By Terry Barga

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while since we last talked, but I have been a little busy. I know you have enjoyed articles by Ashley and Tim–they both are on their way to great things in this company and I’m thankful for their writing abilities. What am I so busy doing? Well, I’m glad you asked!

Running.
Yes running my butt off! I have been training for this relay called the Ragnar Relay. It was this past weekend and might I say, it was a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I enjoyed the team, the energy, and the sites and sounds of the countryside. As a matter of fact the relay race is my inspiration for this article. I had such a delightful experience with my running nutrition I just had to write about it so that you could learn the how’s and why’s as it pertains to running nutrition.

I always see and hear things about what people think are good or acceptable food choices for running. A lot of runners think that because they are running so much they can eat whatever because they will likely burn it off. Then there are some runners that follow the leader and read all the magazines following the crowd with shot blocks, gels, and other high sugar, high carb things. Some know that it’s not quite right, some have no idea what to do, and others don’t care at all. We hope this appeals to some of you from every area of that broad spectrum. In this article I want to give you the do’s and why they DO so good. The bad and what the “bad” does to your system.

The bad.
These things are bad for all kinds of reasons, some of which I will list at the bottom.
-Shot blocks
-Clif bars
-Gels
These things are not easy to digest and can give a runner the false sense of energy with little benefit for the rest of the body. Filled with artificial stimulants, sugars and simple carbs–your body’s filters are going to have a hard time with digestion and distribution at some point. Some of the side effects to these “foods” are headaches, nausea, dehydration and stomach cramps. Don’t believe me? Just listen next time you have ran with a group of people and they have hit all of these. They won’t say why, but just that they have a headache or that they need to sleep. It is a false sense of doing good for your body. Just because you are running does not mean you can ignore your body when it is trying to tell you something about what you ate. Listen to your body and learn, always ask “what did I eat?” that’s where you should always start.

In the bad list there are a slue of bad foods that aren’t artificial but aren’t that great for you either. They get used as per tradition or the good ole’ game of follow the leader.
-Pancakes
-Pizza
-Donuts
-Bagels
-Chips

This list could go on and on but I’ll leave it here for times sake. Although not artificial, these foods are often suggested to all runners assuming that they all are in the exact same shape. This is NOT true and you know that–but you often still indulge. Let me paint the picture for you. The night before a race you and some friends hit up the local pizza joint and then hit the sack to get up and grab a bagel before your run. Or maybe you carb load all week prior to your race, either way you are putting quantity over quality and that will always be a bad idea when it comes to food.

Why is this bad form when it comes to run nutrition? Because you are filling your body with sterile foods, anti-nutrients and simple sugars. Instead of storing energy up for your body to feed on during a run your body will use the simple nutrients first giving you instant energy while trying to break down the unusable stuff and in most cases instead of storing your simple carbs you are only storing toxins. Yes, you can store carbs even if they are bad–the same goes for sugars and fats and they are all laden with toxins and anti-nutrients that your body will use because it is down right worried about its next nutrient dense meal. So worried in fact that it could let a salad that would normally be good for you, pass rapidly through your system and never be fully utilized because your body is conditioned to build cells out of these bad foods. This will set the tone for all kinds of problems and at the very least would be low energy for running.

What we do for ourselves and other runners is this: Nothing artificial, no simple versions of anything and train to be better than the sport you are competing in.

First, nothing artificial means that after knowing what these things do to your system, I wouldn’t even give them to my dog let alone myself or any other client. Slow food is the best food, minimally processed and easy to digest plus absorb. We never suggest anyone eat simple sugars or carbs i.e. whole grains, white flour, sugar, nutrasweet, splenda, agave nectar, oatmeal or pastas. The reason being you will actually make it harder on your body to perform, control insulin swings and to maintain your weight.

The solution is to eat things living, raw and at the very least easy to digest! There’s no reason for anyone that is a runner to have a heart attack, to be overweight or to have trouble losing weight. Not only will you succeed at staying fit and in shape with even less running than you did before–you will also posses the energy to stay longer in the race and run faster than you did the day before, not to mention recover in half the time.

Replace your running food with:
-Soaked oatmeal
-Coconut water
-Coconut oil
-Avocado
-Plenty of greens! More than 6-8 servings per day the week of race
-Lot’s of berries
-Eggs

For grains that you eat they should be:
-Sprouted grains
-Spelt flour or sprouted pastas
-Sourdough or sprouted breads

If you would like more info or recipes or help on this topic please let us know! You’ll be surprised at how much your body will change when fueled well. I’m 32 and have set records for myself in areas of physical fitness, running and energy levels this year that I didn’t have the capacity for when I was 22. Learn more!

It seems to me in a world where everyone is so obsessed by looks, appearances, body image etc., there would not be such an obesity problem–because you can change what your body looks like. You can’t do much about your face; if you’ve got an ugly one, you’re out of luck. Your body, however, can be shaped to your liking. So as I’m wondering why there are so many obese people, I realize it must be because they just don’t know. It boggles my mind that people are unaware that eating fast food is so terribly unhealthy for you, or that you have to get off your butt and move around a little!

Granted, there is a lot of bad information out there and a lot of people get confused and go wrong. How do you know which information is correct, and which is gibberish? I say look at nature and how things naturally occur. For instance, with working out, say you want to have nice shapely legs like a sprinter or jumper in the Olympics (maybe not to that extent, but you know). It makes sense to me that if nearly all sprinters have nice, muscle-y legs, you should work out like a sprinter;even if you aren’t one. They do bursts of powerful motion. They jump. They work their fast-twitch fibers. Next, look at cross country runners or long distance track runners. I know there are exceptions, but generally those dudes (and gals) are super skinny, with less muscle than the aforementioned sprinters. So, if your goal is to use up a lot of energy and lose weight, you should run long distances. And I mean long. Those guys are crazy, going for hour(s) long runs all the time.

The trick is to find the balance, because most people want both. And there are a lot of different ways to go about it. Obviously running isn’t the only way to loose weight or build muscle. Although it is one. Again thinking about nature, animals that run are lean–cheetahs, lions, gazelles, etc. But when perusing other options think about it logically and compare it to what you know based on your own observations and experiences. Have an open mind about trying new things, but be wary of programs that seem too good to be true. Use your common sense, people forget about it too often.

By: Ashley Dance

There are lots of things you can do to help you burn more fat. Today we offer you three more that you can take to the bank and help you in your quest to be a lean, mean, …um… living machine.

1. Do Intervals. Periodic fast paced intervals raise your metabolic rate higher so you can burn more fat. Even walking at a normal rate, and then speeding up for 30-60 sec, and alternating that routine will help to burn more fat than maintaining a steady pace.

2. Build Lean Muscle. Actually having more lean muscle will allow you to burn more calories as it requires more calories even if you are not working out those muscles. Muscle burns more calories than fat does. Work at strength training that builds lean muscle.

3. Eat Good Fats. Eating good fats help speed up your metabolism, burn other calories, and are used by the body for energy while not being stored by the body. Coconut oil is an excellent fat to include in your daily regimen that will help you burn more fat while being used for energy and fighting off illness and infection at the same time. Other good fats include organic butter, avocado, and olive oil (best without too much heat).

Partial source: Yahoo Shine

The Great Organic Debate

To eat organic or not to eat organic? That’s the question. So let’s take a closer look.

First off, organic food is produced by farmers who use renewable resources and conserve soil and water to sustain a quality environment for future generations. Even though it’s future-minded, going organic serves us in the present, too. For example, organic meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products come from animals given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is also produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering or ionizing radiation.

Before a product can be labeled organic, a government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.

The USDA has identified for three categories of labeling organic products:

100% Organic: Made with 100% organic ingredients
Organic: Made with at least 95% organic ingredients
Made With Organic Ingredients: Made with a minimum of 70% organic ingredients with strict restrictions on the remaining 30%, including no GMOs (genetically modified organisms)
And know this: Natural foods are NOT organic. They don’t contain additives or preservatives, but they can be grown with pesticides or GMOs. Additionally, natural foods are not regulated.

Craig Minowa, Environmental Scientist of the Organic Consumers Association says, “There is an abundance of studies showing that organic food is healthier and safer for consumers than nonorganic products.” He continues, “Synthetic pesticides are designed to kill and have been in use for about half a century. Applying hundreds of millions of gallons of such chemicals to the human food supply [through conventional farming] is clearly having its impacts on the populace, from increased cancer rates, to neurological disorders to endocrine disruption.”

Speaking of pesticides…

In 1998, Chensheng Lu, a researcher at the Department of Health at the University of Washington, began testing children in the Seattle area to try to detect pesticide residues in their urine.” Lu was looking for organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II. Organophosphates can create mild anxiety, respiratory paralysis, neurobehavioral damage, cancer and reproductive disorders.

The 110 two-to-five-year-olds Lu studied had higher levels of pesticide metabolites (the markers produced when the body metabolizes the chemicals), but one child had no signs of any pesticide metabolites. The difference? That child‚Äôs family ate mostly organic. Fascinating, huh? Lu thought so, too, and received funding from the EPA to conduct more research. Here’s what they found.

When Lu’s research team substituted organic foods for a conventional diet in children for five days, they could find no evidence of pesticide metabolites in the children’s urine. When Lu’s team reintroduced conventional foods to the kids, however, the metabolites returned.

“The transformation is extremely rapid. Within eight to 36 hours of the children switching to organic food, the pesticides were no longer detected,” Lu said. He added, ‚ÄúThe level returns immediately when you go back to the conventional diets.”

Now that’s pretty convincing evidence.

Article from: http://www.extraordinaryhealth.com/
Copyright © 2010

This information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of an individual consultation or examination or replace the advice of your health care professional and should not be relied upon to determine diagnosis or course of treatment.