Countdown to Fitness

Do you eat the same foods often, have food allergies/sensitivities, or want to eat more healthily?  Understanding food families and rotating them is an important part of improving one’s diet.  I didn’t fully understand why this was necessary until I discovered I had a multitude of food allergies/sensitivities.

A year ago, I was eating salads with fresh spinach and greens almost every day for lunch.  Healthy right?  Little did I realize at the time that eating the same foods too often was causing hidden inflammation in my body, food sensitivities, skin rashes, and internal bodily damage.

By eating the same foods too often, I was limiting my nutritional intake, even though the foods were  considered healthy.  My body became sensitized to the foods, which happens often when foods are eaten too frequently, and hidden damage occurred, mainly through the inflammation that resulted.  (Spinach became a very unhealthy part of my diet.)

Inflammation is the basis for most Western diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and many more, so it is ever more important to reduce the inflammatory factors in one’s diet to reduce the chances of getting these diseases.

After getting officially diagnosed as having many food allergies (some I already realized on my own, some others I suspected, but most I never would have guessed), my doctor gave me a four-day rotational diet plan, which means that I’m not supposed to eat the same foods within a four-day period, except for the first 24-hour period.  Also, I can’t eat foods within the same food family two days in a row.  I need to skip one day between them.

For example, on day one, I can eat blueberries.  (For me a day typically starts at dinner and runs through lunch the next day.)  However, I can’t eat them again until day five.  I can eat cranberries, which are in the same family as blueberries, on day three but not again until day eight.

I’m not suggesting that most people should follow this schedule.  It’s only what my doctor prescribed for me.  However, this article is meant to suggest that becoming more mindful of food family choices on any given day can help improve one’s health.

An example food rotation chart is below.  The most important concept here is that I want people to be aware of the foods in a particular food family.  Food family names are in yellow in the left-hand column.  The list of foods in the family are underneath that, assuming more than one food is in the family.

Due to my “insane” schedule of going out of town and having out-of-town guests almost every weekend starting toward the end of August, I’m way behind on posting.

On August 24, 2011, I finished INSANITY, a 63-day, intense, max interval, cardio, total-body conditioning program created by former track star Shaun T for Beachbody®. Because the end of August was the beginning of our weekend excursions, I finished the program 3 days later than scheduled.  (While the program actually says “60-days,” it really takes 63 days, assuming you stay on schedule.)

The first four weeks of the program helped improve my cardio and stamina while the fifth week was somewhat of a recovery week, which concentrated on exercises for stomach (core) strength and balance.

The real insane part were weeks 6 through 9.  Just when I was getting used to the first month, Shaun T. changed the workout for month two and upped the difficulty.  Actually, I did enjoy the new challenge.  In fact, the first workout of this last four weeks was called Max Interval Plyometrics, and it was by far the most challenging for me.  However, I also liked it the most, as it reminded me a lot of my kung fu classes.  I also burned more than 500 calories in the 55 minutes of this particular workout, which was many more calories than any of the other workouts.

All the workouts were mainly more intense forms of the first four weeks with some new items thrown in.  I highly recommend this for people who like short-term goals and boot-camp-style exercises.  BUT this isn’t for everyone.  If you have joint problems, I suggest you find a different exercise program.

INSANITY comes in different versions. I bought the DELUXE version with three extra DVDs because I wanted the Upper Body Weight Training (which requires weights). You can buy this set used on Amazon.com, for example, at a much cheaper price.  See my previous article on the first five weeks of this exercise. (more…)

The last five weeks have been insane at times, although the real insanity is yet to come within these next four weeks.  INSANITY is a sixty-day, intense, max interval, cardio, total-body conditioning program created by former track star Shaun T for Beachbody®.  Today I finished week five.  The first four weeks help improve your cardio and stamina while the fifth week is somewhat of a recovery week, which concentrates on exercises for stomach (core) strength and balance.

The real insane part begins in week 6, tomorrow for me.  Just when you are getting used to the first month, Shaun T. changes the workout for month two and ups the difficulty.

At the beginning, I must say that I didn’t know how I would do compared to the people doing INSANITY on the DVD, but it was definitely going to be a challenge.  The workouts I saw before buying the set of DVDs reminded me of my Shaolin martial arts training: fast-paced with lots of variety of exercises.

INSANITY comes in different versions.  I bought the DELUXE version with three extra DVDs because I wanted the Upper Body Weight Training (which requires weights).  You can buy this set used on Amazon.com, for example, at a much cheaper price. (more…)

Soybeans: 91% in the US are Genetically Modified (GM)

I’ve written about the dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods in two previous posts: “Genetically Modified Foods: Unintended, Dangerous, Unpredictable Consequences” and “Genetically Modified Dairy: Dangerous Cancer Risk.” Now, a new study from Canada – “Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada” – shows that the Bt insecticide, which is a component of some GM crops, has now been found in human blood.  The results will be published in the peer-reviewed journal Reproductive Toxicology.

GM crops, like corn and soybeans, have been modified to resist herbicides and insects.  The achieve the latter, a toxin found in the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is incorporated into a GM plant gene, so the plant creates the toxin internally, which is then eaten by animals and people.

Biotechnology companies like Monsanto have said that these toxins get broken down in digestion, which is the same claim made for other genetically modified products, such as the growth hormone fed to cows, which has been disputed by research.  See “Genetically Modified Dairy: Dangerous Cancer Risk.” (more…)

In my previous article, “Age-Related Macular Degeneration & Supplements,” I talked about AMD and its prevention by eating lots of leafy green vegetables and other low glycemic carbs, besides taking some supplements.

I’m grateful to Paula for making a comment about the research she and others are doing in research labs at Washington University School of Medicine.  They’ve found that there is an autoimmune component.  While I had never before read about an autoimmune connection to AMD, I wasn’t surprised because I’ve read many articles and books that link inflammation and autoimmune problems to diseases  such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, asthma, obesity, allergies, cancer, etc.  As Jack Challem wrote in his book The Inflammation Syndrome, “Chronic inflammation underscores and promotes virtually every disease, affecting millions of people, and yet inflammation also is a symptom rather than the fundamental cause of these diseases.”  Chronic inflammation can lead to autoimmune problems, and there is a genetic predisposition to such conditions.  He goes on to say that “chronic inflammation is caused by an injury to the body combined with nutritional imbalances or deficiencies.”  We’ll see why leafy greens and other low glycemic carbs are very beneficial versus the high-glycemic diet that is the typical American fare. (more…)