin resistant) and it takes more insulin being dumped into the blood stream to sense and handle the carbs in you tissues. Those individuals who are insulin sensitive handle carbs better.

In my situation, and again, unfortunately you’re going to have to do a little work to figure out exactly what your own situation is, it turns out that I need to carb up a bit before, during and after a workout, followed by almost no carbs for the rest of the day—who the heck knew?? But when I exercise my glycogen stores simply get so depleted if I don’t do this, that the next day follows with the response described above (previously unbeknownst to me).  I’m too exhausted to work out again, I’m craving carbs like crazy and I’m suffering brain fog to such an extent that I’m convinced Alzheimer’s is knock, knock, knockin on my door.  

Before you decide it’d be easier to simply shoot yourself than to deal with these complications, understand that I’ll be following up with more information to help you figure things out—a great deal of the work’s been done for you. In the meantime, you can start paying attention to how your body’s currently responding to carbs. Make notes as you notice reactions—it’ll make this process far easier in the long run and you’ll actually be able to lose weight!!

In addendum, it’s decidedly important that you pay attention to the glycemic index of the carbs your ingesting when you begin this endeavor. As has been noted for some time now, high glycemic carbs in particular inflict the most harm to your system—especially for those who are insulin resistant.

Fortunately, Shakeology continues to meet and exceed the standards required to effectively and healthfully lose weight, while sustaining good nutrition and glycogen stores. It’s by far still one of the best resources out there, beyond all doubt.

Thanks for reading guys! Until next time.. : )

I just made a HUGE faux pas in my weight loss endeavor

...And thought it
apropos to share. OK, so I'm pretty experienced at this whole weight
loss/fitness thing--that's fairly clear. But even I'm vulnerable to
being "taken" when it comes to "healthy food." Let me
explain…

First of all, I know you're thinking "And why, in God's name, are YOU
losing weight, Vawny??" Well, if you've seen my Beachbody
Fitness site, you'll know that I gained ten to lose ten, so that you
could watch my progress and know that I feel your pain. I'm 50 years old, so
it's not a ridiculous idea to think I could hit a weight loss plateau. However,
I have a strict diet and I workout frequently and intensely. Needless to say, I
was a bit shocked when my metabolism seemed to stall out on me. Now, I'm aware
that I don't lose weight as easily as I did a decade ago--in fact, I've joined
the ranks of those who gain weight by virtually looking at fattening foods,
(such a bummer…) but this time, I was really mystified. Nothing seemed to be
budging my weight--cutting carbs, increasing cardio, etc., until a couple of
days ago, that is...

I decided to stop at the grocery store that carries the only ground turkey that
I truly love (oops--duhh--red flag Vawn) and since the price had gone
up, yet again, I started reading the labels to find a comparable product. Well,
guess what I found? Yeah...I'm an idiot. It said that right on the label--“Vawny
is an idiot!“ The reason I loved that ground turkey enough to go out of my
way to buy it?? The damn FAT CONTENT!!! I couldn't have been more shocked--or
incensed, for that matter. While the store “muzak” morphed and
hammered the Freddy Krueger soundtrack through my head, the words "17
grams of fat per serving; serving size 1 oz" jumped off the label like
a landed tuna. GOOD GOD! I had been eating about four ounces per meal!
Once I recovered from what felt like an impending apoplexy right in front of the
meat section, I was able to pull together some gratitude for the fact that I
didn't actually gain a bunch of weight--fat head notwithstanding…Whew!
So, I'm sharing this with you because I know how cunning, baffling, and
powerful the food industry can be, and I know how insidiously fat can creep
into ones diet. I can already see the difference in just a couple of days of
changing to a low fat ground chicken. But I'm sending out a warning to you
all--READ THE DAMN LABELS NO MATTER HOW HEALTHY YOU THINK WHAT YOU'RE BUYING IS!

The food industry in general, has one goal and that's to make a profit.
I thought I'd struck gold when I found that stuff--and I know better! That, my
friends is called "Denial" with a capital "D" and most of
us are vulnerable. To assume that “because it’s ground turkey, it must be
low fat“ is some weighty rationalizing. I'm embarrassed--hanging my
head in shame, (and from the fact that my head now weighs more). I need to
clean house. Confess. So that my blunder is not your blunder--and not in vain.
Is all this label reading/weight loss information driving you to near
psychosis? Contact me at Beachbody Fitness and liberate yourself from
guesswork with our unparalleled support! You are sooo worth it!!

SHAKEOLOGY-INTELLINGENT WEIGHT LOSS..

NUTRITION THAT CAN'T BE BEAT! CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR THE BEST NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT AVAILABLE TODAY!

ACCOUNTABILITY--DO YOU HAVE IT?

Just worked out in WOWY and I'm so grateful that I've been far more committed to recording my workouts here! Last week was AWESOME in terms of energy and I totally took advantage of it by pushing my workouts to the MAX! This week's not so good as far as my energy level goes, but that's ok and to be expected. I suffer from some chronic fatigue issues and have a very restrictive diet that helps a great deal. So I've managed my workouts this week, but not with the energy of last week, and I'm working hard to be ok with that. As a fitness lifer, it can be hard not to beat myself up for not doing more. I've learned, however, how important it is to listen to my body and allow it more recovery time than others may need. I'm careful not to compare myself to those who are achieving difficult goals at a much faster pace and I find that I actually do better with that attitude and make more progress in the long run. If I force myself to push when my body's telling me it's too much, I wind up with some illness that requires bed rest and frequently, antibiotics. My food is paramount to my health and fitness and my most difficult challenge. To this day I struggle with the restrictions that I need in order to keep things like migraines at bay--especially with the seasonal changes like spring and fall. Life is good overall though, I've learned how to cope and even manage many if not most of my symptoms. I'm generally a happy camper with two fantastically wonderful teenaged children and the greatest love I've ever had. Lucky me lucky me--a great career and lots of love! At 51 years old, I feel like life is just beginning!