Welcome and an Introduction from the moderator...
I want to extend a very warm welcome to the members of our new community. Your introductions are wonderful and I encourage those of you who haven't posted your own yet, to do so.
For those of you that don't already know, my name is Laurie. I'm a married, 39 y/o Mom of 3 young boys. I created this community because I couldn't find what I was looking for in any other LJ community. A paleolithic diet for example, cannot be summed up as "low carb" and the thought of eating fat tends to freak most dieters out- and so I decided to create a place where we could have the discussions and share information, mostly free from the current fads.
I was a rail growing up, and a very active tomboy. When I hit my teens I started dieting to be able to wear Jordache and BonJour jeans *groan* and belly shirts. I wasn't even the tiniest bit overweight then, but painted on jeans were all the rage and the images in the media suggested that I should be thinner. That was really the beginning of the end. The more meats and fats I replaced with fat-free carbohydrate foods, the more weight I gained. I tried dozens of diets- from Physicians and NutriSystem to Weight Watchers. Eventually I was eating a 2000 calorie a day diet, practically devoid of all fat, with only skinless chicken breast, fish and de-fatted ground beef as my protein sources and FULL of "fat-free" starches and grains. I was walking and working out every day and I was STILL gaining weight. It was supremely frustrating.
Later, after fertility treatments to conceive my 3 children, I saw a Dateline program about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and I knew what I was dealing with. I went to my doctor with the information and she did some research. She'd never heard of it before. She told me that I'd have to wait until after my son was born and weaned (I was 7 months pregnant) to start treating it.
Well, when he was weaned I was 300lbs! I'd struggled for years with infertility, irregular and mostly non-existent menstrual periods, adult acne, hair growth in "less than desirable" places, depression, obesity, and an unfavorable blood lipid profile... the list goes on and on. *rolling my eyes* The issue goes by many "names"- from PCOS, to Syndrome-X and Metabolic Syndrome. But regardless of what we call it, it is INSULIN RESISTANCE.
Modern science tells us that insulin resistance is something we "get" after eating a diet high in sugars, and starches. But new evidence suggests that it is something we're born with- that the majority of us do not have the capacity to metabolize the starches and sugars in our modern diets, and that we simply wear out our insulin receptors over time. Our DNA hasn't changed since the time of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and they had very few grains available to them.
I cut all sugars out of my diet initially and all grain. I was losing a pound a day for several weeks, which tapered off slowly until I'd lost 80 lbs. I was eating at least 1000 more calories a day. I became uber fertile, with a regular 28 day cycle, the depression improved, my skin improved, the "hair growth" improved and my lipid profile normalized. THIS was simply "low-carb" eating though.. with little or no thought to the nutrients in the foods I was eating.
Slowly I learned more about the benefits of saturated fats in our diet and about the cholesterol myths. I learned about the dangers of polyunsatured (omega-6) vegetable oils and the poison of trans-fats. Now I eat a diet rich in red meats and fats, I cook with coconut oil which is a solid saturated fat, I eat butter and cream... and I'm the healthiest I've ever been. Of course, I also eat loads of vegetables, plenty of pure clean water and other whole, nutrient-dense foods.
I've also learned more about fitness. Though I've been slacking lately. *groan* The human body wasn't designed to run marathons or to jog many miles or to do hours of resistance training. It was designed to hunt and gather. It was designed for short burst of intense activity followed by rest periods of either full rest or reduced activity. It was also designed for impact! Low impact exercise may sound good, and for some it is absolutely necessary, but it isn't what we were designed to do. Our bones grow more dense and our muscles grow stronger with activities that involve impact on our joints. Clearly we weren't designed to work out on a treadmill or a stair-climber, we were designed to hunt prey, to chase them down, to struggle with them.. we were designed to climb and to swim. If you watch children playing in a playground, you can see wonderful examples of how we were meant to move.
There have been recent studies that show that when we work past that half hour or so mark, and "start burning fat", that we actually trigger a mechanism that teaches our body to store our calories as fat. The human body is an amazingly adaptable machine and it learns better than our conscious mind does. If we show it that we're going to dip into our fat stores every day, than it will store more fat. Interval training has been shown to increase metabolism far above what long distance or extended aerobic exercise does, and those who utilize it often lose three times as much fat. We have to learn to work with our bodies rather than against them.
There is also tremendous evidence that shows that getting the proper amount of UV exposure is not only safe, but is absolutely necessary to healthy living. Sunscreen was invented to appeal to our vanity and it is dermatologists that tout it. Organ cancers and even the dangerous "squaemous cell carcinoma" skin cancers are prevented by regular exposure to the sun. The incidence of cancer rises in direct proportion to the distance one lives from the equator. It is also MUCh higher in those with blacks skins because the pigments filter out a great deal of the vitamin-D building UV and make it hard for a person of color to get enough sunlight.
And finally- sleep cycles. When the sun goes down, our bodies begin producing melatonin. We were meant to sleep when it gets dark and rise with the sun. A lack of melatonin production has been linked to many ailments including cancer. Even the smallest bit of light, such as from a clock, night-light or street light, interferes with its production. In general we are an exhausted culture- we don't sleep near enough. Our highly adaptable bodies can learn to squeeze the necessary sleep cycles into the time allotted if we force it to, but being "able to function on 5 hours of sleep a night" is not a demonstration of health. We build a sleep deficit and it is cumulative. Those that work nights and sleep days have some of the highest risks for disease because of it.
My desire is for this community to explore these aspects of lifestyle- it is to help restore health through respecting the natural rhythms, cycles, diet and fitness of our bodies based on the lifestyles of our most primitive ancestors. They didn't know heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and tooth decay. We don't have to know either.
Again- welcome! The forum is open.. post away!
-Laurie
For those of you that don't already know, my name is Laurie. I'm a married, 39 y/o Mom of 3 young boys. I created this community because I couldn't find what I was looking for in any other LJ community. A paleolithic diet for example, cannot be summed up as "low carb" and the thought of eating fat tends to freak most dieters out- and so I decided to create a place where we could have the discussions and share information, mostly free from the current fads.
I was a rail growing up, and a very active tomboy. When I hit my teens I started dieting to be able to wear Jordache and BonJour jeans *groan* and belly shirts. I wasn't even the tiniest bit overweight then, but painted on jeans were all the rage and the images in the media suggested that I should be thinner. That was really the beginning of the end. The more meats and fats I replaced with fat-free carbohydrate foods, the more weight I gained. I tried dozens of diets- from Physicians and NutriSystem to Weight Watchers. Eventually I was eating a 2000 calorie a day diet, practically devoid of all fat, with only skinless chicken breast, fish and de-fatted ground beef as my protein sources and FULL of "fat-free" starches and grains. I was walking and working out every day and I was STILL gaining weight. It was supremely frustrating.
Later, after fertility treatments to conceive my 3 children, I saw a Dateline program about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and I knew what I was dealing with. I went to my doctor with the information and she did some research. She'd never heard of it before. She told me that I'd have to wait until after my son was born and weaned (I was 7 months pregnant) to start treating it.
Well, when he was weaned I was 300lbs! I'd struggled for years with infertility, irregular and mostly non-existent menstrual periods, adult acne, hair growth in "less than desirable" places, depression, obesity, and an unfavorable blood lipid profile... the list goes on and on. *rolling my eyes* The issue goes by many "names"- from PCOS, to Syndrome-X and Metabolic Syndrome. But regardless of what we call it, it is INSULIN RESISTANCE.
Modern science tells us that insulin resistance is something we "get" after eating a diet high in sugars, and starches. But new evidence suggests that it is something we're born with- that the majority of us do not have the capacity to metabolize the starches and sugars in our modern diets, and that we simply wear out our insulin receptors over time. Our DNA hasn't changed since the time of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and they had very few grains available to them.
I cut all sugars out of my diet initially and all grain. I was losing a pound a day for several weeks, which tapered off slowly until I'd lost 80 lbs. I was eating at least 1000 more calories a day. I became uber fertile, with a regular 28 day cycle, the depression improved, my skin improved, the "hair growth" improved and my lipid profile normalized. THIS was simply "low-carb" eating though.. with little or no thought to the nutrients in the foods I was eating.
Slowly I learned more about the benefits of saturated fats in our diet and about the cholesterol myths. I learned about the dangers of polyunsatured (omega-6) vegetable oils and the poison of trans-fats. Now I eat a diet rich in red meats and fats, I cook with coconut oil which is a solid saturated fat, I eat butter and cream... and I'm the healthiest I've ever been. Of course, I also eat loads of vegetables, plenty of pure clean water and other whole, nutrient-dense foods.
I've also learned more about fitness. Though I've been slacking lately. *groan* The human body wasn't designed to run marathons or to jog many miles or to do hours of resistance training. It was designed to hunt and gather. It was designed for short burst of intense activity followed by rest periods of either full rest or reduced activity. It was also designed for impact! Low impact exercise may sound good, and for some it is absolutely necessary, but it isn't what we were designed to do. Our bones grow more dense and our muscles grow stronger with activities that involve impact on our joints. Clearly we weren't designed to work out on a treadmill or a stair-climber, we were designed to hunt prey, to chase them down, to struggle with them.. we were designed to climb and to swim. If you watch children playing in a playground, you can see wonderful examples of how we were meant to move.
There have been recent studies that show that when we work past that half hour or so mark, and "start burning fat", that we actually trigger a mechanism that teaches our body to store our calories as fat. The human body is an amazingly adaptable machine and it learns better than our conscious mind does. If we show it that we're going to dip into our fat stores every day, than it will store more fat. Interval training has been shown to increase metabolism far above what long distance or extended aerobic exercise does, and those who utilize it often lose three times as much fat. We have to learn to work with our bodies rather than against them.
There is also tremendous evidence that shows that getting the proper amount of UV exposure is not only safe, but is absolutely necessary to healthy living. Sunscreen was invented to appeal to our vanity and it is dermatologists that tout it. Organ cancers and even the dangerous "squaemous cell carcinoma" skin cancers are prevented by regular exposure to the sun. The incidence of cancer rises in direct proportion to the distance one lives from the equator. It is also MUCh higher in those with blacks skins because the pigments filter out a great deal of the vitamin-D building UV and make it hard for a person of color to get enough sunlight.
And finally- sleep cycles. When the sun goes down, our bodies begin producing melatonin. We were meant to sleep when it gets dark and rise with the sun. A lack of melatonin production has been linked to many ailments including cancer. Even the smallest bit of light, such as from a clock, night-light or street light, interferes with its production. In general we are an exhausted culture- we don't sleep near enough. Our highly adaptable bodies can learn to squeeze the necessary sleep cycles into the time allotted if we force it to, but being "able to function on 5 hours of sleep a night" is not a demonstration of health. We build a sleep deficit and it is cumulative. Those that work nights and sleep days have some of the highest risks for disease because of it.
My desire is for this community to explore these aspects of lifestyle- it is to help restore health through respecting the natural rhythms, cycles, diet and fitness of our bodies based on the lifestyles of our most primitive ancestors. They didn't know heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and tooth decay. We don't have to know either.
Again- welcome! The forum is open.. post away!
-Laurie