Friday, February 17, 2012 at 7:46AM Good Morning All,
It is my unhappy task to inform you that Suzie will no longer be working at Altered Images. I am sure you will join me in wishing her well for the future.
Your Friend and Coach
Age Lowther
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 5:07AM Good Morning All,
Over the last two days I have explained why many people end up dieting and why diets do not work. Today I am going to tell you what to do about it.
The answer is actually very simple and I really do not enjoy telling you; you know it already!
Just stop dieting and start eating nutritiously.
Stay clear of very low calorie diets that ask for more than a 15% reduction below your body’s maintenance needs. This is the safe level that prevents this yo-yo syndrome and metabolic nightmare.
Find an eating plan that is suitable for your body type. I know this seems like general advice and you may be thinking, “just tell me what to eat!” However, common sense and intuition will guide you at first.
When you stop starving yourself, you eat a sufficient amount of food and eat right for your body type, you will find your energy soaring, weight problems will be a thing of the past and your immune system will be charged up to fight off disease and illness. When you choose the right foods, you may find that you don’t even have to worry about counting calories, because your body will find a natural balance, and the result will be a lean body and a richer life.
Do you appreciate what I have just said? A leaner body and a richer life is within your grasp.
Why not call in to Altered Images for a free, no commitment chat about what this means for YOU.
Your Friend and Coach,
Age Lowther
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 5:00AM Good Morning All,
Yesterday I discussed how many people end up dieting. Today I want to explain why diets do not work, particularly diets that demand severe calorie restricition.
It has been said many times by many nutrition experts too: When you have a dramatic reduction in calorie intake, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and survive.
As your body goes into melt down mode, your body loses its sense of hormonal and metabolic balance. You begin to feel deprived and sluggish. When you begin eating more after being in starvation mode, your body’s sympathetic nervous system goes on high and packs fat away for future starvation faster than a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter.
Remember that your body will place a hierarchy of importance inside itself in order to survive. There is no changing the genetic survival code. Thousands of years ago, we learned to store body fat efficiently for the lean times, and our bodies still retain this genetic memory.
When you start a diet with a dramatic calorie reduction, your body will first burn through all the glycogen in your system, which is stored in the blood, muscles and liver. Your brain needs simple sugars to operate properly, so when calorie-deprived, your body says, “Where is the glucose? I need glucose for my brain!”
So a signal is sent to your liver to release glycogen and convert it to sugar. About 80 grams of glycogen is stored in your liver, so after just one day, you are liver glycogen depleted. What then? Your body looks at the other source - muscle tissue – and takes all of that muscle glycogen and does the same thing.
Then comes the part that should scare the dickens out of you: Your body’s command centre (your brain) says, “No more glycogen left, so let’s start cannibalising muscle tissue to turn it into glucose so I can survive! That, in a nutshell, is the hierarchy of survival and that is the dieter’s dilemma. Your muscle tissue isn’t important during a famine, and your body doesn’t know the difference between dieting and famine.
No matter how much you grit your teeth; no matter how much willpower you have, no matter how strict your discipline, very low calorie diets will eventually always cause you to lose muscle mass as your muscle protein is used for “food.” By the way, did I mention that muscle tissue is the “burning centre” for calories? So when you lose your muscle, your calorie burning furnace is gone.
Think that’s bad? It gets worse: If the diet continues long enough, you begin to produce fat cells full of toxic waste products and start to develop stubborn fat. Stubborn fat is metabolically very inactive and very hard to burn up, because your adrenal system can not unlock the fat cell to burn the “fat” inside as energy. Your body still has to rid itself of toxins and other waste products and it does not do it well with minimum energy stores or working overtime to produce energy from muscle tissue.
It gets even worse still: Your body “remembers” all your past diets and yo-yo ups and downs and every time you repeat the diet cycle, the weight gets harder to take off and it comes back faster when the diet is over.
What is the solution to this dieter’s dilemma?
I will tell you that tomorrow.
Your Friend and Coach,
Age Lowther
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 5:53AM Good Morning All,
Almost all of us have been there at some time in our lives, especially as we get older, when the fat just piles on, we find ourselves looking in the mirror and then we do what millions of dieters do every year all across the world: We buy the latest quick fix weight loss gimmick. Deep down, we know it won’t work, yet we are always teased by that glimmer of hope so we continue to pursue the ups and downs of this dieter’s lifestyle.
Beginning a brand new weight loss regime can be a confusing, stressful and even maddening period of time. Some of us tend to over-think, procrastinate and wait until “the time is right” before we get started. Others make emotional decisions and jump right into the latest diet without doing any research or thinking at all. I have seen many of my clients go down both of these roads and either way, it always ends in failure and lack of results.
Those who jump on the latest bandwagon often lose some weight in the first few weeks, but it’s never long before the breaking point comes and you give in to that double cheese burger and you’re right back in the fat-storing mode. All the weight you lost comes back with a vengeance, along with a little extra to add insult to injury.
In the unlikely event that you do get some long term results, for the amount of effort you’re putting into your diet plan, the rewards are minimal. This dissatisfaction with your results leads you to scream, “This isn’t working!” and you start looking for the “next big thing” and the diet roller-coaster ride continues.
Listen! There are some simple reasons why diets do not work, especially a diet that requires you to reduce caloric intake to an amount that would barely satisfy a Guinea Pig.
Tomorrow I will tell you why.
Your Friend and Coach,
Age Lowther
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 7:06AM Good Morning All,
If you watched the video on yesterday's blog you may, after being astonished about the healing powers of food, have thought that you couldn't possibly eat like that. Well, that may indeed be true. It probably isn't necessary either.
I do rather hope that you took away some of the principles. My blog two days ago should have convinced you that over time, you would not need discipline to avoid junk foods and eat foods that you dont like. Rather you would slowly gravitate towards eating natural wholesome foods provided by Mother Nature and enjoy the whole process.
Staying with the video for a moment, I do wonder whether you (sorry to be sexist, but men in particular) have ever cooked Kale or Seaweed? Have you ever considered that when you do the grocery shopping (ha ha...women in particular!) you probably visit the same store, go down the same isles and select the same foods every time.
So to the title of this blog...
Obviously I really didn't find a "new" food. It just so happens that it was "new" to me, since for some reason, I never remember eating these before.
It's always good to keep an open mind about trying new and different foods all the time. It certainly keeps things interesting. It seems that many of us tend to get stuck into a routine of always getting the same types of food at the supermarket each week.
Sometimes, I like to visit a different store or look more closely in a different aisle that I usually just breeze through to see if I'm missing anything.
Sometimes I'll find something that may be common food to some people, but that I've been overlooking.
This week that common food that (for some reason) I had never tried before was figs. I guess when I was a lad I did eat fig biscuits (I actually used to love them), but that's a whole different story, full of corn syrup, sugar, refined flour, and processed refined oils.
But I had never eaten whole figs...the real deal.
So the other day, I was in the health food shop and saw a bag of whole figs and decided to give them a try. Now I have a new favourite sweet treat that is also healthy. Sure, figs have a little bit of natural sugars, but they also have a good dose of fibre to help blunt the blood sugar response. Also, as long as you only eat 2 or 3 whole figs, the number of calories are fairly negligible, while at the same time it helps to quell your sweet tooth (instead of eating a high calorie pudding or cake).
Not only that, but figs are one of the richest sources of minerals of any fruit. In addition, they have a wide array of moderate amounts of vitamins, including vitamin K.
Although I'm now on a fig kick... that wasn't really my point to this blog. The real point was to remind you every now and then to try to break out of your shopping habits where you buy the same foods every week, and instead look for healthy whole foods that perhaps you haven't tried before.
Expand your horizons and it makes eating healthily all that more interesting!
Instead of your typical banana, apple, or orange... maybe get a little crazy this week and try a persimmon, passionfruit, pomegranate, dragonfruit, or guava (if those aren't your usual fruits).
Or if you usually just get chicken and beef as your meats, why not try lamb, venison, ostrich, or some exotic fish this week.
Hopefully that gives you some ideas to get started on diversifying your food shopping.
Of course, if you need ideas for healthy meals that promote a lean healthy body for life, there are plenty available in the Altered Images Programme.
Here's to trying new foods!
Your Friend and Coach
Age Lowther
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 8:32AM Good Morning All,
Here is a little something for your edification.
I am going to continue with the Nutritional theme today and use a video that I stumbled across on the Internet. It evidences the most staggering body transformation I have seen through simple nutritional changes that we can all implement. Whilst a little excessive for most people, though certainly not all (...I am getting pretty close myself without effort simply by ditching white processed carbs and implementing my mantra...'If it grows you can eat it'!), and not about fat loss but about healing, it is a must watch video.
Our body’s ability to adapt, survive and thrive never ceases to amaze me. And just as impressive is our body’s ability to heal itself. With proper nutrition and exercise you can heal your body from almost any illness. And I was reminded of the power of our body and it’s innate ability to heal when I watched this video of a doctor who became stricken with MS (which causes neurological degeneration) and become wheel chair bound…but through her own research healed herself through diet alone!
I preach and implement the essence of this every day (if not the detail). Every day. My clients make remarkable transformations both mental and physical. PLEASE watch, listen and inwardly digest! Let me know what you think.
It’s ironic to think that when conventional drug therapy fails (as many of them do) even a doctor has to turn elsewhere (ie. the Internet) to get information in order to find other (natural) treatment methods.
The part that struck me the most after watching her video was the fact that after all of the lastest drugs had failed to help improve her condition, she turned to food. And ultimately it was proper nutrition that saved her life. It’s true…you are what you eat.
If food has the power to reverse a debilitating neurological disease that conventional medicine and drugs could not…don’t you think you should pay a little attention to what you put into your mouth?
Now stop planning that holiday you think you deserve and start planning a fantastic healthy life that you do deserve.
Come in to Altered Images where we can facilitate your change. Now where is the nearest roof top?!
Your Friend and Coach
Age Lowther
