To Indulge, or Not To Indulge…That is the Question

Just because you found it at a health food store does not mean it’s healthy. In fact, one of the most unfortunate trends I’ve noticed through the years is that people will load up on many of the heavily processed vegan meal or dessert options out there as an alternative to their normal choices, thinking that they are now following a healthy diet. And while they are certainly better off eating these foods, there are still some major drawbacks to putting away these amounts of fat, sweeteners and sodium.

But still…most of these options are delicious! Whether it’s Purely Decadent Chocolate Obsession soy ice cream, organic blue corn tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole or Gardenburger Riblets, life wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t enjoy some of these treats on occasion, right? So how do we know how much or if we should indulge at all? There’s a thought process you can use to decide for yourself. I talk about it in the book, and I simply refer to the process as:

Know Thy Health, Know Thy Self

With the Know Thy Health part of the equation, you must critically evaluate your current state of health and see what kind of latitude you realistically have to include some of these rich foods. If you have any kind of history with a life-threatening illness like heart disease or cancer, then I would limit these kinds of foods to small amounts on very rare occasions or avoid them outright. Likewise, if you need to drop some weight, then you have to enjoy these foods very sparingly, as your daily total amount of calories, fat and sodium can mount up in a hurry. On the other hand, if you are in good health and are near your optimal weight, then you can enjoy some of these foods more often. Logical, right?

The Know Thy Self part of the equation has to do with understanding your own psychological/behavioral tendencies and making decisions accordingly. Do you eat when you’re stressed? Are you the all-or-nothing type where, once you have a little free rein to indulge in something, you go crazy with it? Does one type of indulgence lead to another, then another? Also, many of these foods represent the extreme end of sweetness, saltiness or richness. Are you going to be okay intermingling these special goodies with your usual fare? Or, will eating these treats regularly “taint” your taste buds so that your usual fare seems too bland?

These are all things to consider before going to the market!

So give this some thought and then make the best decision for you. Hopefully, you’ll have some room in your program for a few Uncle Eddie’s vegan chocolate chip cookies…

“But what if they laugh at me?”

A common concern for many men and women who want to start working out is being embarrassed to go to the gym. A lot of folks are intimidated by the notion, thinking that all kinds of supermodel and bodybuilder types will be parading around the gym, laughing under their breath at the pitiful physiques of the newcomers. And while I can empathize with someone’s concerns on the subject, this is simply not reality.

In all of my years of working out, and in all the different places I’ve trained around the world, I have never once encountered or even overheard anyone, at any time, making fun of someone else in the gym…ever! Think about that.

The only exception to this, of course, is between some bodybuilders themselves who, with a very snide and competitive overtone, might comment to a training partner about so-and-so’s “pathetically small” calves, or something like that. But the truth is, no one at the gym cares about what you look like. They only care about what they look like. In fact, most are very helpful and supportive and you will most likely feel some sense of camaraderie among members, even if no words are ever exchanged. (This is especially true in more “serious” gyms where there are a lot of seasoned lifters.)

All of this aside, let’s say you did catch a vibe from someone or feel like somebody was judging you by how you looked. Who gives a shit? You can’t control what other people think….but you can control what kind of shape you’re in. So – get your ass to the gym and don’t worry about it.

Getting Beyond the Diet Mentality

Most of us have been conditioned to believe that if we want to burn some body fat, we generally have to start some new diet. And yet, holistic fitness is all about considering the whole of your lifestyle, not just what you eat. Accordingly, the exercise and mind/body realms of this philosophy have a direct affect on your nutrition efforts. This is why it’s impossible to hit optimal levels of health just from diet alone. Let’s take a quick look at how these two other realms come into play, just from a dietary perspective.

In the Exercise Realm, the kind of shape you’re in, along with how many calories you burn everyday, are among the main ways that your diet is affected. Consider this:

• Cardio training helps to burn calories and increase your metabolism
• Resistance training builds muscle mass, which burns calories around the clock (to the tune of 50 to 100 calories per day per pound of lean muscle tissue)
• Exercise in general helps to relieve stress (see below for why this is important)

In the Mind/Body Realm, we know that being stressed or depressed can lead to overindulging in all of the worst foods and substances for us. (Remember the old saying that stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Who hasn’t sought the solace of heavy desserts as an antidote to stress?) Also, we are typically reinforcing old, disempowering thought processes unless we consciously reinforce new, constructive ones. By engaging many of the concepts available in the mind/body realm, you will find that:

• Less stress promotes slower more mindful eating, which means better assimilation
• Less stress means you’re less susceptible to overeating or even binge-eating
• Less stress means minimal release of certain stress-related hormones (like cortisol) which have been shown to promote body fat retention
• Key mental exercises are necessary to reshape your identity to stay on the new eating regimen

So as you continue to employ concepts from these other two realms, you will find that it’s less about dieting, and more about the synergy of a total lifestyle philosophy.

Have You FED Your Healthy Bacteria Today?

In the last blog, we talked about healthy internal bacteria and the importance of taking a good probiotic supplement from time to time. This week, I had a few questions about how much or how often we should ingest probiotic foods or supplements to optimize our intestinal flora. Here are a few key points:

1. Any time you can enjoy a non-dairy probiotic food like soy yogurt or miso, go for it. But the most reliable way to really crank up the numbers is through a probiotic supplement that you would take every three of four months. (See the 3/30/08 blog for more info.) Think of this like you’re bringing in more troops for your flora army.

2. Prebiotics, on the other hand, are supplements that are designed to nourish and strengthen the existing troops. By taking a prebiotic like FOS (Fructo-Oligo-Saccharides), you are ensuring that your flora army continues to thrive in your internal environment.

I would suggest taking a FOS-based supplement first thing in the morning and/or before you go to bed, every day or two. You can’t really o.d. on this stuff and it can only aid your flora in doing its job. And remember; a healthy flora is an effective flora.

My favorite prebiotic is called The Ultimate Florazyme. This is a fantastic source of FOS to feed the flora. Take one or two capsules on an empty stomach in the morning and/or evening, whenever you can. (It also doubles as a digestive enzyme, so you can cover two critical supplemental functions with one product. More on this later.)

Bottom-line: This one-two punch of a good probiotic supp a few times a year, supported by daily or even weekly dosages of a good prebiotic, is the hot ticket for Rock-Solid internal health.