Power to Change Habits

As a health coach, I work with people who want to change habits and make healthier choices.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO CHANGE HABITS?

I started looking for answers and had the good fortune to find Charles Duhigg’s book The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business. Here is what I learned from Charles. The Framework for Change summary at the end of this article cuts to the chase.

Habits and Urges
A habit is a subconscious mechanism that impacts countless choices that seem as if they are the products of well-reasoned thought, but actually are influenced by urges most of us barely recognize or understand. (Pg 6)

Habits Are a Brain Loop
Habits follow a three-step loop in your brainCUE: a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use.
ROUTINE: an action that can be physical, mental or emotional in nature.
REWARD: the outcome that helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.

The Brain Stops Participating
Over time, the pattern becomes automatic. The cue and reward are intertwined until a powerful sense of anticipation and craving emerges and a habit is born. (Pg 19) When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision-making.

HABITS CAN BE A BENEFIT OR A CURSE
HABITS AREN’T DESTINY

Once you break a habit into its components, you can fiddle with the gears. Even small shifts can end the pattern. (Pg 27)

Craving Powers the Habit Loop
Merriam-Webster defines craving as an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing.
Craving for a break, for stimulation, endorphins from exercise, satisfaction from accomplishment, ease of boredom or loneliness is what powers your habit. Particularly strong habits produce addiction-like reactions so that “wanting evolves into obsessive craving” which forces the brain into autopilot. (Pg 50)

Cue = boredom at work, stress, loneliness
Craving = the brain sees the cue and begins anticipating a momentary distraction, (the dopamine release)
Routine = action to feed the craving, answer emails, go to the cafeteria and eat a cookie
Reward = relief from the craving, albeit momentary

To overpower the habit you must recognize which craving is driving the behavior.

You must become conscious of the anticipation, like when the smell of cinnamon draws you as an unseen force to a Cinnabon counter.

The Golden Rule of Habit Change
The change process will keep the cue, provide the same reward, but insert a new routine.
Learn new routines that draw on the same trigger. Recognize your existing habit and accept new routines. (Pg 79)

You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.

THE FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE

Ok, roll up your sleeves and let’s get started. Here are some examples to guide you.

Identify the Routine
Experiment with Rewards
Isolate the Cue
Have a Plan

STEP ONE – Identify the Routine, usually the behavior you want to change.
You go to the cafeteria mid-afternoon buy a cookie and eat it while chatting with friends.
What is the Cue? Hunger, boredom, a break before beginning a new task or low blood sugar?
What is the Reward? Is it the cookie itself, change of scenery, temporary distraction, socializing with colleagues or energy from the sugar hit?

STEP TWO – Experiment with Rewards. Isolate what you are actually craving.
Rewards satisfy cravings. To figure out which cravings are driving particular habits, it is useful to experiment with different rewards. Feel no pressure here, just be a scientist in the data collection stage.
Feel the urge for your afternoon cookie but take a detour outside for a short walk and then go back to work.
The next day, go to the cafeteria and buy a donut, return to your desk and eat it.
The next day go to the cafeteria, buy an apple and eat it while chatting with friends.
The next day, walk into your friends room and chat for a bit.

What you choose to do is not important. The point is to test different hypotheses to determine which craving is driving your routine. Is it the cookie or the break? If it is the cookie, is it because you are hungry? If so, the apple will take care of it. Is it an excuse to socialize? If so, walking into your friends room to chat will take care of it.

As you conduct your experiment, start looking for patterns. Write down the first three things that come to mind after you test each reward. They can be random thoughts or reflections. “Relaxed, Saw flowers, Not hungry”. Then set an alarm for 15 minutes. When it goes off, ask yourself how you feel about that cookie urge. If 15 minutes post donut, you still want a cookie then the driver is not low blood sugar. If after stopping to chat with a friend you still want the cookie, then social interaction is not what’s driving you.

STEP THREE – Isolate the Cue
Look for patterns for three days. It will be clear what cue triggers your habit.

Location – Where are you?
Time
Emotional State – Bored
Other People – Alone
The Immediately Preceding Action – Answered an email

STEP FOUR – Have a Plan
Once you identify your cue and your real reward (for example, not the cookie but a moment of distraction), write a plan: “Every day in the afternoon I will walk to a friend’s room and talk for 10 minutes.” It won’t work all the time or immediately but it will eventually become the new habit. You will go home feeling better about making choices instead of being compelled by habit and giving up your power.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. 2012 Random House ISBN 978-1-4000-6928-6 or e book ISBN 978-0-679-60385-6. Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale College. Learn more at charlesduhigg.com.

Dorothy coaches people on their way to achieving  health and lifestyle goals.  Contact her at www.SynergyWellnessNW.com

Doctors Want Education On Integrative Medicine

Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine – Dr. Andrew Weil

Seattle Washington

I had the good fortune to attend the opening sessions of the Nutrition and Health Conference in Seattle today. Dr. Andrew Weil launched this nutrition education conference for medical doctors ten years ago when just 21 hours of medical education in nutrition was recommended for doctors. In 2004 only 44% of medical schools met that minimum recommendation.

At the conference today 50% of the registered attendees were doctors. The need for this education is acute, and they are aware of it. At least some of them.

intellectualist.com

What is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative medicine is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative. Read more from Dr. Weil.

This evolving approach is desperately needed to deal with the heavy burden of the poor state of health in the US.

“Positive health requires a knowledge of man’s primary constitution and of the powers of various foods, both those natural to them and those resulting from human skill. But eating is not enough for health. There must be also exercise, of which the effects must likewise be known. … If there is any deficiency in food or exercise the body will fall sick.” Hippocrates, 480 BC

The Optimal Diet

Cut to the chase. How do we eat to optimize health and still enjoy eating while avoiding disease?

Dietary extremism is rampant but not the answer, according to Dr. Weil. Low fat, no animal (Vegan), all animal (Paleo) and Raw Food are some examples. This polarization of eating patterns looks at food from only a nutritional perspective and ignores the essential pleasure and social bonding that food provides us. Humans are genetically, metabolically and biochemically unique individuals. We are the product of diverse cultural and traditional eating patterns. Mindful, respectful appreciation of the good feeling that comes from the pleasure of food is healing. Optimal diets must be flexible, adaptive to cultural tastes, focus on pleasure and the social aspect.

Two traditional diets that appear superior are the Japanese and Mediterranean diets. Dr. Weil also agrees with the recommendations from The Nutrition Source at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The Big Take Away

• Eliminate the consumption of refined food.

• Drinking sweetened beverages (including fruit juice) is the major obesity driver in kids.

• Chronic inflammation is the prime driver of many of the health issues and disease of our culture. Dr. Weil has created the Anti-Inflammatory Diet Pyramid.

• Gut Flora and Fiber are crucial elements to managing this inflammation.

• Many spices and herbs are potent anti-inflammatories. (Ginger, Cinnamon, Turmeric to name a few)

• Sea vegetables and mushrooms have protective qualities.

Learn how to take control of your nutrition. Hire a Personal Nutrition Coach as your concierge to health. See what a month of support can do for you. To contact Dorothy go to http://www.SynergyWellnessNW.com

Protein Needs – The Reality Check or “Where Do Vegans Get Their Protein?

The question is a frequent one.

 

The real questions about protein in the diet should be:

         How much protein should I eat?

         What kind of protein is optimal for human health?

Who is the beneficiary of the research that supports a nutrition statistic? Who makes the most money or who funded the research? Call me skeptical but I think that is worth adding to the total evaluation.

How Much Protein Should I Eat? Bottom Line Answer = about 10% of your daily calories should come from protein.

Dr. John McDougal is a respected resource for nutrition education. In his work Common Sense Nutrition his guideline is 8 to 15% of total daily calories from protein. Many other Functional Medicine health care providers concur with that number. The Institute Of Medicine and World Health Organization recommend 10% calories from protein; 0.8 to 0.83 grams/kg/day. 0.8 grams per kilogram equals .36 grams per pound, as one kilo equals 2.2 pounds.

Example:         110 pound body weight = 40 grams of protein

                           150 pound body weight = 55 grams of protein

Athletes and body builders may be able to utilize higher protein intakes during  high competition and muscle building phases of their training season.

Eating Too Much Protein

When you eat more protein than your body utilizes to form structures, it gets converted to carbohydrate. Then the carbohydrate moves into glycogen storage. When glycogen stores are filled, excess nutrients are converted by the liver and stored as triglycerides in fat tissues.1

T. Colin Campbell, the respected researcher from Cornell and author of The China Study writes “The correct recommended intake is around 8-10% protein (not 35%!) which can be easily supplied by a good whole foods plant based diet. Even potatoes will do the job alone.

So, it’s back to the question of how and why and who is recommending [higher] numbers. The first time that these new high limits appeared was when a top consultant to the dairy industry, was chairing the Food and Nutrition Board that was responsible for the report. That report was funded by the dairy industry-based Dannon Institute, among other corporate benefactors who, accidentally I suppose, rather liked these high protein recommendations. “2

Generally, all food sourced proteins are digested to individual amino acids and absorbed.

Although there are dozens of naturally occurring amino acids, the proteins in our body are derived from just twenty. Of these twenty amino acids, our body is able to adequately synthesize twelve by combining nutrients. The other eight amino acids, called essential amino acids, must be supplied by our diet. 3

My Side Note: Human Mother’s milk supplies 6% of calories from protein. Cow’s milk provides an excessive 26%.4

The Surprise Hidden Protein Source In Your Body

In addition to protein we eat there is an internal source of amino acids. Endogenous amino acids are derived from the sloughing of intestinal cells and used up digestive enzymes. These recycled proteins are a rich source of essential amino acids. We now know that the body is quite capable of taking incomplete proteins and making them complete by utilizing this recycling mechanism. It is now clear that more than 200 grams of endogenous protein is added to the daily dietary protein. Given the recommended daily intake is about 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, for a 150 pound person that is 55 grams. The important fact here is that the majority of amino acids absorbed from the intestinal tract are derived from recycled body protein.5

Are We Built to Eat Meat As Our Primary Protein Source?

All natural foods-from lettuce to nuts-contain varying amounts of protein. Most conventional nutritional thinking ignores the tremendous contribution of plant foods to our protein needs.

Even a brief look at comparative anatomy illustrates quite clearly that man is not designed to be an obligatory carnivore. And just because our bodies have a vital need for a substance does not mean that twice or three times our need is even better.

A diet of sufficient caloric intake derived from fresh fruits and vegetables with the variable addition of nuts, whole grains and legumes will provide an optimum intake of protein and other nutrients, depending upon the particular foods eaten.6

Bottom Line = Humans are omnivores. We can eat and utilize nutrients from animal food as well as plant food.7 The most healthful diet appears to be from predominantly plant foods. Some proponents of a plant based diet also acknowledge that eating 2 to 3 servings weekly of meat, fish or animal protein as 3 to 4 ounce servings is acceptable in a healthful diet.

References

1) http://www.jlr.org/content/11/2/131.full.pdf

2) http://www.tcolincampbell.org/courses-resources/article/protein/browse/1/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=76&cHash=1a1a6bfcecf641f8c2f63d1ded113b4d

3) http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-protein-book Lyle McDonald

4) http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/blog/?p=80

5) http://www.healthpromoting.com/learning-center/articles/where-do-you-get-your-protein

6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GsGxqdlP4U

7) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-32381/Meat-vegetarian-best-you.html

Eating the Green Road for Health, Sustainability and Compassion

SynergyWellnessNW (that would be me), supports these scientifically based Standards as the optimum diet for health and longevity. These Standards were established at the International Living Foods Summits, held between 2006 and 2009. Vegan and plant based diets are endorsed by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Charlotte Gerson, Director of the Gerson Institute, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Alan Goldhammer, Director of True North Health Center, Dr. Caldwell Esselsten, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. John McDougal and many other scientists, nutritionists, medical professionals and athletes. Two vegan athletes I am inspired by are Ruth Heidrich and Brendan Brazier. 

It is all pretty compelling, don’t you think?

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Courtesy of Green Scene

According to the International Living Food Summit Guidelines, eating the following diet will significantly address the urgent issues of health, environmental sustainability, world hunger, and a compassionate respect for all life

• Vegan (no animal products, cooked or raw)
• Organic
• Whole Foods
• At least 80% raw (the remaining to be whole food, and organic)
• High in nutrition such as vitamins, antioxidants, and phytonutrients
• Highly mineralized
• Contains a significant quantity of chlorophyll-rich green foods
• Contains adequate complete protein from plant sources
• Provides excellent hydration with a large proportion of high-water content foods and pure water
• Includes raw vegetable juices
• Contains all essential fatty acids from naturally occurring plant sources
• Has moderate, yet adequate caloric intake
• Contains only low to moderate sugar and exclusively from whole food sources
• Contains minimal amounts of unprocessed salts, as needed (depending upon your constitution)
• Is nutritionally optimal for both detoxification and rebuilding

It is also agreed that:

• Eating local, ripe, seasonally available foods as appropriate is preferable
• Plant-based supplementation of Vitamin B-12 is imperative. Adequate Vitamin D levels can be maintained with sufficient sun exposure. When exposure is inadequate, take appropriate levels of plant – based Vitamin D-3.
• The addition of enzyme active superfoods and whole food supplements is advised but does not take the place of the optimum diet described above.
• Caffeinated and/or addictive substances (even in their raw form), such as cacao/chocolate, coffee, caffeinated teas, and alcohol are limited to occasional consumption, if at all.
• This way of eating can be further optimized by tailoring it based on individual needs
• Diet is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle, yet not the entire picture. A full spectrum, health-supportive lifestyle is encouraged. This includes physical exercise, exposure to sunshine (with awareness), as well as psychological health.
• Avoiding environmental toxins and toxic products is essential. Paramount is pure water (for consumption and bathing), the use of natural fiber clothing, and non-toxic personal care products. Also consider healthy options in home furnishings/building materials and related items.

The Pleasure Trap May Kill You

The Pleasure Trap refers to several inborn and genetic drivers that manipulate us and our behavior, in spite of the conscious awareness that it may not be the right direction or action for health and well being.

In the book The Pleasure Trap the authors identify three things that drive human behavior.

• SEEKING PLEASURE
• AVOIDING PAIN
• CONSERVING ENERGY

Specifically I am talking here about eating behaviors but the Pleasure Trap fits all types of things that we often call addictive. Think about it, the more taste sensation a food has, the more of it you are likely to eat, right? That sensation stimulates your brain to release dopamine which screams “ PLEASURE, THAT FEELS SOOOO GOOD, MORE, MORE…”

The over indulgence continues and demonstrates the second driver, avoiding pain. “I am suffering because I don’t have more of …(whatever)”.

This is the hook that the commercial food industry is banking on when they add chemicals , fats, salts and sugars to artificially stimulate the senses of taste and smell.

The other part of our over-consumption crisis is that humans have a primal drive to eat calorie dense food. This is connected to the third driver, conserving energy. It meant survival then. Now it means obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. In our day it means too many calories with too much stress and too little physical activity.

Become aware of these seductive drivers.  Give yourself a nod for bucking the system when you can say “No thanks” to a second helping or taking ANOTHER one of those fabulous Christmas cookies.  Food is meant to nurture us, not kill us.

What Can You Do to Give Yourself a Leg Up?

Read labels on prepared foods. Know what the strange names mean and empower yourself to avoid them.

1.  Added sweeteners, both natural and chemical.  These make up 25% of the calories in teen diets.

• Anything that ends with –ose means a natural sweetener added to the food. Did you know that Agave has more fructose than High Fructose Corn Syrup?
• Malt
• Xylitol
• Sorbital
• Aspartame
• Saccharine
• Acesulfame

2. Flavor and Taste Enhancers

• Glutamic Acid is MSG
• Isolated Soy Protein amino acids are used to make MSG
• Autolyzed yeast
• Disodium Guanylate
• Disodium Inositate
• “Flavor” is undefined and can mean chemicals

3. Salt

• Packaged foods contain added salt almost universally.
• Sodium content should be ½ to 1 mg per calorie in the food. Minimum daily sodium intake for survival is 500 mg.  Optimal daily intake is 1,500 mg. Maximum as defined by the Institute of Medicine is 2,300mg.
• I have been ranting about salt in my recent journal entries.  Look back if you have not yet seen those.

4. Oil

• High fat stimulates olfactory awareness that says “this is a calorie dense food” so the primal drive to eat high fat food is triggered.
• Read labels for Trans Fat, which is partially hydrogenated oil (aka unnatural) and has detrimental effects on cell membrane and function, which literally means all of you.
• How oil impacts satiety can be both good and bad. If you eat more whole, plant based foods that are naturally low in fat you will want to add a small amount (1 ounce of nuts or seeds or 1/3 avocado for example) to feel satiated. Feeling full is partly nutrient driven but more stomach stretch receptor-driven.
• Satiety is feeling full.  120 calories of oil is 1 Tablespoon of oil which will not fill you up. 120 calories of fruit and vegetables is 1 Pound of food and that will fill you up.

Do your best to limit the food you buy that needs a label. Whole, real food is best.

Salt, Sodium and Your Health

Though we use “salt” and “sodium” as if the two words were interchangeable, there is a difference. Table salt is actually sodium chloride or NaCl.

Sodium is used to transmit nerve impulses and is found in every cell of your body. The balance between sodium and other ions regulates the pressure of cells and is related to your blood pressure. About 40% of the amount of salt by weight comes from sodium.

There is strong evidence that links our current salt intakes to high blood pressure, the main cause of strokes and a major cause of heart attack, which are the most common causes of death and illness in the world. A high salt diet is linked to other conditions, cancer of the stomach, kidney disease, kidney stones, obesity and exacerbating the symptoms of asthma, Meniere’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and Diabetes. Excess salt is also related to osteoporosis. Excess salt increases your need for calcium so it gets pulled from the stored sources like bones and teeth. Salt is also related to GERD and congestive heart failure. This and more at World Action Salt.

What about children?
There is now evidence to show that a high salt intake in children also influences blood pressure and may predispose them to the development of a number of diseases including: high blood pressure, osteoporosis, respiratory illnesses such as asthma, stomach cancer and obesity. Kids under one year need about 1,000 mg (1 gram) per day based on IOM recommendations.

However, reducing the sodium intake in the US remains difficult,

in part because 75% of sodium

in the average American diet comes from packaged,

processed, or restaurant food.

Notice that the picture below shows salt in grams, that is 1,000 mg!!!!! Now read on to see how much salt you should eat.

Fast Food Salt Courtesy DailyTelegraph.AU

How Much Should You Eat?
Twenty-three hundred (2,300) milligrams is the highest level considered acceptable by the National High Blood Pressure Education Program. The 1,500 milligram level can lower blood pressure even further and, more recently is the amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine  as an adequate intake level and one that most people should try to achieve. The lower limit for adequate system function is about 500  mg per day.

Whole natural foods straight from the garden will provide around 300-500 mgs of sodium per day. This leaves 1,000 – 1,200 mg/day to still be within the recommended 1,500 mg/day and to 1,800 – 2,000 mg to be under the upper limit. With no added salt coming from anywhere else, this leaves most people the ability to add around 1/2 to 3/4 tsp a day without increasing their risks.
Watch out for the usual high-sodium sources: cured meats; frozen or boxed entrées; frozen and canned vegetables; fast foods; sauces and salad dressings. Sodium also hides in unexpected places. For example, cottage cheese can contain almost 1,000mg per cup. Read labels to find good choices.

The Best Way to Control Salt Intake
You were wondering about enjoying the taste of your food, right?
There are two important factors here.

The re-calibration of taste buds
Gradually reduce the salt you cook with and ask the chef to cook your dishes with no added salt. Bring your own favorite natural sea salt to sprinkle on the food and you will get the taste you are looking for. Do NOT trust the restaurant to use unprocessed, bleached, refined and added-to salt. Iodized “When It Rains, It Pours” is not good for you. For more on the minerals in sea salt check this article from CureZone.

The human sensory system has the ability to adapt
In other words, you get used to something and it does not seem as intense as it did when your brain initially detected it. Sensory adaptation permits a living creature (human, animal, plant, microorganism) to find balance with its surroundings and efficiently respond to changes in stimuli.

So when you eat more salt, you continue to need more salt to notice the taste. This is part of The Pleasure Trap stimulus.  More on that coming up.

How Salt Affects Body Weight

It is two weeks after my water fast. My body weight hovers around 108. Up from low during the fast of 103 and the high pre-fast of 116. Changes in body weight during a fast is first and foremost the loss of water from tissues. It can be several pounds in a day, depending on the baseline you start from. Once the carbohydrate and salt is depleted, fat becomes the fuel for body and brain.

Since the fast I did make some dietary changes after learning ways to make yummy food with no added oil, sugar or salt.  The salt has been the hardest challenge. I am now using more herbs and spices with great results. If I eat more salt than I need my body weight goes up by a pound, give or take.

Gomashio

Instead of adding salt to savory dishes I am using seaweeds, dulse is my favorite. A great way to add good minerals is to make gomashio, a traditional Japanese condiment and part of Macrobiotic cooking. to sprinkle on food. I make a simple version in my coffee grinder with dried dulse and sesame seeds in a 50/50 ratio. I have seen ratios of up to 1/12 and using any kind or color sesame seeds.  I don’t roast them but the traditional recipe calls for roasting the sesame seeds. If the dulse is bone dry when you make it, gomashio keeps in the fridge for days.  Try it.

How much salt is too much? 

Salt Ponds. Maras, Peru

According to Nutritionist Jeff Novick, and many other respected healthy food experts, about 500 milligrams per day is the goal.  The standard US intake is 3,000 to 5,000 milligrams per day. The Upper Limit of the USRDA and Institute of Medicine is 2,300 mg/day, but the IOM recommends under 1,200 mg/day.  You will get your daily requirement if you use 1/2 teaspoon of added salt to flavor unsalted dishes. Foods have naturally occurring sodium of around 12%. Processed or restaurant foods have around 77%!!!

Tell the chef you want no salt added to your dishes and bring along your own little stash to flavor the food to your liking. Give your taste buds a chance to get used to a lower salt intake slowly, over time.  It works.

My physical training is progressing steadily and I am now comfortable in Zone 3. See more about Heart Zone Training or attend my Threshold Training seminar in Seattle on November 10th.

Re-starting Your Metabolism After a Water Fast

One week post-fast, I’m back in the gym and I’m noticing how the fast affected my strength and endurance. I’m in the process of base-building again, both cardiovascular and muscular strength.

A water fast of longer than 5 days has dramatic effects on metabolism.  In that time tissue and liver stores of glycogen have been processed in the interest of maintaining energy for brain function. The larders are bare so to speak. But not the lard, if you will.  Humans store plenty of fuel as fat. Fat is lighter to store and is a more efficient storage system than glycogen. An athlete will exhaust glycogen stores within a few hours of hard effort. If they don’t supply some carbohydrates they hit the energy deficiency wall (Bonking) and can not perform at capacity. If no fuel is supplied, as in a water fast, what can the body do to keep the brain in gear until the famine is over?

It is the uniquely human, incredible system of being able to convert fat stores into component parts that will feed the brain until the next food comes along.  I referred to ketosis in my post on October 5th. Our closest primates, the apes, do not have this ability. Just us. We are a survival machine.

During prolonged fasts the body mineral stores are depleted. Some minerals are electrolytes that are necessary for the transport action of cell membranes. Nutrients go in, garbage goes out. During my fast I was taking a walk and had leg muscle cramps.  I do not often get cramps so it was pretty clear to me that I was missing electrolytes. Even though I was drinking plenty of water my tissues still became dehydrated because of the missing minerals.

Ok, how do I recover so I can ride my bike 100 miles again or maybe run a 5k?

Ready to re-launch

The process of metabolic efficiency training is what has to happen after a water fast.  Restarting the engines of digestion and energy metabolism.

1.  Begin to restore the blood and liver glycogen and minerals.  Keeping in mind that the digestive system is not ready to do the energy intensive job of digesting food yet, the best choice is clear vegetable and fruit juices. My outcome? The muscle cramps resolved immediately.

2.  Add some light plant based food, fruits and vegetables, in small amounts. Continuing to restore depleted supplies and get the digestive juices flowing.

3. Add lightly cooked plant foods.  Cooked food has a much higher digestive demand than raw foods, especially if the enzymes have been heated above 118 degrees in cooking.  Enzymes are proteins that support the breakdown of food.  All living things have them.  This is the next step in awaking digestion.

4.  Continue to add in more complex carbohydrate foods, grains like oats, rice, quinoa.

5.  Last stage is adding in plant sources of fats, like nuts and seeds.  ALWAYS soak nuts and grains before you cook (or just eat) them to help eliminate phytates and the enzyme inhibitors. Nature puts them there to keep the seed from sprouting before there was enough water to wash off the inhibitors to growth, and it also inhibits digestion.

In terms of physical recovery, true to predictions I am not as strong as I went in to the fast. I specifically planned this to be the end of my competitive season and the beginning of my off season.  Smooth Move!! It would have been too frustrating otherwise, doing this mid season and losing all the performance increases I worked so hard to achieve.

The best training program available is the Heart Zones Threshold Training System by Sally Edwards,  Triathlon Hall of Fame athlete and world record holder, who took more than 30 years of science and applied research to develop.  It is based on where your body  shifts in respiration rate as the effort increases.  This shift parallels the increased build up of blood lactate as a marker for an effort level at any given point in your training.  Pretty easy to determine and follow, using a simple heart rate monitor to measure.

So I am in Zones 1 and 2 for a while, rebuilding my base.  The broader the base the higher the peak.  I am looking forward to an even better year as an athlete.

This post is the latest in a current set of posts on my water fasting experience.  Go to the post on October 8th to follow me through the process.

For more on Heart Zones Threshold Training or ways to get fitter and lose excess body fat, contact Dorothy at SynergyWellnessNW.com.

Food After Water Fasting

Water fasting is about re-calibrating all the body systems. After fasting the taste buds are re-tuned and hyper sensitive and the sense of smell is acute. The digestive system is inactive and the elimination systems as well. Metabolism is slowed .

Photo courtesy of Food Network

The first food I put in my mouth after a 10 day water fast was watermelon and celery juice.  It was so incredibly sweet I was stunned. Sipping the juice over an hour is suggested to allow the body to wake up. Being sure to “chew” juices is part of mixing the important digestive enzymes in the juice to start the process.

The return to eating is a very important process. Digestion has been resting and inactive during a water fast. The stomach shrinks to a smaller volume and your  digestive enzymes are not active, so when re-introducing nutrients to a sleeping digestive system there is a process that makes the transition smooth and reduce the possibility of cramping or discomfort. Emphasis on chewing and taking it slowly is part of the first steps. At True North Health Center the process lasts for one half of the total length of the water fast. So if the water fast is 10 days, the time needed to reintroduce food is 5 days.

It goes like this:

Day 1 – Juices such as watermelon and celery or spinach and apple. Four glasses.

Day 2 – Raw vegetables and fruit.

Day 3 – Raw and cooked vegetables and fruit.

Day 4 – Fruit, raw and cooked vegetables and now grains (rice, quinoa, oats).

Day 5 – Add legumes, beans, nuts and seeds.

Believe me, it is very wise to follow a process to avoid feeling stuffed or shocking your re-awakening digestion and have cramps or gas.

The food tasted amazing. Fruit is super-sweet. You can taste the different flavors in vegetables that perhaps before the fast tasted bland to you.

This re-calibration helps reduce the need for over salting food and using oils for flavor. It gives the gift of enjoying whole, natural plant based foods that are the critical nutritional elements to a truly healthy diet. Vegetables and fruits are naturally low in fat making it easier to have foods you can eat as much as you want to. Never again feel deprived or underfed.

Next post will cover re-starting metabolism after water fasting.

Ciao for now

For more on healthy nutrition and lifestyle contact Dorothy through her website www.SynergyWellnessNW.com

Disclaimer: Water fasting should be undertaken only under the guidance of a health professional.

Am I Losing Muscle During a Water Fast?

I am on Day 8 of a water fast. My body weight is 105 pounds, about 11 pounds less than when I started. Weight loss during a water fast comes from water, carbohydrate, fat and lean tissue like muscle.  I want to know how much muscle loss happens and, ultimately, the best way to preserve it during a water fast lasting 10 days.

At the True North Health Center they suggest only gentle movement and mostly rest. There are other schools of thought that suggest exercise is beneficial during a fast.

From what I can see, an important factor in muscle loss potential is time into the fast.  The first 3 days or so are the time when the body loses stored carbohydrate with the associated water, salt with the associated water and muscle proteins.

Photo courtesy Science News

 Dr. Joel Fuhrmanis a respected MD who has done extensive research and clinical work with fasting and nutrition. Dr. Fuhrman, who has fasted thousands, says that muscle loss decreases to less than 0.2 kg (.44 lbs) per day once full ketosis is reached, usually by the third day.  As always, all the changes pivot on an individuals body composition, fitness, general health, diet, etc.

Ketosis is the buzz word for high protein, low carb diets. Ketosis happens when you have metabolized the stored liver and muscle glycogen (carbohydrate). Ketone bodies are made from fat by the liver and become fuel that feeds the brain. During regular food intake nutritional ketosis is typically consumption of less than 50 grams of carbohydrate per day.*

Dr. Peter Sultana MD at True North Health Center answered my questions below.

Question  When does the body start catabolizing muscle protein?

• It is different for everyone
• An estimate is >40 days, or when you have reached 80% of ideal body weight. It then becomes starvation where the body metabolizes proteins for fuel.

Question  During a water fast, when is the onset of strength loss?

• Strength drops right away, but that is not muscle structure loss, that is fuel and hydration loss inside the muscles. The structure is still there, and they refill well when resuming eating. If you reached the starvation mode explained above, then they need to rebuild.

Ultimately, the impact of a 10 day water fast for me will be in how I feel when I get back to my regular workout routine.

Stay Tuned…

For more information about digestion, fasting and your overall health, contact Dorothy Sager at SynergyWellnessNW.

*Fuel4mance, September 2012 Newsletter. Dina Griffin, Sports Dietician