Monday, March 25, 2013

sometimes, you really ARE doing it wrong

Not naming names or anything, but when some people "do what they've been told" and "follow the rules" and still fail to make progress ... well, SOMEtimes they ARE actually doing it wrong.

Some of us have to be stricter than Sisson's allowed 80-20 rule.  Some of us can't afford to assume we're absorbing our nutrients, even from the best foods.  Some of us have to baby ourselves when times get tough, and not try to soldier through workOUTS on top of workING.

I see nutrition gurus post recipe after recipe for "healthy" junk food and think, this just perpetuates the temptation people have to snack!  Perhaps i was an archtypal Spartan in a previous life, but when eating goes beyond being a pleasant necessity to being a form of entertainment, this is where the obesity-prone among us get into trouble.  Yes, enjoy your cream and chocolate and butter, but bear in mind that your meat is more important; nut-flour-based desserts shouldn't be the centerpiece of your diet!  NOURISH your body, for godsake!

If stress is getting you down, perhaps going for a run (or even a walk) isn't as good an idea as lolling in a hammock!  Instead of "just do it" maybe we should "just say no."  When "play" becomes joyless and just seems to wear you out, it could be that a weekend of couch-potatohood would be a much better idea.  DO LESS -- it's not subversive.

Eating a non-toxic diet is only gonna take you part of the way.  The rest of your life has to be non-toxic as well, if you're going to thrive -- your habits, or relationships, your profession, everything.  Fix what you can, discard what you have to, and take care of yourself.  Insist on it.

If the most acclaimed authority makes a pronouncement in favor of something that your body doesn't tolerate, that "authority" is WRONG, and your body is right.  You're the only one who knows what your body is saying (and we'll assume that you interpret its message correctly).  Doesn't matter if an absolute FLAKE advocates something -- if it works for you that's all that counts.  YOU are the authority on YOU -- or if you're not, you'd better learn.  Learn what works, and do THAT.

16 comments:

  1. I agree. What works for the much younger, much healthier, much earlier in life low-carbing Diet Doctor who hasn't completely wrecked his body by eating the recommended SAD diet for 60 plus years, DOES not work for me. This is just an example as I do love Dr. Andreas, but he's also male, so that gives him an extra advantage. Plus I've got another 30 plus years of toxic living that I need to get over. Stress levels have gone down immensely since becoming financially more stable (getting rid of the kid about 10 years ago and paying off my debt) and only two years from enjoying retirement. Getting my exercise in isn't a real consideration for me either. I walk when the streets are dry and not covered in ice. When my parents were young and slim, there was no such thing as a gym anywhere in the city. No one needed them. If anyone put on a few pounds after the holiday they just cut back on their bread and potatoes for a few weeks.

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    1. Sounds like you and your body have a good understanding! :-). Way to go!!!

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  2. +1
    Hi Tess,
    Another great post. In agreement with Nigel’s recent series titled “Everyone is Different” http://nigeepoo.blogspot.co.uk/ – I’m definitely not the average +/- standard deviation. As individuals, we exhibit individual responses; blanket recommendations are usually bollixed in one way or another imho.
    all best,
    Bill

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    1. thanks, Bill! yes, there are so many little things that can make something work better, or not work at all for us.... we all just have to keep tweaking one thing at a time, and have a lot of patience!

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  3. This is what I always think when someone says that anyone on LC shouldn't have any trouble with intermittent fasting. IF just makes me incredibly hungry and I eat more than I would have. But if it works for others, they should continue with it.

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  4. Sweeping generalizations just don't cut it! A B and C can do X Y and Z -- but don't bet the ranch on it.

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  5. As time goes by, I am getting more cautious of applying other people experiences to myself. I try not to keep around a food which can be consumed for pleasure, even if such food is LC.

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    1. i look at other people's experiences as a source of possibilities -- perhaps what works for them MIGHT work for me, but again, maybe not. as you say, "pleasure foods" are potentially dangerous! the closest i come to keeping THOSE around are nuts, cheese and chocolate, which i don't go crazy with. :-)

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  6. Yes, nuts and cheese, especially things like a microwave muffin made out of nut flour eaten with butter and blue cheese or a mascarpone cheese mixed with 90% chocolate should be reserved for a very special occasion. I am 52 years old, with removed gallbladder and underactive thyroid, I can afford food-wise even less than Wooo.

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    1. so true -- they're low-carb but moreish! i'm not sure why meat is so much more sating than nuts, considering that they have similar macronutrient profiles.... perhaps the PUFA content encouraging insulin sensitivity in muscle cells as Petro suggests? i DARE NOT sit down with a whole bag of nuts, whatever the case, and almond-flour cookies are downright dangerous.

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  7. I have avoided all the almond/nut flour products because it's keeping alive (at least mentally) that those types of desserts are ok. I don't want to eat 'healthy' junk food, which is what I consider them. I'll eat fruit for dessert, if I even have dessert, which is rare. Glad I'm not alone on that.

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    1. hi, Gwen! i think a lot of us come to this conclusion with time, and it's mostly the newbies who are consoled with nut-flour treats. :-) if it gets them past the original cookie cravings, it's better than nothing, though!

      ...mmmm, berries and cream! :-D i like sucralose-sweetened rhubarb, too.

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  8. About rhubarb with some sucralose - it is a base for a wonderful sauce for meat and chicken , you just have to add to it plenty of cilantro, salt,a lot of raw garlic, spices.

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    1. I'll have to try that - sounds delicious! You should write a blog with your recipes!

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  9. This makes sense. My GF has been dieting for over a year now off and on. 2 months ago she broke her leg and has been laid up in bed and off work. No opportunity to exercise. Has all this relative inactivity slowed her weight loss? Not at all. If anything it seems to be helping. Maybe the stress from overwork and overexercise is not that slimming after all.

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  10. I remember being able to move from a persistent weight loss plateau after a food surgery 3 years ago. I guess the reasons were - excess of sleep + being extremely discipline about diet, minus stress from exercise.

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