My first January as a gym owner I got all excited knowing all the New Year’s Resolution people would be flooding the space on my floor. As years went by I quickly found that many people are not quite like me. Meaning, once it got hard or they found some other magic whatever, they quit. It happens all the time. Don’t believe me? Check in with your friends and see how many of them are still on that new-found hype. The big one is weight loss. Most the times in life, it takes a breakdown to create a break through. What do I mean by that? A diabetes diagnosis, stroke, heart attack, etc. Other times it’s your best friend getting married and you realize you’re 3 sizes larger than you’d like to be when you have to stand at the altar. What do you do? Search for that quick fix, right? People who truly know me that I’m transparent and don’t usually pull punches. I have, however, learned that there is another part to the ole “Say what you mean and mean what you say”. The last part is “Don’t say it mean”. I would get to know people a little, so I can learn their goals to help them meet those goals. They’d want to lose 50+ lbs. in a couple months. Then, I’m simply tell them, “I’m sure it took more than 2 months to gain that 50 lbs. It’s gonna take a little more time to take it off the healthy way”.
Enter CrossFit
Does it work? In a nutshell, absolutely. I’m an advocate for the original CrossFit. Why do I say “original”? It has evolved. But, what you learn pertaining to nutrition and exercise at a legitimate CF joint is amazing. You all have seen pics of them, because they like to show off their bodies, and see how good they look. It’s not easy but it works very well. There is a level of commitment there, but it’ll pay off if you stick with it. Just be smart about it and listen to your coaches.
My Time Proven Method on How to Lose It
I would often ask people, “Are you trying to lose weight or size? There is a difference”. I can show you a lady who weighs 160lbs but looks like she weighs about 120 because she is solid muscle and very lean. Case and point? Lift heavy. I became a disciple of West Side Barbell. Went through some of their training and ended up training people on the Conjugate Method. I really never cared to “bulk”. I just wanted to be shredded and very strong. At 160lbs I did well. Losing size is a by-product of lifting heavy. Why? Because lean muscle mass is extremely metabolic. It takes a lot to keep it running. When your muscles start to degenerate and become soft, you pack on the fat because it stores instead of getting used. One of our liver’s primary functions is to take stored fat and convert it to burnable/useable blood sugar/fuel for our bodies. In a nutshell. Lifting HEAVY = burning fat at an astronomical weight. I would tell people to throw away their scales. A good measure is 1.) How do you look? 2.) How do you feel? 3.) What can you do? Deadlifting twice your bodyweight, squatting 1.5 times your bodyweight, bench pressing your bodyweight 10xs and still being able to run a 5K in under 23 minutes means you’re doing pretty good.
Diet and Nutrition
The foundation of it all is how you are fueling your body. I don’t necessarily mean the Standard American Diet (also known as SAD). I’m talking on a cellular and molecular level. Are you getting all your vitamins, nutrients and minerals from quality sources? If you tell me you’re a Vegan, cool. How’s the soil your plants are gown in? Inflammation is the mother of everything evil. Keep it at bay. I have taken part in many diets mainly as an experiment until I found what works for me. They are all pretty good and I will say that there is no 1 diet for everyone. The one I’ve found to work the absolute best is a bit of a hybrid between Dr. Barry Sears Zone diet and the Atkins Diet. However, I needed some added fuel, so I wasn’t strict on the Atkins. Paleo is also another great diet to try out. The only problem with these is that it takes extreme discipline. Seriously. Nowadays we have all sorts of latest and greatest fad diets out there. The first one to pop in my head is the whole Keto Diet.
What the Heck Is the Keto Diet?
It’s basically the Atkins Diet but now you get buy powders to force your body into a ketogenic state. Remember this… Just because all your friends are doing doesn’t mean all your friends have done their due diligence in research. One of the worst things happening today is people who are desperate listen to their friends or see what the masses are doing via the latest trend and jumping on the bandwagon. You might want to stop and do some double checking, first!
Before you go all “Keto Diet”, you might want to check a few things out. You may take a step back and wonder, “I’m not sure this is for me or if this is truly a safe way to lose weight”. While the Keto diet is good for those who struggle with high glucose levels, those with normal levels may have adverse effects. Proper brain function being the main adverse effect.
“The mammalian brain depends upon glucose as its main source of energy, and tight regulation of glucose metabolism is critical for brain physiology. Consistent with its critical role for physiological brain function, disruption of normal glucose metabolism as well as its interdependence with cell death pathways forms the pathophysiological basis for many brain disorders. Here, we review recent advances in understanding how glucose metabolism sustains basic brain physiology. We aim at synthesizing these findings to form a comprehensive picture of the cooperation required between different systems and cell types, and the specific breakdowns in this cooperation which lead to disease.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3900881/
You can put your body into a ketogenic state without the pixie dust, but it does take more discipline to accomplish that goal. The con to the packets of Keto magic is that they are ridiculously expensive. You’re looking at a retail price of roughly $200 per month (on the low end) (taken from the internet as an average). If you become a distributor (some companies selling the stuff are a network marketing company), however, your cost can become much less but then you are stuck in the revolving door of trying to sell something that most people can’t afford, nor do they have the discipline to stick with it; and once they stop they get fat again. It’s similar to CrossFit in that the premise has been around a long time. CrossFit = Mono Structural Movements (biking, running, swimming, rowing) + Weight Lifting (Olympic and Power) + Gymnastics (pullups, handstands, rings, bodyweight stuff). Ketogenic Diet = high fat/low to no carb. Like CrossFit taking what’s always been here and packaging and labeling it, the Ketogenic Diet has renamed what has been around for decades. Now it just has a label that can be marketed. It’s nothing new. Research the Atkin’s Diet. https://www.atkins.com/how-it-works/atkins-20. Trust me, you can do the whole keto diet inexpensively without powders or special drinks.
The big thing for me, personally, is becoming and staying healthy on a cellular and molecular level. When you drill it all down and just want to get really real about homeostasis in your body the most important element is not how much you weigh, how you look, that rash on your skin, how fat or skinny you are or how ripped you are. It’s homeostasis. If your body is in balance and able to maintain balance within it’s internal environment, only then will most of the issues you’re having begin to dissipate. How do we do that? Very simple. Start with the proper amount of vitamins, nutrients and minerals in your body from quality sources. You will quickly find that everything will start to fall in line with each other. It may take a couple months but it’s the safest and most efficient way to achieve optimal living.
Instead of “treating” symptoms from diabetes, why not target the root cause of the diabetes? Why keep it “at bay” when you can potentially correct it altogether?
“A ketogenic diet helps some people with type 2 diabetes because it allows the body to maintain glucose levels at a low but healthy level. The reduced amount of carbohydrates in the diet helps eliminate large spikes in blood sugar, reducing the need for insulin.”
But people with normal glucose levels may experience glucose levels TOO low for proper brain function causing cognitive function issues.
Short-term side effects
As the ketogenic diet entails switching to a different source of energy, it can lead to some side effects. These may include:
- loss of salts
- keto-flu
- noticeable change in bowel habits, such as constipation
- uncomfortable leg cramps
- noticeable loss of energy
- mental fogginess
- frequent urination
- headaches
In most instances, the side effects are just temporary, and people experience no long-term problems.
Long-term side effects
Long-term effects can include the development of kidney stones and an increased risk of bone fractures due to acidosis.
Children may also experience stunted growth due to reduced levels of an insulin-like growth factor that can lead to bone erosion. This can mean weak bones that are highly susceptible to fractures.
Critics of the Atkins and ketogenic diets argue that a diet focused on ketosis is too excessive. This is because they believe prolonged exposure to ketones may potentially lead to kidney damage.
It is also difficult to maintain these types of diets long-term because they are so restrictive of carbohydrates. It may also lead to weight gain later, particularly if a person starts to eat carbohydrates again in an unbalanced manner.
“Glucose, a form of sugar, is the primary source of energy for every cell in the body. … In addition, hypoglycemia, a common complication of diabetes caused by low glucose levels in the blood, can lead to loss of energy for brain function and is linked to poor attention and cognitive function.” http://neuro.hms.harvard.edu/harvard-mahoney-neuroscience-institute/brain-newsletter/and-brain-series/sugar-and-brain
“The brain is dependent on sugar as its main fuel,” says Vera Novak, MD, PhD, an HMS associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It cannot be without it.”
“Our brain runs on sugar, and new research links the lack of glucose with cognitive impairment typical of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.” https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315571.php
So, in closing, do your research. You can ask your doctor but keep in mind, most doctors aren’t nutrition experts. That being said, question everything they say when it comes to diet and nutrition. “On average, students received 23.9 contact hours of nutrition instruction during medical school (range: 2–70 h). Only 40 schools required the minimum 25 h recommended by the National Academy of Sciences.” Of course, believe everything you read on the net, right? Heck! I could’ve just spent an hour writing this and could be completely full of crap. I’m not, but question everything. Alright, my fingers are tired. Hope you enjoyed the article!! Thanks for reading.
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