RE: Food, faith, and life-affirming health goals [s]

March 12, 2005

Hi everyone,

On Thursday, March 10, 2005 3:30 PM Gypsi wrote

_____

You hear that if you just eat raw and no cooked foods and stay away from

soft drinks and milk etc that you will lose weight..one of my goals.... so

what do we really need to look at to lose the weight? I am so sick of being

fat that I need something to work with here... the weeks I seem to lose

weight are the weeks I seem to blow a day or two by eating cooked food..

what is up with that.. I do need to journal more to keep track of that part

of this... but I don't want to " not eat enough for my body " but I do not

want to over eat either... have to find that happy middle ground... I know

days I exercise I feel the need to eat more and knowing the body for life

info seems certain things are needed for proper growth of muscles etc. do we

really not need to worry about the extra protein after a work out ???be it

seeds or nuts... or protein powder??

I've been meaning to comment on this, just getting to it now. I will

actually write two different emails in response, each addressing different

subject matter.

Elchanan

_____

Creating health is both a cumulative and incremental enterprise. By

cumulative, I mean that our present health reflects the sum total of all

we've ever done. And by incremental, I mean that EACH change we make in our

behavior -- actions, processing of stress and emotions in general, etc. --

produces some corresponding change in our health (whether large or small).

And because our bodies are self-monitoring, self-maintaining, self-repairing

marvels of Divine Design (in my opinion), recent changes can have a

significant and seemingly disproportionate effect on our overall present

health -- in either direction.

Most westerners have been taught to associate specific foods with specific

nutrients. For example, tomatoes may be high in lycopene, foods high in

" sugar " are " bad, " etc. This matches, or maps well to, the idea that we can

eat (or " take " ) certain substances (drugs, herbs, etc.) to " cure " or " heal "

certain " diseases " (symptoms). The obvious problem with this thinking is

that any true food contains thousands of nutrients, all in some absolutely

perfect balance created by Nature (subject to human hybridization

activities, of course). We may not fully comprehend that balance, but I

believe it exists.

I use myself as an example. I eat lots of bananas, as most of you are aware

by now. Perhaps a dozen daily, give or take depending upon banana size,

other fruits in season, my particular activity load, etc. However, I NEVER

eat bananas to get sugar (fuel), or potassium, or fiber, or any specific

nutrient. I eat bananas because they offer me a great-tasting, widely

available, reasonably priced source of sustenance. And while I may have the

knowledge to dig deeper into the secret nutrients of bananas, I just don't

(except when doing specific research or teaching, of course). I just eat the

bananas and get on with my day.

To be sure, I am always AWARE of certain general characteristics of foods.

For example, I know that all the sweet fruits -- bananas, dates, figs,

apricots, persimmons, etc. -- are very alkalizing and that this is a " good "

thing. But if I'm not in the mood for bananas, I don't eat them, and that's

that. And yes, this does happen from time to time.

As I let go of any desire to match or map foods to specific nutrients, I can

also let go of any desire to map any foods, herbs, etc. to resolution of any

particular symptoms. I now look right into a crossroads, or perhaps a " Y " in

the road before me:

- I can choose to focus my attention and energy upon diagnosing and treating

diseases/conditions/symptoms, or I can shift my focus toward creating health

and vitality.

- In a larger sense, I can choose to focus on problem-solving using my

intellect, or I can focus instead upon building my faith in Nature's design,

and on truly living in harmony with that design and based upon that faith.

All of which brings me to the topic of setting life-affirming goals.

From her comments, above, Gypsi, along with tens of millions of others,

deeply wishes to " lose weight. " But is weight loss really a constructive,

health-promoting goal for anyone to set?

In most " overweight " people, the excess weight consists primarily of

excessive body fat and brine. The body fat accumulates as we overeat

calories, usually over some extended time period (years). And over time, the

body stores fat-soluble toxins in this accumulated fat. The water weight

accumulates as we take in more water-soluble toxins than our body can

process and eliminate. To protect our vital organs and functions, the body

moves these toxins off to the side and dilutes and stores them in water. I

use the term " brine " because, for most westerners and particularly most

Americans today, most of this soluble stuff is salt-water, though other

toxins are present.

So to " lose weight " means, in general, to release excess body fat and brine.

And each must be addressed separately.

In general, as I mention above, " weight loss " goals are deficient. Such

goals usually fail to distinguish types of weight we wish to lose, and they

generally ignore issues of body composition (physical distribution of

tissues in the body between fatty and lean). More important, weight-loss

goals almost always ignore the emotional issues that caused us to gain all

the weight in the first place. This is why so many people experience a

weight-loss " yo-yo, " losing, then regaining and relosing in a seemingly

endless and emotionally devastating cycle.

In a physical sense, releasing the excess fat is largely a matter of

reducing caloric intake and increasing physical activity (generally,

exercise). Each pound of fat stores about 3500 calories of thermomechanical

energy. Shift your overall food + metabolic balance by 3500 calories, and

you release one pound of body fat. In the process, the body must also

process and release whatever toxins are stored in the disappearing fat. In

general, because fat comes off fairly slowly (takes time to create a

3500-calorie metabolic deficit), our bodies are able to handle the toxin

release process.

Similarly, in a physical sense, releasing the water weight is an entirely

different matter. Remember, the water weight exists almost entirely to

dilute and store toxins, primarily salt. This occurred in the first place

because the body was overwhelmed with the incoming toxin load. So we must

allow the body to release the water weight at a safe speed.

Fortunately, the moment we stop putting toxins into our body, our body

responds by initiating release of water-soluble toxins and, therefore, water

weight.

The foregoing discussion strongly suggests that, instead of a " weight-loss "

goal, we might better serve ourselves by creating more generalized, holistic

goals that address the full range or spectrum of our health and vitality.

Examples:

- Seek out and consume zero- or low-toxin foods, whether organically grown

or otherwise. Spend what it takes, reorganize spending priorities to support

this goal.

- Reduce or eliminate consumption of restaurant foods and prepared (deli,

store-bought) foods, as these are almost always laced with salt and other

toxins. Interestingly, if you do this, you'll find that your fat consumption

drops right away, your hydration improves, and both forms of " weight loss "

progress quite nicely.

- Develop new habits for physical activity, make physical activity a

priority EVERY day.

- Develop new habits around sunshine and fresh air. These are essential

nutrients -- far more important to most people than proteins, fats, etc. Get

sunshine WITHOUT ANY SUNSCREEN WHATSOEVER every day you can, on as much of

your body as possible, even if it's only 15-20 minutes. Do this

consistently, again, make it a priority. You will experience many benefits,

over time, ranging from improved internal metabolism to improved available

energy.

- Get the water your body needs. Fruits and vegetables (especially tender

greens) are the best sources of water for humans, period. But if you're not

ready to eat a LOT of fruits, and you are still eating lots of dehydrated

foods (nuts, seeds, crackers, etc.) or low water-content foods (high-fat

foods such as avocado), then at least drink lots of water. Whenever your

mouth feels even the tiniest bit dry, drink water. Whenever you feel a bit

tired during the middle of the day, drink water and wait for the effect

before you do anything else.

Anyone who sets such goals and pursues them with even reasonable success

will, in all likelihood, experience the disappearance of excess weight from

the body. But the weight loss is no longer the goal, it's simply a

delightful effect of setting and achieving constructive goals in other

areas.

Best to all,

Elchanan

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March 12, 2005

Gypsi, if you will get some good raw food preparation books that will give you

some eye catching tasty recipes then you will not be as tempted with " smelly

spiced cooked food " . Pretty much you can eat all you want of raw foods as long

as there is a balance and you don't mix too many crazy things. I don't eat my

desserts right away after a salad or entree but wait a couple of hours. The raw

food diet done properly is the fastest and safest way to get to your ideal

weight that I know of! Especially during the first three weeks you may feel a

bit weak or spacey but that will pass and you won't feel it anymore. An avocado

in a recipe ususally helps me with energy. As far as the binging on junk food

that causes overweight...you will certainly be tempted from time to time, but

that's the time to get out your raw recipe book and make the prettiest food you

can find and binge on that! I was out with my husband last night at the movies

where they serve batter dipped fried mushrooms, etc.

That was the last cooked food I had three months ago and it was delicious but

make me feel awful and that's when I went raw. Last night I was offered and was

so temped. But I thought if I ate one I couldn't stop. So I said no. Whew! Am I

glad. If you are good on the raw diet, weight will fly off and you will be

healthy.

Diana of Dewberry Hill