Brady Nutrition Paleo Mojitos

Here is another Paleo cocktail for you. This is another drink that was inspired by a Robb Wolf podcast. My wife and I tweaked this recipe several times and it is still being refined but this will get you a pretty decent mojito. If you decide to add stevia make sure what you pick up is pure stevia as many of the products out there have other additives. If you have never used stevia, start out small it is pretty concentrated.

Ingredients:

• 1-2+ shots of your favorite rum
• 2/3 cup of club soda
• 2/3 cup of your favorite coconut water
• 1 lime
• 3 sprigs of fresh mint or more
• 1/4 tsp. of pure stevia (optional)
• Crushed ice

Directions:

1. Slice the lime in half
2. Squeeze the lime into a pint glass
3. Add stevia if desired
4. Add your desired number of shots of rum 
5. Fill glass with ice and top off with a 50/50 mix of club soda and coconut water
6. Muddle the mint sprigs and mix 
7. ENJOY!

A New Way to Look at Breakfast

I have ran into a number of people recently that have either asked me what I eat for breakfast or explained to me what a healthy breakfast is to them. These pictures are the visible image results from searching for "healthy breakfast" on Google. At a distance these images have a lot of fruit, oatmeal, toast, orange juice, and an occasional egg. Clearly the web is more in agreement with the people I have run into than what I believe is a a healthy breakfast.

Here is a decent example of one of these healthy breakfasts; two pieces of whole wheat toast, a cup of berries, glass of orange juice (16oz), and a small bowl (1 cup) of oatmeal. If you are Paleo and especially if you have played with intermittent fasting then this breakfast probably scares the hell out of you. If you are new to Paleo or are stumbling upon this blog randomly then you would probably agree this is pretty healthy.  There are a whole host of reasons why a standard American healthy breakfast, like this one, is not as good as it seems but for this post I want to focus in on one of those variables and that is carbohydrate.

Let's break down the macro nutrients for this average standard American healthy breakfast:

• 750 Cal
• 145g Carb
• 5.5g Fat
• 18g Pro

Carbs are essentially sugar, all carbs become blood glucose within a short period of time, so this healthy breakfast basically included 145 grams of sugar AKA ~2/3 a cup of sugar.  That is a ton of sugar! It also includes very little protein or fat which to some may also seem a benefit.

At first I decided the only way to write the rest of this post was with a lot of scientific detail.  Later I decided to focus on the big picture and if you are intrigued and want to learn more I would point you to the big guns who have already broken down the science behind all this. 

So why is all this sugar bad?  There was a time not too long ago when I also thought this was a healthy breakfast.  I would think to myself, "These foods are going to give me energy and get my day going right.".  RIGHT??  WRONG!

We have several metabolic methods of producing energy, including methods that utilize fat and glucose. While you are sleeping your body enters a fasted state.  When you wake up your body is in a prime condition to begin utilizing  glycogen and fat that has been stored for energy.  In addition a series of hormones including growth hormone and epinephrine are active and can increase metabolism. As soon as this breakfast enters your body digestion occurs and sugar enters your blood stream.  The sugar quickly raises your blood glucose levels, the more complex carbs are broken down a bit slower resulting in elevated blood glucose for an hour or more.  Your body reacts to this with the hormone insulin.  Insulin removes the sugar from the blood by pushing it into your cells during this process fatty acids in your blood are also stored.  Essentially eating this sugar has turned off your body's natural fat burning capabilities for the preference of storing this currently abundant fuel resource for later use.  Between two and three hours later something interesting happens, the insulin completes its job and maybe goes a little too far resulting in a sugar crash.  Now mid-morning you find yourself a bit groggy and what better than to head for a snack to pep you up.  This is just supposed to be a look at breakfast but it is easy to see how three meals a day and a couple high carb snacks can easily result in high insulin levels throughout the day.  This means you are in fat and glucose storage mode most of the day.

When is it possible for our body to burn fat when our hormones are constantly telling our body to store fat? The answer is, there really isn't any time.  While you are sleeping your body will enter the a fat and glucose burning state but the energy required is significantly less than during the day.  You can exercise but if you have ever calculated the amount of work required to burn off a certain number of calories this can be an insurmountable task.  To burn off that breakfast I would have to run close to 6 miles.  Don't get me wrong exercise is an important component of health but not the most efficient way to lose fat.
 

Instead of turning off the body's natural glucose and fat burning capabilities we should strategically embrace them.  Fat that is consumed does not cause an insulin release like carbs and sugar do but can be used for energy.  Protein can cause an insulin release but mainly in larger doses.  So a perfect breakfast is a relatively small amount of food that is primarily if not completely comprised of healthy fats.  The fats you consume give your body a fresh supply of energy to kick start your day without the mid-morning crash while enabling your body to stay in a fat and sugar burning mode. The idea is not to starve yourself but completely avoid carbs and keep your fat to protein ratio high.

So what does my breakfast look like?  I generally have a Phatty Coffee or maybe two (~175-350 calories). This gives me a good dose of fat from coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and grass-fed cream. Some days that is all I do until lunch.  Other days, especially days following a hard workout, I have one or two eggs, maybe some almond butter on top (especially delicious with over easy eggs), and on even fewer occasions I have some meat as well. Beyond my Phatty Coffee, I find that the less I eat the more energetic I am.

So there is one unanswered question, "If not at breakfast, when do I eat my carbs?".  The answer is, the later the better and preferably post-workout.  After a workout your body needs to replenish the energy (glycogen stored in the muscles) that was burned and can also use some protein to support the recovery process. During this period of time insulin is a good thing to help an efficient recovery. Later in the day the body is also more resistant to glucose and fat storage

Resources to find out more about how all this stuff works:

1. Check out John Kiefer.  He has written a couple books on how best to incorporate carbs into your diet. 
2. Check out HowStuffWorks description of the fat storage and burning process.  It is a nice description although the last section "Losing Weight and Losing Fat" does not make much sense if you think about what the whole article is laying out.
3. Check out the FatBurrningMan he has plenty on these topics including intermittent fasting, fatty coffee, and his podcast is excellent.

In the meantime try rethinking breakfast, drop the carbs and sugar for a few weeks, and see if you don't look and feel better.  Of course if you have any health conditions talk this stuff over with your doc first!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chuck

February is time to pull out all the stops

So here I am 4 months into the St. Patty's Challenge and my weight has been stalled between 172 and 175 for a while.  I have even noticed an up tick from time to time into the 175 to 178 range.  I am certainly not obsessed with the scale and really can't complain since I continue to see improvements in my physique. The scale can be a terrible demotivator especially when you hit a plateau along the way.  Taking pictures of yourself regularly is great way to keep your head in the right place when the scale isn't cooperating.

Six Pack

From all my stats and photos it appears my body fat is dropping very slowly and lean muscle mass is increasing at a slightly higher rate, hence the slight weight increase. With my goals in mind this is actually ideal but I wouldn't mind having a nice six pack by the end of the challenge and just in time for spring.  I have been eating very clean Paleo with only some very infrequent and minor deviations.  The only real exceptions are beer and corn chips.  I seem to have those a little more frequently then I would like to admit.  So February is going to include a few minor tweaks to see if I can knock the body fat down into the six pack territory.


So for the month of February I am going to do the following and see where it takes me.

1. No beer, in its place I will be exclusively having Brady Nutrition NorCal Margaritas
Cutting the beer will both ensure I am completely avoiding gluten and should significantly reduce carb and calorie intake as well.  While many of your average beers are in the range of 100-200 calories many of the micro brews out there are significantly higher and just a couple can really throw a wrench in the program.

2. No Tortilla Chips
I just love tortilla chips and well you can't just eat one.  This is a bit of my own acceptance that I have let something creep back into my diet with less control than I would like.  So a month off of the tortilla chip is a good prescription for getting back on track.

3. Shifting all significant sources of carbs to post workout and evening meals.
While I have done some carb back-loading post workout in the past, after doing a little research on John Kiefer's carb back-loading and carb night eating methods, I decided a little more structure to my carb intake might be just what I need to get things moving.  I will write a little more on these methods after I have a little of my own experience to share.

Making progress with your health and wellness is a continuous personal process that will on occasion require you to mix things up and experiment a little.  Paleo can quickly and dramatically change your life but everyone will undoubtedly hit a plateau from time to time.  The key is to recognize when you hit these plateaus, fight off any discouragement, and make a plan to shake things.  In the process you will learn how your body reacts to minor tweaks in your diet and exercise.  This experience will build an invaluable resource as you navigate your own Paleo story.

More to come, thanks for stopping by!
Chuck

Brady Nutrition Spin on the NorCal Margarita

Going paleo certainly brings some real challenges if you intend to unwind with a drink or two from time to time. I have to admit my main source of cheating is beer. I have always been a bit of a beer connoisseur and manage to make my own from time to time. Even though I do not intend to cut out beer entirely it is nice to have some options when you are trying to lean out or just stay as clean as possible. Robb Wolf created the NorCal margarita and he certainly deserves the credit. My wife and I have tweaked his recipe a bit and here it is. If you decide to add stevia make sure what you pick up is pure stevia as many of the products out there have other additives. If you have never used stevia, start out small it is pretty concentrated.

Ingredients:

• 1-2+ shots of your favorite tequila
• 1 Lime
• 1 Lemon
• 1/4 tsp. of pure stevia (optional, a little sweet balances things out)
• Club Soda
• Crushed ice
• Himalayan Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Slice the lime and lemon in half
2. Squeeze the contents into a pint glass
3. Add stevia if desired
4. Add your desired number of shots of tequila (we usually do two)
5. Fill glass with ice and top off with club soda
6. Get the rim of your serving glass damp and cover with sea salt
7. Pour the contents of your pint glass into your serving glass and ENJOY!

The Low Information Eating Epidemic

Everywhere we turn we are bombarded with what is and is not healthy. Food packaging and industry makes everything from very subtle to in your face claims about health. This information is propagated by the media, between individuals, and over time becomes unquestioned perceptions of fact.

I was examining the menu at local lunch spot the other day and asked about a couple different items.  The young girl looked at me and said, "this option is healthy because it comes with wheat bread", I looked at her and wanted to ask why exactly was wheat bread healthy and what made it that way.  Was it whole grain, whole wheat, etc, and how had she come to her conclusions. Instead I selected something more my speed and reflected on the moment.  I eventually thought about the state of our culture and its seemingly infinite capacity to accept ideas as fact.  These perceptions are established as the result of aggressive marketing, social media, and rapid news cycles vice investigation, sound information, science, and experience. I began asking family, friends, and co-workers the same questions I had wanted to ask the cashier that day. Why do you believe something is healthy? What are the roots of that belief?  One perception I ran into was that a particular food was "fattening" or not. What is fattening? Is it high calorie, something that causes the storage of fat, something high in fat? When confronted with these questions the vast majority of individuals respond with a very loose and subjective defense of their belief followed by a quick end to the conversation. Some walk away with the thought that maybe their thinking is flawed or at a minimum not well understood, a few enjoy a discussion on current understanding, science, and nutrition, but unfortunately a large number of individuals get defensive, irritated, and sometimes respond with thin attacks rooted in something they perceive is one of my beliefs. 

After reflecting on all these experiences an idea emerged in my mind and the "Low Information Eater" was born. While I don't tend to get too deeply into politics and certainly won't on this blog, I had heard the term Low Information Voter (LIV) in some of my previous dives into the political spectrum. LIVs are people who may vote, but who are generally poorly informed about politics. This idea was coined out of Samuel L. Popkin's use of the phrase "low-information signaling" in his book The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns.  Studies have shown that this type of phenomenon results in voter decision making that is inconsistent with the stated political beliefs.  The Low Information Eater is much the same.  The individual is poorly informed on nutrition and healthful eating choices as a result of dated science, marketing, and other sources of unsubstantiated information.  These beliefs are built over time and often conflict with the individuals stated intent of eating healthy.

What we eat and why we eat it is deeply embedded in our cultural, part of our identity, and in many cases is hard for people to address potential flaws.  These topics can be as sensitive and as hotly debated as politics and religion.  I am still trying to develop a strategy for positively engaging those that are most firmly planted in their beliefs and not willing to open up and challenge current norms.  In the mean time we should be sure that we don’t slip into the state of the Low Information Eater.  When you pick up that next food package ask yourself the key questions.

·         Why is this healthy or not?

·         What are my reasons for eating this food?

·         What are the ingredients and do I understand what each of them is?

·         How does this food affect my body?

·         What are the macro and micro nutrient composition of this food?

·         Are there more nutritionally beneficial alternatives?

·         Are any of my current beliefs dated and need re-examination?

If we take the time to ask ourselves these questions and stay open to evolving nutritional understanding then we can avoid the trap of the Low Information Eater.