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The following tips come from a few experts that I have done a heavy amount of research on and trust their input, including:
Here are some tips that are taken from their work that are easy for anyone to implement but are great foundations of health: How much water should I be drinking?Shawn Stevenson states that you should drink at least half of your body weight in pounds, transferred to ounces. So since I am 160lb, I should drink at least 80oz (he also says that if you are 200lb or over, you don’t need to go any higher than 100oz). He states that you should drink 20-30oz extra for any workouts so if I workout in the morning, I should make sure to get about 100-110oz of water through the day. Mike Matthews states that you should drink about a gallon of water each day. This converts to about 128oz. And he also suggests drinking an extra 30oz if you work out. Here are some tips I use that makes it easy to get at least 100oz of water each day:
How much protein should I be getting?Mike Matthews interestingly prescribes more protein for those trying to lose weight than those trying to gain muscle. He suggests 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight if you are trying to gain or maintain muscle and 1.1 grams of protein per pound of body weight if you are trying to lose weight. Ben Greenfield states that you do not need any more than 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight if you are trying to gain muscle. Protein is a highly debated subject but Mike Matthews I believe has done the most research in the areas so I trust his information the most. Obviously, still pay attention to what source your protein comes from and know that it can be dangerous to get any more than 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. How can I improve my sleep and increase my energy levels?Several experts have been speaking out on how crucial sleep can be. Shawn’s book Sleep Smarter is a great resource for several things, especially this topic. The saying “sleep is for the weak” couldn’t be more wrong. If you lack the sleep you need, here are negative side effects we all get:
We all should average 5 sleep cycles per night, which is normally 7.5 hours of sleep. I struggle with this and can usually only get 4 cycles (6 hours) but I do some things to improve my sleep quality like:
How many servings of fruits and vegetables should I have each day?Many experts are saying that we should not groups these together! You can’t really overdo it with vegetables but fruit you can absolutely overdo with the amount of sugars and carbohydrates that they contain. Shawn Stevenson advises at least 2 servings of vegetables and only 1 serving of fruit (mainly berries) each day. Mike Matthews suggests at least two or three servings of vegetables each day and at least 1 serving of fruit each day. All of these experts (Shawn, Ben, and Mike) suggests plant-based diets, even if you are trying to build muscle. If you have trouble reaching these servings of vegetables, I would also suggest a Green Superfood Supplement. 1 tablespoon of that stuff mixed with water can equal multiple cups of leafy greens. I personally try to get 2-3 cups of a variety of vegetables each day but I use a green superfood supplement on certain days I only get 1 cup of veggies. I make sure 1 cup at least is in my lunch each day. Comment or reach out to me @ twelvepathsnews@gmail.com if you have any questions!!
Thank you for reading and I hope this helps someone!!
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One of my biggest problems before I started eating healthier was with juice and energy drinks. I would drink 2-3 cups of juice a day, whether it was Minute Maid Lemonade, Mixed Berry, or Cranberry juice and I would also have half of a Monster energy drink each day in order to make it through the workday, since I was working at a computer all day. Once lunch time hit, sitting in one spot and staring at a screen would have me drained.
Thanks to a tip from Shawn Stevenson, I started taking a 10 minute walk outside at lunch rather than having an energy drink. And 9 times out of 10, it worked! Another thing that really worked was fasting, which I thought was interesting... If I skipped lunch, I wouldn't feel the same crash that I'd normally have after lunch. Once I hit around 16 hours in a fast, I would actually feel my energy levels rise (possibly because my brain/body were irking me for substance). For the juice, the only thing that really worked was making sure I had enough water each day (100-120oz seems to be what most of the experts I research state is most beneficial). This is actually an easy task to do each day if you have a bottle of water within your reach for most of the day. Besides that, the only other thing that helped was simply making the decision to cut sugars out of my diet as much as possible. Juice was really the toughest thing for me to give up. I went 6 months with literally only drinking water and possibly 1-2 beers/week and now (as of recently), I actually started making my own lemonade and iced tea with stevia packets, lemons, and unsweetened iced tea. Stevia is a 0-calorie sugar substitute that is said by nutrition experts to be a healthy substitute but I can tell you it makes lemonade and iced tea taste just as good! Even this, I will limit myself to no more than 1 cup/day. To summarize, if you have trouble giving up sugary drinks, try these tips:
I try my best to do my food prep on Sundays to save myself time in the mornings since I leave for work by 6am and I also get my workout in before I leave as well. Every week, a lot of things are typical. Here’s info on my typical breakfast/lunch. I can’t wait to devour this week’s lunch I just prepped and I wanted to share it because it was simple to make and tacos are delicious. Who doesn’t love tacos. Just look at it.. Ingredients:
2lb Grass-Fed Ground Beef (85% lean, 15% fat) 1 Red Onion 3 Jalapeño Peppers 8 servings Taco Seasoning (need two packets) 1 tbsp Olive Oil 1.25 cups White Basmati Rice 2 tbsp Butter 3 cups Black Beans (1 large can) 10 cups Spinach 1.25 cups Shredded Mexican Cheese 10 Soft Tortillas (6-inch) 1 Jar of Hot Salsa Procedure:
Prep time: This honestly took me about 1 hour but if done correctly, you can finish this in 30-45mins. Steps 1-3 can all be done simultaneously and that would be about 20 mins and Steps 4-9 are pretty simple and should be another 15-20mins. I realize this this is a lot of food. I normally do not eat much of a breakfast so almost all of my calories are split between lunch, dinner, and the Nut Mix. Also, I strive for a heavy calorie count because I believe my metabolism calls for around 3,500 calories/day for muscle gain. You should be able to customize with different portions or just take the idea and figure out what meat, veggies, seasonings, etc. you like best. This was also fairly inexpensive to make, considering the amount of food! I believe it was around $20-30 for all 5 meals but it is tough to say exactly because of the amount of servings I used and some things were already in my fridge/cupboard. I also prep the Nut Mix to make things easy on myself... From what I've learned, supplements are not necessary but there are some that definitely help for either general health or performance. Here is a list of what I currently take and why: Vitamin D3
This is a cheap supplement - only about $10 for 240 capsules and you really only need 1 a day. Ben Greenfield warns of Vitamin D toxicity if you take over 10,000 IU/day while Dr. Gundry would tell you that you only need 5,000 IU/day (and also advises taking at least 3x that when nearing sickness) but has tested thousands of patients who take much higher doses consistently and has not witnessed Vitamin D toxicity. I like to stay on the safer side. It is advised to take this supplement before bed but I take most of my supplements right when I wake up; so I always take 1 in the morning and if I remember, I take 1 more before bed. I buy this supplement at GNC. https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Vitamin-Softgel-Count/dp/B007VBVN3E/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=nature%27s+way+vitamin+d3&qid=1561932400&s=gateway&sr=8-4 Fish Oil
Green Superfood Blend
It will definitely shock you how bad this stuff tastes but you can't beat being able to get 3 cups of vegetables in 1 8oz glass. I made the mistake of thinking a serving was 1 tablespoon at first - which is a horrible mistake but also makes the teaspoon seem not nearly as bad. This supplement is about $9 for 30 servings -- not bad at all, once again. If you've noticed, I try to look for quality, availability, and price. I usually buy this at Wegmans. https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Grass-Organic-Smoothie-Booster/dp/B078GZ8Y66/ref=sr_1_50?crid=IK6BFMQ6EL0I&keywords=green%2Bsuperfood&qid=1561931588&s=gateway&sprefix=green%2Bsuper%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-50&th=1 CreatineBoth Ben Greenfield and Michael Matthews recommend creatine for just about everyone. With over 3 decades of research, creatine has been shown to pretty dramatically increase power and muscle gain with very little risk. Ben Greenfield also states that there is science to show it benefits your brain, liver, and bones as well. He recommends 5-10g every day, even if you are not trying to build muscle. Both Ben and Michael are heavy researchers in the health and fitness space and actually formulate their own supplements, so I trust this input. I'm not sure I personally would take this if I was not trying to gain muscle just because it is extra money but it is interesting to know all the benefits Creatine has and how low-risk it is to take. That being said, if you are not active, I do not think you would get much benefit from taking this. But if you are... Get on it. Depending on where you go, this supplement is $10-$15 for 80 servings, which is not bad at all. I take at least 5g each morning, and if I am doing a workout, I have closer to 8-10g if you include this plus my Pre-workout. I get this supplement at GNC. Pre-Workout
This is one of my more pricey supplements - $40 for 30 servings. I buy this supplement at GNC. https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Raw-LIT-Gummy-412-8G/dp/B01N0RYDR1/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=pre-workout%2Blit%2Bgummy%2Bwork&qid=1561932702&s=gateway&sr=8-2&th=1 BCAAs
Protein Powder
ConclusionThis may seem like a lot but if you compare the benefits to the prices, it is worth it if you have a little extra cash. With everything, this adds up to about $100/month if I use all these regularly. Since I do not use the protein powder too regularly and I probably skip 7-10 days each month for pre-workout, I probably spend closer to $75/month.
For someone who does not work out but still is health conscious and at least somewhat active, I strongly suggest the first three supplements - Vitamin D3, fish oil, a green superfood blend to build a strong immune system and to increase heart and bone health. The other supplements I use - creatine, pre-workout, BCAAS, and protein powder I would only suggest if you work out every day or every other day. I suggest a lot of these supplements mainly because of the suggestions by experts in the health and fitness field. For instance, here is a link to Ben Greenfield's suggestions - and some of the areas where I state "science has shown" or something like that, I referenced this article or have heard about studies from multiple experts in interviews --I don't get everything they recommend but if there is strong science behind it and I can find a good quality product for a reasonable price, I go for it. Another supplement I have heard great things about from both Ben Greenfield, Shawn Stevenson, and other experts is Magnesium. This is a nutrient that almost everyone is deficient in and has been shown to be great for several things, especially your immune system and bone health. Shawn recommends a topical cream, Ease Magnesium, but I have also heard great things about a brand named Calm, which you can find in most grocery stores. I absolutely hate looking at labels and just the idea of "counting calories." That being said, it is still important to know what you're consuming. So since I'm trying to build muscle, I had an idea of what numbers I should be hitting and I wanted to see what adjustments I had to make to my diet, if any, to get enough calories and protein to gain some lean muscle mass. From multiple sources like Ben Greenfield's Beyond Training and a couple of quick articles I found on Google, these were my calorie intake and protein goals:
I think I only need about 2300-2400 calories normally, but for muscle gain I should aim closer to 2800-2900. Another good note is not to go over 200g of Protein to because an overload (more around 250g) can cause ammonia toxicity in your body. Here is the data that I got for tracking my calories and macro-nutrients for a month: Even though I did not enjoy doing the counting, you can tell that tracking this helped me reach the numbers that I wanted. Each week I did it, my calorie and protein intake went up closer to an average of 3000 calories and 140g of protein. My numbers also had a tighter range each day and by Week 4 my calorie count never hit below 2535. What I did to increase my calories to the range I wanted was add 2 daily snacks.
Tips For Counting
I do not plan on doing this process again until I switch back to a lower carbohydrate diet. When I do that, I plan on checking the differences in my blood glucose, average heart rates and blood markers along with the data I get from tracking my macros.
6 months of eating a cup of mixed nuts just about every day, and I know this might be a bit much, but I finally found the place with the best selection and best prices, at least that i know of. Every week I would switch from Walmart, Aldi’s, Wegman’s, etc.. Target turns out to be the best, in my opinion. 16oz of Walnuts = $6.59
10oz of Macadamia Nuts = $9.99 10.5oz of Almonds = $5.39 Altogether, this is about $22 for about 8 cups. If you wanted to go with just almonds and walnuts, or walnuts, almonds, and pecans, the price would be a little less. My usual mix is 1/2 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup almonds, and 1/4 cup macadamia nuts. This seems to have the most nutritional value and I love macadamias so I usually include them. Ben Greenfield and Dr. Gundry advice to keep peanuts and cashews out because they are actually legumes and can mess with your digestion system. Many people I know also have problems with almonds, so in that case I’d advice switching those with pecans. 1 cup a day is also a lot and may not be as healthy as 1/2 cup or a little more. Also, the “roasted” nuts are usually roasted in oils that are really bad for you so health experts also advise to buy raw nuts. I know the macadamia nuts I get are roasted - I could do a better job of removing bad oils from my diet.
The key things to his guide for good nutrition is tons of fats and vegetables. This is similar to my nutrition, except I do not ferment my bread, I just stay away from almost all grains. I also don’t sprout my beans but I also limit those as well. Ben’s reasoning for fermenting and sprouting is to make the food much more easily digestible and to also feed your gut microbiome with good bacteria to build your immune system and strengthen your gut. Other than that, this is similar to what you see with the paleo diet - staying away from processed foods and oils as well as sugar while favoring fats and meats (but being conscious with what fats are better in high doses and which are better moderated). Due to the incredible amount of research, experimenting, and health coaching Ben has done, I find this “Superhuman Pyramid” to be a great list for any active person who cares to be health conscious. Dr. Steven Gundry’s “Yes” and “No” ListsDr. Gundry has more of a strict diet - focusing on high vegetables and low amounts of meat. He focuses on high amounts of foods with polyphenols, like olive oil (which he suggests consuming 1 liter each week due to his research on blue zones) and dark chocolate. He will tell you the focus of his diet is more on what foods to avoid. Similar to Ben, he also follows the paleo idea of getting rid or processed foods. He also bases his diet on getting rid of lectins. Lectins are a defense mechanism that plants have to warn animals not to keep eating them and their babies. Gluten is actually a lectin and he gives several vegetables to look out for that have lectins as well. If these are prepared correctly (for instance, tomatoes being peeled and deseeded and legumes being pressure cooked), you can actually remove the dangerous lectins so you won’t get leaky gut and, in turn, mitigate damage to your immune system. Dr. Gundry’s nutrition plan seems to work best for people with autoimmune diseases and many cancers. For the average person, this could definitely be difficult to maintain. I still think there is a lot people can learn from Dr. Gundry if you are interested in longevity and getting rid of inflammation. USDA’s MyPlateThere are 2 good things that coincide with Greenfield and Gundry’s work:
One other thing that I know these experts would have an issue with is the “Low-fat Milk”. Low-fat yogurt , low-fat milk...it is all crap. A high fat diet does not mean weight gain, in fact it usually means the opposite. One of the key takeaways that I got from Dr. Gundry is from his popular saying - rather than “you are what you eat,” he says “you are what you eat ate.” If you think about basic biology, a carnivore gets many nutrients from the herbivores that their prey fed on. Greenfield and Gundry also say fruit should be enjoyed in moderation due to high sugars and carbohydrates. This was taken right from the top of a USDA page. From what I told you above, you can see why the low-fat milk and the wheat bread goes against Gundry and Greenfield’s work.
USDA is in the business of agriculture, not a credible resource for dieting. They truly do not care for our health so they feed us this BS. Researching true health experts like the two above will show you what science and clinical trials are trying to teach us. Yes, I do give myself 1 cheat meal each week and I try to stick to no more than that. My cheat meal this week was a gluten-free meatlover’s pizza from from a good local place across the street from me. Half the reason why I got it was that I was excited to test heart rate and blood glucose changes when I eat foods that aren’t very “healthy.” Before eating: Heart Rate average (90min range before eating) - 60bpm Blood/glucose (30min before eating) - 70 dg/L After eating: Heart rate average - 75bpm Blood/glucose (both 40min and 1hr after eating) - 105dg/L For blood/glucose this really isn’t bad at all - it’s very normal and shows a low level of fat storage but not much. I don’t see any different numbers when I’ve tested with chicken salads. For Heart Rate, 75 is still considerably low for a Heart Rate so it is definitely nothing to worry about but it is interesting to see how eating something can change my overall heart rate for 90 minutes after eating. Today is the first time I’ve really checked my heart rate using my Apple Watch - here are my numbers: Even though I feel like the Apple Watch and this app are not the best monitors and I can get a lot more information from other devices, I can still learn a lot from this. Given what I learned from the podcast I shared in the last blog post, it is great that my heart rate has high highs and low lows - when I need high energy I can access it and when I need to calm down I can do that as well, in a short range of time. I noticed when I would try to look at my watch and take a momentary heart rate, I would slow my heart rate down to mid-50s so I can’t get an accurate reading that way, that’s why I just took averages over an hour/90 minutes in the data above. I’ll also share with you all the blood/glucose readings I’ve taken so far: All of the high numbers are either right when I wake up or 2 hours after eating. The lows are all after not eating for at least 5 hours (a couple are actually at the end of a 22hr fast!)
All of these numbers seem like good numbers to me! Someone might say that 70 is very low but if I have no hypoglycemic symptoms and I feel fine, I think I’m managing the low-carb diet well and it has been treating me well too!
My biggest things that I look for in a smoothie is that it 1) tastes good and 2) doesn't contain ice. Ice chips mess with a good smoothie.
I've had a 12 year old (who I would not consider a healthy eater... Sorry, Zach) try this shake and his only comment was that the "peanut butter taste" was too much... Really all you taste is berries and almond butter and this smoothie is loaded with spinach. A lot of people say how "expensive" it is to live healthy. I might only spend an extra $10 a week and around $40 in supplements each month, which isn't bad at all if you ask me and is far outweighed by the benefits (more energy and fun learning how much I can control through diet).
What brings my weekly grocery run a little more pricey is nuts. Eating a cup each day costs around $30/week out of the $60-75 I spend at my weekly trip. But they're really the perfect snack when it comes to fat and protein and I never get sick of them. For my mix, I usually mix 3 of the following:
Peanuts and cashews are actually legumes and not nuts so they are not good to eat a lot of and don't have as great of benefits as all the others listed above. This is why I also choose almond butter rather than peanut butter. Most peanut butters are super processed anyways and, to be honest, I like almond butter better. |
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