Even if you weren't 100% successful logging your intake last week, we hope it brought some awareness to your diet. Are you overloading your body with carbohydrates or coming in way too short on protein? We hope you'll continue logging both your food and workout scores all month long! As the weather warms up (yay!) staying properly hydrated becomes more important.
WEEK TWO:
1. Eliminate all alcohol and beverages sweetened with
sugar or sugar substitutes including soda, energy
drinks, sports drinks.
2. Females: drink 2.7 liters (~90 ounces) of water/day
Males: drink 3.7 liters (~125 ounces) of water/day
(use My Fitness Pal to track it)
3. Watch this 22 minute award-winning documentary.
Anticipated FAQ's:
What can I drink?
water
black coffee
unsweetened tea
sparkling water (LaCroix, Dasani, etc.) ingredients must be water and natural flavors only. No artificial sweeteners like aspartame or sucralose.
What's wrong with sugar-free / diet soda or tea's?
—still leads to increased risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes
—triggers proteins that fuel fat and inflammation
—causes overeating of other foods
—causes increased appetite ——-> increased intake
—foods (like fruit) are less appealing, veggies unpalatable
—makes it difficult for the body to process real sugars which
blunts hormone response and causes increased blood sugar and
weight gain
What about milk?
Try cutting it out, at least temporarily, for the following reasons:
Most milk found in the supermarket contains nothing in the way of nutrients and health-benefits. It has been so altered from its natural state that it is an entirely different product. We can get our carbs, protein, and fat from other whole food sources.
Milk provokes an inflammatory response in the gut, which can adversely affect how you digest all your food and can negate the positive gut-healing effects of eating real food. Similar to what happens with gluten, cow's milk is implicated in a number of auto-immune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and celiac disease.
Insulinogenic Response: Milk sugars and proteins have been shown to spike insulin, and we’re all aware of the long-term issues that can result, such as diabetes. Although milk has a low glycemic load, it actually has a quite high insulin spike. This is because it contains carbohydrates along with high levels of the amino acid leucine, which is known to produce an insulin spike in the body. Skim milk is actually the worst kind of dairy you can consume because there's no fat to slow down the absorption of amino acids and carbohydrates.
Milk has an acidifying effect on the body. Despite the fact that the US consumes more calcium than anyone else in the world, we have one of the highest incidences of osteoporosis and bone demineralization. This is because dairy, grains, and other processed foods, rob our bones of calcium. Bone health is substantially dependent on dietary acid/base balance.
Hormones. Growth factors added to the living cow can be passed on through the milk (IGF-1) and have been found to be elevated in the bloodstream following milk consumption. Some speculate this is linked to an increased risk of prostate, breast, and colon cancer.
What about unsweetened Almond Milk?
1. It's processed food
2. It's expensive
3. It has low nutritional value, most of the nutrients it contains have been added artificially
What about protein shakes?
Choose a clean protein without added sugar or a lot of additives. Mix with water instead of milk.
What about __________,_____________,_____________ ?
No.
Just try drinking only:
water
black coffee / tea