New Research In Weightloss?

I just read an article on psychologytoday.com about some relatively new causes for obesity vs. the old standby cause – you’re lazy and you eat too much. I’ve read about all of these ’causes’ before, so it’s not that new, but it was nice that they put them all in one place. You can read the entire article on psychologytoday.com if you CLICK HERE, or you can read my take on it in summary below.

Anyone who’s dieted knows there’s a lot of information out there and a lot of so-called “plans” that claim to be the one true diet [sounds remarkably like religion, and I suspect for some, dieting is their ticket to the promise land of skinny heaven... but I digress...]. From low-fat to low-cal to low-carb, how is anyone supposed to know what will work best? Well, if you’re like me, you’ve tried them. ALL of them. And in the end you lost some weight, but it was too difficult to stick to within the constraints of normal life and you gained back what little weight you lost – and then some. I’ve stepped my way up to gaining a LOT of weight over the years, lost some, gain more, repeat. Over and over until hello size 16. GHAH!

So, what’s the latest…?

Evolution: We’re built to store fat and keep it – it’s a survival thing. But back then, when we relied on extra fat to get us through the tough times, we were sprinting to hunt and evade, and walking many miles a day gathering and following our food, so obesity was never in the picture. Things started going downhill for us when we started planting crops. We went from tall, strong, solid, lean people with perfect teeth and almost no disease, to shorter, fatter, sickly people with bad teeth, lighter bones and chronic illness. We weren’t getting the nutrition we were built to process – we were eating grains. We were staying put, tending our crops. Our new formed communities started to grow, making nice, ripe breeding grounds for bacteria, viruses and disease. Of course there were plenty of pros to living that way – it freed up a lot more time running for our lives to work on other things like tools, language, writing, music and the arts, sciences, and eventually the technology we know and love that makes our lives much more convenient these days. And there was far less chance of starvation or being another animal’s food – strength in numbers. But flash forward 10,000 years later and our bodies still haven’t evolved to function optimally with our current diet or lifestyle. So… our genes are one factor. Some of us have stronger survival genes than others – we put on weight faster and easier. In a starvation situation, we’d win. But that doesn’t help us with designer clothing…

Actively Finding What Works…

It took me a LONG time to find all the elements of my current exercise routine. I started doing free-weights years ago, and enjoyed it, but it was a bit rigid for me. I did pilates and liked the challenge, but doing all the exercises on the floor was kind of boring and it didn’t focus enough on anything outside of the core muscles. I discovered Kundalini Yoga a couple of years ago and love many of the postures combined with ‘breath of fire’ or ’slow, deep breathing’ and I also loved it for the meditative and stress-busting aspects but it didn’t get my heart rate up enough, or strengthen all my muscles. I also started doing high-intensitiy interval training [HIIT] using a recumbent exercise bike, but doing just that gets old, fast. 

Then about six months ago I was in CVS and happened to grab a magazine I never buy, for no real reason. I took it home and didn’t read it for weeks. When I finally did, there was a long article on Kristine Lydon’s book, Ten Years Thinner, and the circuit training routine she outlines in her book. The initial workout only takes 20 minutes. I can do 20 minutes, so I tried it. And really liked it, but after just the first workout, my legs HURT so badly for DAYS… but I didn’t let it stop me. It only made me realize how out of shape I was, and how well this workout targeted even the smaller muscles in my butt and thighs – and that there was only one way to go – up! I also realized quickly that my knees weren’t strong enough to do some of the exercises as described [like true lunges], so instead of throwing in the towel like I would have in the past, I just modified the exercises until they no longer hurt my knees, but still presented a challenge to my muscles. And as my muscles and joints strengthened, I started to push a little more, bend a little more into the exercises, etc…

Roasted Red Pepper & Avocado Salad

I made a salad to go with dinner tonight that was kind of a serendipity recipe. I made part of it for something different, didn’t use it and decided to use it in this salad.

Ingredients:
Roasted red peppers, cut into short strips
1 Shallot, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp minced pepperoncini peppers, hot
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Sea Salt, Fresh Ground Pepper
2 Cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 Ripe Avocado
1/4 Cup Greek-style Yogurt
Good, fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil to drizzle  

How To Make It:
First, I marinated roasted red pepper slices, thinly sliced shallot, diced pepperoncino peppers, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. I made it to toss with some chicken for a quick lunch, but didn’t use it, so it marinated for 3 days. The flavors melded really well, and the pepperoncino’s heat enveloped everything without overpowering. The shallots sweetened up, but still had a touch of twang. I tossed that into a bowl of chopped romaine lettuce, and then cut up half of a very ripe avocado, which had a ton of flavor. Then I put a nice blop of Greek style yogurt on top, ground some fresh pepper on top and drizzed it all with a really good, delicous Tuscan olive oil. The result was awesome. Crunchy from the romaine, yet creamy from the yogurt and avocado, spicy from the pepperoncino and shallots, yet sweet from the roasted peppers, balsamic and yogurt. It was divine and it hit the spot! So healthy… so flavorful!