Biohacking and Bulletproof Coffee

So part of this journey I am on has been about really looking into the right food for my body.

One of my colleagues at a client site posted a link on her facebook about Bulletproof Coffee. Clicking on the link led me to probably a couple of hours of reading posts at the time.


Initally, I was restricting my intake in a pretty extreme way, and I think I really needed to do that. So much of eating for me has always been about emotions and irrational thinking, and one of the main benefits of doing that was that I was actually able to take a break from my own brain, my own thinking.

What a relief! I even got really good at explaining what I was doing in a way that made sense to my own irrational thinking.

So now I thinking more about the difference between restricting intake to loose weight and retraining my body and resetting my metabolism.

The guy posting calls himself the Bulletproof Executive and has taken the concept of Biohacking to the extreme! I'll leave you to click on the link - his coffee, and concepts, are not for the faint of heart.

I can see that by doing a solely restrictive diet, there is a very real chance that my body will simply get completely confused, thinking it is starving and therefore slowing down my metabolism.

And this explains why so many people that do something like the Cohen diet lose heaps of weight - may 40kg - then put all that weight, and more, back on once they reach their goal weight.

I am trying to start replacing bad choices in my diet with really nutritious choices. Even though I have no idea how to prepare Jerusalem Artichokes!

Already I have noticed that I am more prepared to buy small quantities of really good products rather that stock standard grub from the supermarket. I am beginning to understand that price isn't the only factor when it may as well be toxic to me.

 

So today I am posting some of my recent purchases for your reading pleasure. And I am interested in how you think I could consider incorporating these into my diet

Real mozzarella balls - the fresh stuff is apparently really good as cheeses go and this tub has plenty of cherry tomato size balls.
Real wasabi - anything with intense flavourings is gonna be a winner and I've always had the cheap green horseradish variety.
Barrys Bay cheese - this is intended to be the opposite of the mozzarella, really tasty and designed for using just a small amount at a time.
LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond crush) - a friend sent a link saying this stuff is good for you. Only way I've used it so far is mixed through yoghurt.
Coconut Oil - apparently this is good for you. The Bulletproof Executive gets half his calories from fats, but always the good one. How is the next question ...
Steel-cut oats - a friend posted a link on facebook about making yoghurt crunch cups and the same site had a posting abut making steel-cut oats. Very soon after, there they were, tempting to be bought. Will let you know how they turn out.
Baby food - not sure if I already mentioned, but fruit purees are great for putting through low fat unsweetened yoghurt.
Clearwater Topless Yoghurt - I get this tub at a local market and it lasts for months as long as you carefully remove portions with sterile spoons.
Jerusalem Artichokes - apparently similar to potato but better for you and good at stablising blood sugars.
Free range, corn fed chicken - I try and buy a packet that is the right weight to easily split into meals. This packet is two meals for me.

This week I have been out with the girls for a Thai banquet and had pizza delivered last night. Which makes it even more remarkable that my weight this week is 85.2kg.

Lemon Pepper Beef

It's been a week since my last post and a busy week at that!

I have been really busy attending courses and seminars at the moment, as well as the rest, and this has meant a lot of meals on the run or provided as part of events.

I'll try and explain something that has changed for me since starting this journey.

The crux is: I am entitled to be slim and healthy and I am responsible for making choices that make me slim and healthy.

This sounds really simple, but I think that for a really long time I have made excuses for why things are the way they are. And at the heart of those excuses was an underlying belief that I did not deserve better.

If I am headed in the right direction, every step will get me closer to my goal.

I have been spending a lot of time lately educating myself around this personal development stuff and some of it is definitely sinking in. In fact, I am attending a ten-week seminar on Living Life More Powerfully: Being at the Cause of Life, not the Effect.

In the olden days, I was literally thinking about lunch as soon as I finished breakfast and continuously during the day I was justifying why I should just eat anything I chose.

Since making a decision to use food to manage my diabetes with a strict food plan, I have experienced the most incredible freedom from that thinking!

Going to get some fruit from a platter at an event on Friday, I discovered that a Creamed Pavlova had been added to the table as well. The first thing I did was turn my back on it. Literally. Then I had a conversation with my inner voice about whether or not I should have some. Once my inner voice was finished justifying why a little bit wouldn't hurt, it really was as simple as I'm not allowed it.

So I turned back to the table, selected a small portion of fruit and went away to enjoy it. AMAZING!

I haven't been as obsessed with following the food plan posted about earlier, but I have been making choices that support my body better. No sugar or flour. No potatoes, pasta or rice. Limited fruits and fat. Limiting the portions.


And it is working. My weight this week is 86.0kg.

Dinner in the picture is beef coated in lemon pepper served with mushrooms, bok choy and tomato pasta sauce. And it was delicious.

Coming full circle with the Carbs

I am choosing to change the day I 'un-officially' weigh myself to a Saturday since I know that weekends are not good for me. I am looking at this as a forever thing and don't need to beat myself up if I had a slice of Divine Dessert Chocolate Mudcake last night after eating really well all week.

I feel like I have come full circle with the whole 'carbs' thing ... I spent a bit of time online this week looking for information about some of the popular low carbs diets out there at the moment - Cohens, Dukkan etc.

Many people on forums has discussed their anecdotal stories of using these popular diets. Everyone agrees that they have (or they know people who) followed these diets to the letter and lost huge amounts of weight - 40kg here, 25kg there.

But, equally, there are stories of people ending the diet with a sluggish metabolism, the same previous habits and putting all of the lost weight - and some - back on.

People talk about this being their own fault for not doing 're-feeding' training - learning how to eat enough to maintain the new weight.

Trying to find a balance where I am eating healthy food that is best for my Diabetes, while trying to make sure my choices don't inadvertently screw with my already-sluggish metabolism ... and somewhere along that line, I am hoping to safely lose weight to help minimise my Diabetes in the long-term.

The speed of that weight loss is becoming unimportant as long as I continue to trend downwards.

I am going to allow a small amount of quality carbs back in ... Divine Dessert Chocolate Mudcake is not quality at all in terms of my health - it did meet an emotional need after a rather stressful week but I had the sugar hangover to prove it.

I have bought a loaf of low GI Cape Seed bread and will allow myself the occasional slice.

See how human and imperfect I am? Emotional eating and indecisiveness, but I just need to keep getting on that horse and making this thinking a habit. By the way, my weigh-in yesterday morning - 87.5kg. Good.

Image: divine.co.nz
Image: diaryofaladybird.blogspot.com

McDonald's Chicken Salad

I know that going to Maccas for a salad is like an addict going to the Pub for a drink of water.

But dammit, Maccas marketing is so good that my kids think is it just an expected part of life. The children are quite used to having a burger and fries or froke. As I have been.

I would guesstimate that the kids go to Maccas at least once a week on average.

This horrifies my Mum, since "we had Fish and Chips once a year growing up".

I am happy to say that my eldest son is becoming more discerning and will happily choose sushi over a burger if we are in a food court. Though that has it's own cost: financial. Especially since he wants the ten dollar pack with the prawns and shrimps. Frankly, Maccas would be cheaper. But only financially.

My friend Charlotte was saying that her eldest was quite alot older than alot of other kids the first time she offered Tim a chip. At first he didn't know what to do with the chip kind of looked at her as if asking "What do I do with this?". Her next boy, Ben, was very early with the "Give me more".

I think the thing in that is that its easier to avoid contact with the first but the third in the family will be chuggin down fries at 6 months and 2 days!

So just after I was starting this journey, my youngest (age 2 and a half and very familiar with Maccas) was attending a party and I was challenged to find something suitable on the menu.

I bought a side salad for $3 and a seared chicken breast fillet for $2. And a low fat Garlic and Black Pepper Balsamic Vinegar dressing. I think they have a Chicken Salad choice for around $8 as well. Mehh.

As work is directly across from a mall and food court, this has become one of my lunch choices. And since Gio and Michelle are eating healthy as well, we have, between us, ordered enough Chicken Salads over the month to run the mall franchise out of that yummy low fat dressing. Is that an achievement?

Franchises charge differently for a fillet, but they are quite happy to do this. I am still on my journey to health, and I am able to attend a birthday party with my children, if need be.

When to throw out fat clothes?

On the phone to Mum the other night, I was saying that I fit back into a pair of pants that were too tight for me before I started this journey.

Her (helpful mum) response was "That's great. You need to throw out the clothes you don't fit anymore. Just throw into a clothing bin on your way past. Start doing it now and it will be one less thing to sort out".

My immediate reaction was "NOOOOOOOO ......."

I'm just not ready to let go of my biggest fat clothes, so what is that about?

Infact, I'd go so far as to say that my fat clothes make me feel better at the moment.

I like that they are too big on me now. I don't want to go down to clothes that might feel fitted <read tight here>.

But what if I need them again?

So part of me is still not convinced this is a forever journey, and ready to slide right back to my old size. I talked to my girlfriend on a similar journey and she feels the same way. No clothes are leaving her wardrobe yet either.

I am learning that my internal voice is anything from an echo of my past to a comment on my fears or even worse: my shame, so I know that the internal voice telling me to keep the clothes is not helpful or wanting the best for me.

"Thanks for sharing inner voice, Now I will take time to decide what I actually want".

I really want to recover from Diabetes. I really want to be a healthy size and live a healthy life.

I have dropped a dress-size already but I still haven't thrown any clothes out, but I am well aware of the conversation going on inside my head. And now that I have awareness around it, I can change it.

I'll let you know when I get my head in the right space around this. Wish me luck.

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Compliance through Difficult times

My city has been living in the most extraordinary of times. We have experienced over 8000 aftershocks and several very large and devastating earthquakes over the last year. Of those, I'd estimate that I have stopped and noticed over five hundred.

Image: Quake Drum, McQueens Valley - 4 September 2010

With the first earthquake, we considered ourselves very lucky on the whole. Even badly-affected friends whose houses were severely damaged, were able to carry on with the support of family and friends. We all got on with our lives and became familiar with the aftershocks.

For me, the February quake was worse. No power or toilet at home for weeks, school and daycare closed for weeks. Water supply compromised. And the tragic loss of a dear friend.

I was very fortunate that family took care of my two oldest boys in a town two hours away, where they were able to attend school as well. My youngest boy stayed with me where I was hosted by my business partner and his wife.

Eventually my husband and I were re-united at home as a family and begin living life as 'new normal'.

During the upheaval, one of the first things to go was routine. People still talk about the how they simply forgot to cut hair, cut toe nails or go to the dentist.

For me, any semblance of routine around food and medication was immediately ruined. I think it may have been a month later I was visiting the doctor, tearful that I had forgotten to take my prescribed medication, and the doctor assured me that my circumstances were the same as dozens of other people he'd seen from Christchurch. And he was in Temuka, that little town two hours away!

Two things stand out for me about this:

“It's never too late to be who you might have been.”

George Eliot (English novelist 1819 - 1880)

And if I google long enough, I'll find the perfect quote to justify my insane timing. So I did:

“You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect.”

Miyamoto Musashi
(Japanese Martial Arts master, one of the world's greatest swordsmen, 1584-1645)

At the time of the doctor's appointment, I resumed some medications, but not my injected insulin. More recently I went through the rigmarole of testing and adjusting my insulin, getting back into a routine, but whatever ongoing and other stress has happened, soon knock that out.

So this is all part of my story that has lead me to this place, this plan. What I can't do with medicine, I am doing with food.

My final motivational quote for today:

“Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.”

Christian D. Larsen
(American author of Applied Metaphysics for Beginners, 1874 – 1962) 

Image: quake.crowe.co.nz 

Omega-3 Oils and Walnuts

I have been wanting to add some supplements into my food plan since I am aware how restrictive my diet is at the moment.

And since I believe everything anyone posts online, when I was looking for advice on appropriate supplements for Diabetes, I was happy to believe the following:

You can increase insulin sensitivity by taking omega-3 oils. Essential fatty acids help to increase the level of nutrients getting into cells by increasing the fluidity of the cell membrane. When our cells are insulin resistant the cell membranes do not allow nutrients into the cells since the cell receptors are not able to function. The omega-3 fatty acids improve the circulation of nutrients into and energy out of the cells. Your primary energy source should be from fat. But do not eat a lot of saturated fat since most of the excess fat we store is saturated fat. When insulin levels go down the triglycerides will start releasing some of the stored saturated fat. Your cell membranes require a balance of saturated and poly-unsaturated fat, and keeping that balance is what helps improve the fluidity of the cell membrane. Good sources of fats are nuts like almonds and walnuts. Nuts are a great source of protein mixed with mostly mono-unsaturated fatty acids. Supplementing with EPA-DHA fish oils is very beneficial in improving insulin sensitivity. EPA helps reduce inflammation in tissues, especially the arteries, and DHA is extremely helpful for circulation and brain function.

I visited the local health food shop looking for 'EPA please' and mentioned the Diabetes as well.

The lovely lady there sent me on my way with high-dose EPA and Gymnema, also called Gymnema sylvestre, is in the Glucose Manager product. Apparently this plant is from India and has been used for centuries as a natural medicine to treat Diabetes. Also helps with treating constipation, liver disease, water retention, blood pressure problems, arrhythmia and tachycardia. But the coolest bit is that it can be an weight loss supplement because it interferes with tasting sweet stuff and therefore reduces cravings.

And yet again, there are good reasons to add nuts into my food plan. Must get on to that.

Quote: naturalchoicesforyou.com