This is Your Body on Good Nutrition

Day 5 - Friday, June 18, 2010

In just five days, I have re-discovered what I knew all along, but had forgotten in the sea of processed food and fast food choices.  My body does not react well to foods that are not as close to their natural state as possible.  Let me explain...

I have always been able to maintain a constant weight, never really watching what I ate, just making sure I ate in moderation.  But I never felt totally at peace with my body - there always seemed to be a disharmony or disconnect.  I thought that was the way I was supposed to feel, but then I read something out of Dr. Andersen's book, Dr. A's Habits of Health, that changed my perspective.  (Dr. Andersen is the spokesman for Take Shape for Life and this book is the foundation of the entire program). 

What he discusses in Chapter 2 is the difference between "non-sick" and "healthy." Most medical doctors do not recognize anything other than "sick" or "healthy."  But there is a third category - "non-sick" which most people fall into.  I know I did! 

Non-sickness is like purgatory.  You are simply surviving, but not thriving.  It is caused by eating too much nutritionally barren food, which overworks the pancreas and encourages your body to store fat.  Low energy levels, weak and flabby muscles and poor sleep are the hallmarks of being non-sick.  Eventually, over years of existing on nutritionally poor food, your body finally develops a disease - such as diabetes. 

It boils down to the small, seemingly inconsequential choices you make every day.  Do I eat an apple or crackers?  Do I order water with lunch or sweet tea?  Do I choose the lean meat option under the Weight Watchers portion of the menu, or go for the juicy, greasy hamburger? 

The choice you make at that moment does not seem so huge - you may get indigestion, but there are pills for that.  You may put on a pound or two, but you can diet, right?  You worked hard all week and you deserve that steak, even when know your intestines will revolt tomorrow morning.

The problem is that these poor choices add up over time.  The body has an amazing ability to handle a few bad choices.  But over time, that heavy influx of saturated animal fat, high-fructose corn syrup and a lack of healthy vegetables, leads to a rise in insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides and inflammation.  Your body can only handle so much of bad food, before it has to react.

For many years (I am too embarrassed to even write how many!) I have lived on processed food.  Frozen meals that are easy to prepare, restaurant food that is over-salted, covered in butter and overcooked.  I would occasionally try the latest diet - Atkins or South Beach, for example, just to see if I felt better.  I would lose weight, but then go back to my old eating habits.  And I never felt as if I was in tune with my body.

Now I see that I was existing in a state of numbness - non-sickness - that I thought was normal!  After just five days on the Take Shape for Life program, I listen more to my body.  Yesterday, for example, I came home after having lunch with my dad, and discovered that I felt slightly drained.  Instead of pushing past that feeling, I laid down and took a nap!  (Just ask my husband, and he will tell you that I NEVER do that).  But rest was what my body needed at that moment.  When I woke up, I felt refreshed and energized.

I have never listened to my body before!  What a revelation - and a gift!  My body is a finely tuned instrument. I am giving it the nutrition is needs to perform at its best.  And it is responding (I have lost 4.5 lbs. since Monday).  But I feel better and I know that as the next several weeks progress, that condition will improve.  I do not ever want to go back to the way I was, just existing but not thriving.

Small lessons learned over time lead to better choices.  Better choices made over time lead to optimal health. 

To learn more about Take Shape for Life, please visit http://www.davideriksen.tsfl.com  Or call me - you have my cell number!

Your 10,000 Year Old Body

Day 4 - Thursday, June 17, 2010

Have you ever thought of your body as a machine or a finely tuned instrument? It is designed to work efficiently and fluently, all systems delicately balanced against each other.  When one system gets out of balance (your gastro-intestional tract, for example) it affects the other systems. 

Your body needs fuel in small quantities at regular intervals throughout the day.  The reason is that we all have 10,000 year old bodies, living in the 21st Century.  The two are in constant conflict with each other, because they operate from completely different needs.

Your body still has many of the same survival mechanisms that it had 10,000 years ago when humans first showed up on the planet. Food was scarce, difficult to find and took a lot of energy to acquire and consume.  Large meals were rare and people ate in small quantities as they discovered a new food source.  Men and women of 10,000 years ago did not a fat tire around their waist or cellulite on their thighs.  The word "diet" did not exist, because there were no fat people!  They only ate for nourishment and fuel, because starvation was always a demon riding on their shoulder.

Most people in our society today do not worry about starvation. Advertisers and big conglomerates have positioned food in our belief system to be a replacement or enhancement for a wide range of emotions.  We have accepted the message that a warm cookie brings happiness, a rich meal means romance and snacking mindlessly on chips will make us popular.  And none of these nutrition-starved calories were consumed because we were hungry!

Can you see why our 10,000 year old bodies have trouble processing the excessive amount of calories we eat - mindlessly?  It is up to you to say, "Enough!" and make a decision to learn how your body works, what it needs and how you can best feed it so it operates at maximum efficiency, capacity and energy. 

Fortunately, you don't have to go back to school to learn nutrition or take night classes to become healthy.  All you have to do is make Medifast part of your life, and you will learn the healthy habits of living that are in perfect alignment with your body.  The products and program are designed to work with your 10,000 year old body, helping you lose weight and regain the balance that is naturally yours.

I discovered this truth yesterday, on Day 3 of my Medifast Journey.  I had a lot of work to do at the computer, and I missed my 10:00 a.m. Medifast meal.  At 11:30 a.m., I realized that I was hungry and I felt light-headed.  I ate a Crunch Bar and laid down to rest.  As my blood sugar came back up, I realized two things:

1. Do not skip one of the 5 Medifast meals or I will not feel good; and
2. I am becoming more sensitive to my body and its needs.

That small glitch contained a big lesson.  Pay more attention to the nutritional needs of my body, and I will feel great.  Ignore those needs and my body responds by lowering all systems to compensate.

I also did something fun yesterday - I had lunch with my wonderful husband!  We planned what we were going to order before we got to the restaurant (most restaurants post their menus online), which took away any temptation to make a non-approved food choice.  Red Robin does not offer a Weight Watchers selection, so we chose the grilled chicken, mixed green salad.  I tried a small bite of chicken with some of the salad, and discovered that I did not need the low fat dressing I had ordered!  Another discovery that I made - thanks to Medifast!

You may wonder what I did for dinner.  Since I already had my "lean and green" meal at lunch, I was happy to fix a bowl of Chicken and Rice soup for dinner.  It tasted great, it was filling, and I was happy.

My body is getting thinner.  I have not weighed myself yet, but I will tomorrow and let you know the results.  The waist band on my pants is looser and I feel more vibrant and alive.  Just noticing these results solidifies my vision of becoming my healthy self - slender, muscular and full of energy.

Why not help your body regain its natural balance?  If you want to learn more about the Take Shape for Life program, that uses Medifast products, please visit http://www.davideriksen.tsfl.com or call me.  If you are a friend, you have my cell phone number!

Living well, beautifully!

Kathy  





 

I Found my Tastebuds!

Day 3 - Wednesday, June 16, 2010

When was the last time you tasted food? I mean, REALLY tasted all the flavors, savored every distinct burst of flavor, and enjoyed the sensation of fresh food?

For me personally, it has been quite a while. And the sad part is that I did not even realize that I was not tasting food the way my tongue was designed to savor the differences.

Your taste buds can detect 4 different types of tastes, sweet, salty, sour and bitter.  When you were a baby, you had taste buds on your tongue, as well as on the roof and sides of your mouth.  That meant that you were extremely sensitive to different foods.  But did you know that as you got older, the taste buds on the side and roof of your mouth disappear?  So as an adult, you have less receptors in your mouth to taste the food.  (I guess you can chalk that up to another casualty to living longer!)

Here are some interesting facts about your taste buds:

• We have almost 10,000 taste buds inside our mouths; even on the roofs of our mouths.

• Insects have the most highly developed sense of taste. They have taste organs on their feet, antennae, and mouth parts.

• Fish can taste with their fins and tail as well as their mouth.

• In general, girls have more taste buds than boys.

• Taste is the weakest of the five senses.

Taste is such an important part of our eating experience.  Some might say that it is the only reason why we eat - because it tastes good.  But others might say that there is more to enjoying your food than just taste. 

Think about baking cookies.  You smell them before you ever take a bite; you see the golden brown cookie before you ever savor the taste of chocolate chips.  You feel the texture of the cooked dough before you ever raise the warm cookie to your mouth.  In my house, I usually hear someone saying, "I want the first one!" before anyone ever enjoys the treat.  Finally, you taste it -- warm, gooey and delicious!

Even though taste may be at the last of the five senses to participate in the food experience, for me, last night, it became the star of my dinner! 

After enjoying four Medifast meals throughout the day, I was ready for my lean and green meal.  I decided to make the Shrimp Tomato Salad and stopped by the store for the ingredients.  Frozen, deveined and peeled shrimp, bell peppers, spinach, and tomatoes were selected.  I also had to find a special salad dressing that absolutely complimented the meal and joined all of the different flavors together - Paul Newman's Sun Dried Tomato Dressing (low fat, of course!)

The recipe was easy (it came from the Take Shape for Life cookbook - a must-have resource for anyone on this program!). Marinate the shrimp in 2 tsp of the salad dressing for 1-2 hours. Then cut up the vegetables; saute the shrimp, arrange on top of the salad and add another 2 tsp of dressing.  Simple, easy and delicious!

I expected to enjoy this salad, but I was totally blown away by the burst of flavor!  The combination of the marinated shrimp, bell pepper and tomatoes with the salad dressing was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.  I could not believe what I was experiencing, and then I realized why.

I had not eaten any processed food in two days!  No salt, no preservatives, no food that had been processed and all the vitamins removed.  And my taste buds were rejoicing!


Rediscovering my taste buds was certainly not one of the benefits of this program that I anticipated.  But there is no disputing what I experienced last night with a simple salad - Heaven!

Learn to Eat

Day 2 - Tuesday, June 15, 2010

I made it through my first day of Medifast! It was not that hard, but it did take some concentration and attention to my food choices (which is actually the point of the overall program!). I am re-training myself to eat for fuel, not emotional support.

There were several interesting things I discoverd about myself and this process:

1. There were several times yesterday that I would have eaten something just because I was bored or slightly depressed. It would have been mindless eating, without any reason except emotional. When I stopped the urge to eat and walked away from the cabinet or refrigerator, I discovered that I felt freer (and certainly lighter - I had just refused to put extra calories in my body!). I will continue to notice these urges and identify the emotional triggers, to gain more insight into why I may have been eating for something other than nourishment.

2. This program is designed to have 6 meals, spread throughout the day in 2-3 hour increments. I am not used to eating that often, which quickly became apparent yesterday afternoon. I was out running errands and it was time for my 4th meal. But I did not have any Crunch Bars with me, so I had to wait until I got back home.

Not a good strategy, because then I was hungry. Medifast will not "satisfy your hunger" like the Snickers Bar advertisement. Instead, this program is designed to feed your body in small amounts throughout the day, so you never get hungry. Waiting until you are hungry to eat another Medifast meal is a big mistake and can lead to disappointing results.

What should I have done? Simple. Carry a Crunch Bar in my purse and when it was time to have my meal, I would have it with me. Lesson learned!

3. Drinking 64 ounces of water (8 glasses) was not as hard as I thought. Dansani makes water bottles in 20 oz. sizes. I drank one bottle in the morning, one in the afternoon and another after dinner. It's easy when you divide your day into increments...

Another thing I realized is that this program makes it easy to say "No." It clearly sets out what I can eat, the food is convenient and portable and it satisfied me. Instead of having a battle with myself over whether to stop by Chick-fil-a and pick up a sandwich and sweet tea, I just drive by, wave and smile. Those food choices will always be there, but I am not eating that right now.

People sometimes have the wrong impression about Medifast. "Isn't that the liquid diet?" they ask. That could not be farther from the truth. There are over 70 products available to support you on your weight loss journey! And as I discovered yesterday, you can even use the products to make something completely different.

I always like to have a dessert or something sweet after dinner. The brownie was an option, but I found some great recipes on the website and I decided to try the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies. You mix one packet of the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal with baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, water and Stevia. Plop dollops of cookie dough on the baking sheet, and after ten minutes in the oven, you have fresh, hot cookies that count as your 6th meal! There are lots of recipes just like this one, that add variety and give you a treat, while you still maintain the fat burning state and lose weight.

At the start of Day 2, I feel excited and proud of myself. I can handle this process and I can actually see myself weighing 15 pounds less. My clothes will fit better, I have more energy and I believe I can conquer the world (at least my world!)

A Journey of 15 Pounds Begins With One Sip

Monday, June 14, 2010 - Day 1

Today is the the first day of a new journey. I have decided to lose 15 pounds in 24 days. And you, my friends are invited to join me on this journey. Why the self-imposed deadline and unusual time frame?

My husband and I have become Health Coaches with Take Shape for Life, a revolutionary, life-changing program that helps you lose weight while teaching you how to make wise food choices. (Forgive me - that is the one and only plug during this entire article!) After coaching several clients, I realized that I would not be effective unless I had also experienced the program personally and could say that I had lost weight as a result.

Problem is, did I need to lose weight? I have always been on the thin side, able to eat whatever I wanted to without gaining any pounds. (I know, you can hate me later). But I realized that that was then -- now I am 51 years old and my body had changed without sending me an announcement. Or had it?

When I look in the mirror (past the wrinkles and laugh lines) I see my thin self. My arms are taunt, my skin is vibrant and healthy and my legs should never been hidden behind a towel wrapped around my waist. But why do my shorts feel tight around my waist? Why am I constantly bloated, like someone could prick me and hot air would gush out of my stomach, like a balloon? And how to explain the lack of energy and vitality in my everyday life?

What was going on with my body? It almost seemed as if aliens taken over and I was the last one to know.

You are probably shaking your head in amazement - how could she be so dense? The clue to this conundrum is simple. Look at my age and that should explain it all. When I think about it, the changed did begin when I turned 50. I noticed subtle changes in my energy levels, my weight seemed to creep up and I somehow lost my waist to the dreaded "abdominal fat" that everyone is talking about.

I was also buying up one size - I have always been a size 8. Now I was buying size 10, and sometimes that did not even fit! At first, I blamed the clothing manufacturers. (What did the tiny women in Viet Nam and Taiwan know about the dimensions of an American woman?) But after almost two years of deluding myself, I realized that I was the one who had changed, not the people who made the clothes.

But is age the only thing I can blame? And do I have to accept my physical changes because I cannot stop the ravages of time on my body?

Fortunately, the answer is no.

I just have to allow my body time to adjust to hormonal changes, while still giving it the vitamins, minerals and nutrients it needs to function efficiently and effectively. Sounds easy but is it? That is what I am about to discover by going on the 5-and-1 plan. I will have 5 Medifast meals a day (about every 2-3 hours) and one "lean and green" meal at night. A Medifast meal can be either a shake (I use the one designed for menopausal women, because it contains natural herbs that help smooth out hormonal changes), soup, brownie or pudding. The "lean and green" meal is a piece of lean chicken, fish or pork with one of the approved vegetables.

For the next 24 days, my blog will be devoted to recording my daily experience on this program. Hopefully, while I gain insight and lose weight, you will also learn something from my experience. I promise to share the good, the bad and the ugly (but not my start weight - that is just too embarrassing!)

Why 24 days to accomplish this feat? On July 8-10, 2010, Take Shape for Life will
hold its National Convention right here in the North Texas area - at the Gaylord Texan. There is nothing like the company you represent holding its NATIONAL convention in your own backyard to motivate you to succeed!

Instead of the metaphorical first step, my weight loss journey began with a first sip. When I first woke up this morning, I mixed a Medifast shake with cold water in the handy shaker cup and that was breakfast. It took less than one minute and I still feel full one and a half hours later!

So there you have it - my goal (lose 15 pounds in 24 days), my motivation (look great at the National Convention) and my vision (a slimmer body that will fit easily into a size 8). This blog will help keep my focused so I can regain my slimmer, vital, more energetic body. I know its in there somewhere!

Blessings!

Kathryn Eriksen
www.davideriksen.tsfl.com

What Does It Feel Like to be a Spiritual Messenger?

I am a Round 2 Contestant in the Next Top Spiritual Author Contest (out of 2,800 people who entered, only 271 remain). The Contest has been fun, tiring, thrilling, and motivating, but I have also experienced several unanticipated benefits.

I now realize that I am a Spiritual Messenger.

The gravity of that statement is only lessened by the mere fact I had the audacity to type it, bold face it and share it with the world! As I read over those words, it strikes me that they may sound ego-centric, but that could not be farther from the truth.

You see, for most of my life, I never believed I had anything worthwhile to say. My "Voice" was silent (by my own choosing, of course) but still, it remained quiet and hidden. Like a precious jewel that lay sleeping beneath the waters of life, my Voice waited for me to discover her. The funny part is...now that I have discovered her, I can't get her to be quiet!

Not that I am complaining, but recognizing that I do have something to share with people, that it does come from a Source much higher than my own puny intellect, is rather disconcerting. It tends to throw life off balance, out of kilter and into another gyration completely!

When I wrote the book proposal for the contest, for example, it felt like the words were coming from somewhere outside of my own consciousness. I simply listened and typed. When I finished and I read back through the document, I was astounded that those thoughts and ideas had even been created by my own hands.

But that is the point, isn't it? When I think about it, it really is not "my Voice" at all...I am just the physical embodiment of something much greater and much more spiritual. And guess what - you are too!

My spiritual journey will continue whether or not I make it into Round 3 of the contest. I have walked through the door toward my new life. I am awake, alive and a perfect Voice for the Source.

How about your journey? Where is it taking you?

Blessings,

Kathryn Eriksen
http://www.NextTopAuthor.com
Author ID # 545
http://www.KathrynEriksen.com

I need your help (again)!

The Next Top Spiritual Author Contest continues to roll on -- we are now down to 271 authors (from 2,800!) and the voting is open again. My book, "Faces of God" is in the running, but for it to advance, you have to vote again.

Please visit www.NextTopAuthor.com and look for Author #545. Read the book proposal, detailed chapter outline and sample chapter. If you voted for me before, there is no need to register again. Just cast another vote -- and help propel me in to Round 3!

Blessings,

Kathryn Eriksen
www.KathrynEriksen.com