Thursday, July 30, 2009

Maximized Living-The Healing Diet Day 5

Yes, it's day five in my journey to getting healthier. There is so much to ML; the healing diet is just a small part of it. What is the healing diet and what purpose does it serve? Is it just another diet?

These are questions I have asked myself. There are so many "diets" out there and it can be confusing. The healing diet is for people with these five factors:

1. High Triglycerides/Cholesterol
2. High Blood Pressure
3. Elevated Glucose/Insulin/Leptin
4. Neurotoxicity
5. Protein/Fat Genetic Type

This eating plan is designed to help your body heal itself, hence, the title. Of course there are many factors involved in that process. I'll talk about those in other posts.

Is this plan difficult? It depends on what is most important to you. If your main goal is to just lose weight, to look better, you'll probably be tempted to quit after the first day. But, if your focus is on getting healthy and living a high quality life, then it will be challenging, but not impossible. And of course, you most likely will lose weight. If you don't, you probably have other problems that need to be addressed.

Like the title of this post says, I'm on day five. And I'm surprised at how well I'm doing! You have to understand. I've always been the kind of person who looks for ways to cheat and get away with it. Well, cheating has never gotten me where I want to be. I have a terrible craving for sugar and when I eat it, I become a zombie. That seems extreme, but it's the truth. I feel drugged; I have the tired feeling that nobody likes. I was just tired of feeling this way. And I'm telling you, after just five days, my brain is clear! If nothing else happens from this experience, this improvement makes it all worth it!

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty. What do we have to do to succeed?

The FIVE BASICS of the Healing Diet

The Basic Idea: We must eliminate all sugars and everything that turns to sugar to heal the hormone (leptin and insulin) receptors.

1. No Sugars - this includes all sugar forms!

2. No Grains - not even whole, healthy grains! (Read the ingredients).

3. Increase Fats - 2 - 3 weeks after beginning the program. (This is the typical time needed to become a fat burner).

4. No Fruits - berries in moderation

5. Protein Intake - on avg. 15-25 g per/meal

- On average 20g/meal for men or 15g/meal for women. Larger males and those performing resistive exercise can consume between 25-30g/meal.
- An egg typically contains 7 grams of protein.
- A piece of meat the siae of a deck of cards typically contains 15 grams of protein.

If you are not losing weight:
- Check your protein intake - too much protein?
- Consider toxicity.

I know this is a lot of information, but at the same time, it's pretty self-explanatory. What kind of protein and others foods can we eat? These will be topics of future posts.

I'm sure there are also alot of questions out there regarding fat intake. Should we or shouldn't we eat fat? Or should we be consumed with how many calories we're taking in? We'll talk about this in our next post. See you then!

*All the information in this post comes from the book, Extreme Makeover II Resource Guide, p.11

Friday, July 24, 2009

Maximized Living Makeover

I went to visit my family in Waterloo, Ont. and I began a journey that I want to last a lifetime because of this visit. My sister and parents go to a chiropractor in London, Ont. The reason they have picked him is because he works as a Maximized Living specialist and he doesn't just treat someone's back when it hurts. He works on the whole person.

While I was there, I had my x-ray done on my spine and neck and work needs to be done there. I was able to find a ML specialist close to where I live and I actually have my consultation with him next week. The question I'm sure you're asking is, "What's so special about Maximized Living?" The answer to that question will be addressed as I write about this journey.

In a nutshell, Maximized Living works to improve a person's quality of life. You can be healthy emotionally, but if you're not healthy physically, it won't do much good. You must work on it all. My main goal is to become healthy physically and lose some weight.

I will say this. I'm not willing to sacrifice my health just so I can be smaller. I know people who have lost weight, but they do it by abusing their bodies in the use of appetite suppressants. What's the use of being skinny if you're destroying your heart? Not for me. This will take a lot of work, because I crave sweets and it's difficult to say no to them. Yet with Jesus' help, I can do this. I want my life to be full and rich and lived with purpose for Him.

I hope you will join me on this journey. Go to the Maximized Living website and see if there's a practitioner near you and decide to make the life you have a life lived to the fullest!