On My Mind

It has been a while since my last post. There are a few reasons for this, all of which I think are relatable to the premise of this blog. One of the reasons that I will discuss today is that I have been researching much interesting material for this blog, and I have kind of gotten overwhelmed. I will try to break it down and share it all with you if not now, then over time!
One of the problems is that the books I have been reading have some conflicting information, and I guess I do not have a strong enough background in it all to tell you what is correct. I can only give my opinion. Out of my bookshelves, I dug out Fit for Life, by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. I like this book because it emphasizes a natural approach to being fit. It stresses the importance of Natural Hygiene, which is described as the body's regulatory process for staying healthy. Basically is states the body is a very efficient machine which is constantly striving for optimal health. Give it the right fuel (HEALTHY FOODS) and it will take care of you, and cleanse and maintain itself. The book downplays the role of supplements in one's diet, stating that they really don't work. That you need all the chemical componets of food and the digestion to get your nutritional needs met. There is MUCH to the book
but the major points are EAT ONLY FRUIT or Fresh Fruit Juice in the morning. FOOD COMBINING IS KEY. You can eat what you want but it has to be in the right combinations. The book debunks the theory of the food groups, especially the dairy and meat portions. (The book talks about how poeple say we need to eat protein to keep up our strenght and to build muscle, yet in fact, many of the strongest animals on the planet are vegetarians!)

Food Combining brings me to another book that I have mentioned before: Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover. I really like this book. It adopts many of the principles of Fit for Life. She stresses the food combining, no dairy and no meat. I do agree with this. I am sure they are right: eating foods in proper combinations and in the proper order will certainly have a positive impact on one's health, well being, and weight. THE PROBLEM IS I AM NOT THAT DISCIPLINED!

Which brings me to a television program I recenly viewed. It was kind of an infomercial for PBS televison, part of their fundraising efforts. But because it was PBS, I listened. It was called Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen. Mr. Amen take scans of people's brains to find out where the activity or lack of it is. He has a list of several different types of brains based on the scans. If there is more activity in one part of the brain, and less in another, he states there are certain supplements that can help bring you to an even level and help you stop overeating. It is highly fascinating, and a must read. I have yet to try his theory, but I plan on it. One thing that we can all do right now is wean ourselves off the sugar habit. Eating sugar and sugary foods only increases our cravings for those foods. And artificial sweetners and diet sodas are the worst! They make you crave sugar even more. I am not innocent when it comes to this. If you've read my previous blogs, I struggle with making the right nutritional choices versus eating lower calorie, artificially sweetned food and drinks to save calories. I do indulge in diet sodas occasionally if i get an urge for something worse calorically. The lesser of two evils? YUP.. One thing Dr. Amen said really made me think: He was describing his healthy daily diet and he mentioned he always had "dessert" which consisted of plain yogurt and blueberries. He asked the audience if that sounded boring. They said yes, and then he said something profound: NO, WHAT'S BORING IS CONSTANTLY FINDING YOURSELF BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD BECAUSE YOU'VE GIVEN INTO YOUR FOOD CRAVINGS AND UNHEALTHY HABITS. That actually is boring me to tears. Don't you wish you could make the right choices as if on autopilot? Without the stuggle? YOU CAN, but it takes just a bit of training. Dr. Amen says it takes about 2 weeks to stop craving sweet stuff after you stop indulging. Interesting...

The last book that I will discuss briefly is one I am very interested in. It is called The Perricone Weight Loss Diet by Dr. Nicolas Perricone. I picked it up after reading The Perricone Prescription which has all kind of information for maintaining weight, health, and what foods and supplements are best for health, beauty, anti wrinkle, etc. I love this book and it's wealth of info. There is just one problem: If I listen to Fit for Life, then the supplements Dr. Perricone suggests would be useless considering Fit for Life says supplements have no value. I think I have come to a conclusion on this: If prescription pills work for curing conditions, then supplements which are a form of a drug, can work to help boost healthy conditions. I do absolutley go by the fact that THE BEST REMEDIES ARE IN THE FOODS YOU EAT. The Perricone books go deeply into anti-inflammatory foods which keep your body balanced and reduce free-radicals. MUCH MORE ON THIS NEXT TIME, BUT THESE BOOKS ARE WORTH A READ.

I encourage you to check out these books. Then you'll be as confused as I am. I do have a bit of a clue. Going back to common sense: The less processed, the better (make your own salad dressing instead of bottled. You just don't know what is in there!). Listen to your body, and eat only until you don't feel hungry anymore, not until you are full (I have to work on that one).

Next Time: My lunch stop at Wendy's and what I learned....