Do You Burn Fat Or Sugar?
January 29, 2013
Do you know there are two different ways that your body creates energy throughout the day? One is an immediate energy system (from burning sugar) that provides short bursts of energy, while it increases your appetite, makes you crave harmful foods, causes your body to be weight-loss resistant, lowers your energy, fuels cancer, lowers your immunity, and increases your risk of many chronic diseases. The other system (that burns fat) is an energy storage system. When your body draws energy from this fat burning system, you will maintain consistent energy all day long, sleep better at night, crave healthy foods, increase your immunity, and prevent most diseases including cancer and heart disease.
The crazy thing is that YOU determine which one of these systems is operative in your body. You likely agree that the fat burning system is clearly the preferred way to get energy. Yet most Americans have programmed their bodies to seek and produce short-lasting energy from burning sugar.
According to Ron Rosedale, MD:
“Health and life span is determined by the proportion of fat versus sugar people burn throughout their lifetime. The more fat you burn as fuel, the healthier you will be. The more sugar you burn as fuel, the more disease ridden you will be, and the shorter your life will likely be.”
So how do you know if you are a sugar burner or fat burner?
- You are a sugar burner if you:
- wake up tired and find you need caffeine/sugar to keep you going throughout the day.
- crash at 3pm, and get a second wind at 10pm at night.
- take naps often and don’t wake up from them feeling rested.
- are a restless sleeper, waking up often (especially around 2am).
- crave sugar and carbohydrates.
- are hungry often, and can be ravenous if you go without food for long periods.
- can’t lose weight no matter what you do.
- notice that you are gaining weight with no explanation for it.
- experience mood swings, cloudy thinking, and/or brain fog.
- get colds often.
- take several medications (including high blood pressure & cholesterol).
- often have headaches.
- have chronic musculoskeletal pain.
- feel exhausted all the time.
You are a fat burner if you:
- can go several hours without food and don’t feel like you will pass out.
- have a moderate to low appetite.
- have a strong immune system.
- have consistent energy throughout the day and don’t crash at 3pm.
- don’t need caffeine to keep you going.
- go to sleep easily at night and rarely wake up.
- wake up energized and refreshed.
- find you lose weight easily.
- take little to no medications.
- rarely have musculoskeletal pain.
- have injuries and illnesses that heal quickly.
- have good mental clarity and often feel optimistic.
- can workout in a fasted state and don’t feel the need to carbo load before a workout.
- feel the healthiest you have been in a long time.
Regardless of where you are today, you can program your body to burn fat instead of sugar. It just takes the right combination of foods and the correct type of exercise. This is EXACTLY what you will learn at our Makeover on Saturday, February 2nd.
If you haven’t signed up yet for this life-changing event, do so now before we sell out (we are super close to being out of tickets). This will be the most important nutrition and fitness event that we teach all year!! Rearrange your schedule, get a sitter, cancel a prior engagement, and make a commitment to YOU!
Together we can make 2013 your BEST year yet!!
What Can I Do To Stop The Shootings?
December 19, 2012
Like it may have for many of you, the shootings last Friday ignited something inside of me that said, enough is enough. I have come to a place where I realize it’s not ok to just sit back and be thankful that my children were not the victims. The time has come for all of us to engage in the solution. But where to start? There are so many issues wrapped up in what allows a 20 year old to walk into an elementary school and single handedly change the destiny of over 25 families.
As I watched CNN on Friday, Sanja Gupta pointed out that most likely the killer had a neurochemical imbalance. Of course he did. As did the other crazy killers that have been linked to prior mass shootings. In fact, it is public knowledge that all of these shooters were either on or withdrawing from antidepressant or antipsychotic medications. Obviously giving chemicals to a neurochemically imbalanced child is not the answer.
Angels on the hill; a tribute to those lost.
Photo Credit: Donna Morrissey/American Red Cross
We need to be more proactive. We need to stop searching for a drug that will cure all our children’s problems. As parents we need to do more. Every parent should be asking themselves what can they do to raise neurochemically BALANCED children.
Although I am a parent, I am by no means a parenting expert. But as a family chiropractor, I do know a few things about nurturing healthy families. After 16 years of working with thousands of families, it is clear to me that we should all be implementing Five Key Essentials into our family’s lives to keep them physically & mentally healthy.
Five Essentials for Healthy Family Life:
1. Give your kids a purpose.
Teach your kids that the greatest joys in life come from within. Model for them that there is no deeper satisfaction in life than working hard, serving others, and dedicating oneself to something bigger. Teach them that compassion, love, and forgiveness are as important as getting straight A’s or winning a little league game. As the wise Dalai Lama once said:
“My hope and wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to what I call education of the heart. Just as we take for granted the need to acquire proficiency in the basic academic subjects, I am hopeful that a time will come when we can take it for granted that children will learn, as part of the curriculum, the indispensability of inner values: love, compassion, justice, and forgiveness.”
2. Keep your kids nervous system functioning at 100%.
Our brain and nervous system releases thousands of chemicals every second into our body. These chemicals make us happy, sad, hungry, sleepy, and drive every human function. The only thing protecting this amazing system is your skull and spine. So why do many parents take better care of their kids teeth then their spine?
Keeping your spine healthy is the most important thing you can do to keep your brain and nervous system functioning at 100%. A recent study of over 2000 patients revealed that chiropractic care significantly improved their well being: including emotional well being, negative feelings toward self, depression, difficulty sleeping, and family relations.
3. Teach your kids the power of eating healthy foods.
Our food has a powerful effect on how we feel and function. Today, more man-made and unhealthy chemicals exist in our food than ever before. Chemicals used to preserve food such as monosodium glutamate, and others such as dyes, high fructose corn syrup, and nitrates are poisoning our children’s bodies and minds. Studies demonstrate that these Chemicals cause countless physical and mental health problems. If you’re not taking action to ensure that your family is eating fresh, non processed foods, you’re asking for health problems down the road.
4. Model for your kids that exercise is NOT optional; it’s one essential key to a happy life.
When did exercise become a choice? It is a necessary daily habit that can bring you joy, energy, health, and vitality better than any drug can. Yet, many Americans still don’t carve out time to engage in daily exercise. Researchers have shown that walking for 30 minutes each day quickly improves patient’s symptoms faster than antidepressant drugs do. It’s simple, it’s free, and there are no side effects.
5. Detoxify your household.
We live in a massively toxic world. In order to raise healthy children we have to begin to be aware of the toxins that are harming us both physically and mentally. Take small steps to detoxifying your world: buy organic, unplug the microwave, throw away your plastic containers, limit your prescription medications, buy paraben and SLS free hair & skin products, and stop allowing preservatives and dyes that are so prevalent in our foods today into your home. Begin to get educated on this topic. In 2013, we will be doing more workshops on toxin-free living in our office to get you up to speed.
I realize there are no easy answers to this complicated subject. I know that mental health experts debate treatment protocols all the time. The answer is NOT going to be found in a new medication. It’s going to be in getting people OFF of medications and getting back to health basics. It’s time to look at what causes a child to be neurochemically imbalanced, starting at the chemicals that we inject into a child on the day he is born.
Parents need to stop blindly allowing prescription drugs to be the answer for all their children’s health needs. We need a better health plan than that. The above 5 essentials is that plan. Please share this information with the families in your community. Mental health is no longer one family’s problem, it has now become ALL of our problems. Once we begin to take responsibility for our community’s health, and stop relying on medications, we can stop this madness.
Turn Your Body Into A Fat Burning Machine
July 16, 2012
I used to be a big believer in “more is better.” Nowhere in my life did I apply this philosophy more than in my own fitness training. I subjected myself to countless forms of extreme exercise in order to achieve optimum health. As thrilling as these activities were, I often injured myself and felt older than my age warranted.
For my fortieth birthday, I set a goal to be in the best shape of my life. My extreme fitness regimes were not moving me in that direction. In my quest to be my best, I came across mounting evidence proving that merely 20 minutes of high intensity exercise is more beneficial to one’s body than 60 minutes of aerobic activity. My “more is better” brain had trouble believing it but the data was compelling.
According to current research, human growth hormone (HGH) gets released during high intensity exercises such as sprinting. HGH is often referred to as “the fountain of youth hormone.” Why? Because it is the “master hormone” of the body. HGH is directly responsible for stimulating tissue repair, cell replacement, and brain and enzyme function. It helps grow cells, bones, muscles, and organs. HGH also burns fat and slows the aging process. High levels of HGH surging through your blood stream have even been known to REVERSE the aging process.
For the past two years, I have applied this twenty-minute, high-intensity workout theory to my own training and I’ve recommended it to many patients, family, and friends. The results have been fantastic! What I’ve determined is that twenty minutes of the correct exercise at high intensity ABSOLUTELY will get you in better shape than long hours in the gym or pounding the pavement for a 10-mile run. Now, at forty-two, I am in better shape than I was at twenty-two because of the changes I’ve made to my diet and exercise regime.
I have found the following three exercises give me the best results for my twenty-minute workout. If you will consistently follow this plan 5-6 times a week for at least 21 days, you will find that you’ll raise your metabolism, you’ll burn more calories the hours immediately after your workout, you’ll build more muscle, and you’ll turn your body into a fat-burning machine.
Sprunning
This is where you perform a cardio type exercise such as running, walking, biking, or swimming but instead of doing so at an average pace for a long period of time, you do repeated 30 second sprints with rest periods in between. It looks like this:
- 2 minute warm up at an easy pace.
- 30 second sprint as hard as you can.
- 90 seconds at an easy pace.
- Then repeat 30-second sprints 8 times following each sprint with 90 second at an easy pace.
- When you have completed 8 sprints, finish with a 2-minute walk or cool down.
The high intensity sprints signal your body to release HGH. This total workout should only take about 20 minutes. Perform a sprunning workout 2-3 times a week.
Want to make it more intense? Find a good hill to sprint up. Nothing will get you in as good as shape as a 20-minute hill sprun!
Not up to running yet? You can sprun at a walking pace as well. Just make sure you are pushing yourself as hard as you can during your 30-second walking sprints.
Suspension Training
The first thing to realize is the more muscle your body has the faster your metabolism will work. When people don’t incorporate some type of strength training routine into their workout, they miss a great opportunity not only to look and feel strong but to speed up their metabolism.
The key is to not bulk up from your weight training. You want functional strength that helps you prevent injuries and feel stronger throughout your day. One of the best ways to achieve functional strength is through Suspension Training.
Suspension training, such as the TRX (Total body Resistance eXerscise), is unique because the exercises you perform use your whole body, especially your core. With two straps that hang from a bar you can do just about any exercise using the weight of your body and gravity as the resistance. It doesn’t take many repetitions to see and feel results. A twenty-minute workout is not only tough, but will make you crazy strong.
Check out the TRX website at: www.trxtraining.com
Interval Training
Old school is back! Push ups, pull ups, lunges, squats, jumping jacks, step ups, burpees, floor sprints and other such exercises will get you in amazing shape if done with enough intensity. I love interval training because you can do it anywhere with no equipment. With interval training the idea is to continually get your heart rate up and down for twenty minutes. Here’s how it works.
- Pick an exercise you are going to perform (push ups, step ups, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, running in place, etc.)
- Set a timer for 20 seconds.
- Go all out with one of the exercises for 20 seconds. As many and as hard as you can.
- Rest for 10 seconds
- Repeat again for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds.
- Repeat for a total of 8 repetitions.
- That should take a total of 4 minutes.
Pick 5 exercises and you have yourself an intense 20-minute workout.
You should be out of breath, sweating, and tired after 20 minutes of interval training.
You can download a free app for your smart phone called Tabatta Timer to get a timer that will help you with this workout.
Here are some other key concepts to remember when trying to maximize your results in as little time as possible.
- Workout first thing in the morning. This will raise your metabolism early in the day and cause your body to burn more calories throughout the day.
- 80% of how you look will be determined by what you eat. Want to show off the muscles you are building? Cut out the starchy carbs and sugar. This will take you out of an insulin-resistant state and allow your body to burn fat more effectively.
- Get enough sleep. There is growing evidence that sleeping can help you lose weight. How cool is that? Your body repairs, regenerates, and even burns calories when you’re asleep. Research is now showing that people who don’t get enough sleep, or who are night owls, have a more sluggish metabolism. For maximum results, make sure you are in your deepest sleep between 11pm and 3am. These are the hours when the cells of your body are designed to rejuvenate.
Feeling good doesn’t take a whole lot of time. Knowing the key concepts to apply to your fitness and weight loss plans is key. Incorporate these three exercises (Sprunning, Suspension Training, and Interval Training) 5-6 times a week into your exercise routine for at least three weeks and you WILL be in the best shape of your life!
