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Best Time of Day To Exercise? Depends On Your Goals.

Luke Powell — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 19:25:35 +0000

A study published at the end of 2020 found that those who completed afternoon workouts upped their metabolic health far more than those who performed the same exercise earlier in the day. The results are the latest in a line of results that show the time of day we exercise may change the benefits we get from that exercise.

It’s nothing new that what we do when in relation to circadian rhythm influences the quality our health. Studies in both animals and people indicate that every tissue in our bodies contains a kind of molecular clock that chimes, in part, in response to biological messages related to our daily exposure to light, food and sleep.

These circadian rhythms regulate our bodies’ temperatures, hormone levels, blood sugar, blood pressure, muscular strength and other biological systems throughout the day. Studies shown people whose sleep habits do not follow the patterns of light and dark tend to be at higher risk for metabolic problems such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The same is true for people who eat late at night, outside usual dinner hours.

In this new study, the researchers asked adult men at high risk for Type 2 diabetes, based on being overweight (BMI > 26 kg/m2), to ride stationary bikes at the lab three times a week for 12 weeks, while they tracked their metabolic health. Participants were asked to maintain their regular dietary behavior throughout the study.

All subjects performed twice a week aerobic exercise on a stationary bike for 30 min at 70% of a previously determined workload (Wmax), and once a week resistance exercise comprised of three series of 10 repetitions at 60% of the subject's previously determined maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Resistance-type exercises targeted large muscle groups from the low and high limbs (leg extension, leg press, chess press, lat pull down, triceps and biceps curls, abdominal crunches, and horizontal row).

They then compared the men that had worked out between 8 and 10 a.m. with another group who always exercised between 3 and 6 p.m. They found that the benefits of afternoon workouts decisively trumped those of morning exercise.

After 12 weeks, the men who had pedaled in the afternoon displayed significantly better average insulin sensitivity than the morning exercisers, resulting in a greater ability to control blood sugar. They also had dropped somewhat more fat from around their middles than the morning riders, even though everyone’s exercise routines had been identical.

One of the researchers quoted says he believes moderate afternoon exercise may have an impact on the foods we consume later in the evening and “help to faster metabolize people’s last meals” before they go to sleep. This effect could leave our bodies in a fasted state overnight, which may better synchronize body clocks and metabolisms and fine-tune health.

The researchers concluded that the timing of an exercise training session is a crucial environmental cue when aiming to improve glucose stability and explains that performing afternoon exercise training might be more optimal than exercising at morning hours. Considering the practical limitations of the present study, future human interventions, especially larger prospective randomized controlled trials are required to confirm the present findings.

It is important to remember this study was based on sleeping at normal times and eating three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) at typical times. Pre-exercise meal ingestion was not controlled, and exercise training was performed 2–3 hours after either breakfast or lunch. There have been other studies that showed that fasted morning exercise can have many benefits to health. Clearly, future studies are needed to investigate if and how pre- and post-exercise food intake may affect the results of the timing of exercise on glucose stability.

Please don't interpret this as if you can't exercise in the afternoon, you shouldn't at all. Exercise ANY time of day has masive benefits, but if you are overweight and your goal is to control glucose, afternoons appear to be better.

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post Best Time of Day To Exercise? Depends On Your Goals. first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

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Is Your Home Safe For Indoor Gatherings?

Luke Powell — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 23:29:04 +0000

Frequent readers of this blog may know that by day I'm a Mechanical Engineer that works in the HVAC / Air Quality industry. This pandemic has been a fascinating experience for me. My two passions, Health and Wellness and Heating and Air Conditioning have converged. Below is an article that I wrote for my company that I thought would be good to share here as well.

Ventilation. A term that most people outside of the HVAC world rarely heard until a few months ago. As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, and the CDC and WHO finally started to recognize airborne transmission, ventilation quickly became a buzz word.

So why does ventilation matter? The virus that causes COVID-19 is spread through very small aerosols and droplets released in exhaled breath. There is mountains of evidence to show that these aerosols can be carried more than 6 feet in the air and could cause infection if they are inhaled. This is most likely to happen in indoor environments when the ventilation in a room is poor. The longer the period of time people spend in a space, the more likely the virus is to build up in the air and be inhaled, leading to infection.

Don’t Building Codes require a “safe” amount of ventilation? Not enough to quickly remove a virus from the air! After all, buildings were not designed to have air as clean as a research lab or operation room.

ASHRAE Standard 62.1 is the governing standard in the HVAC Industry when it comes to acceptable ventilation levels in commercial buildings. There are outdoor air requirements based on building type, occupancy level and even considerations for the quality of the outdoor air that is being brought in.

ASHRAE 62.2 is the standard that defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in residential buildings.

The 2019 edition of Standard 62.2 adds a compliance path that gives credit for particle filtration, distinguishing between balanced and unbalanced ventilation system interactions with natural infiltration, requiring compartmentalization limits for new multifamily dwellings, and allowing for single-point envelope leakage test results to be used when calculating infiltration credit.

However, most residential buildings are not new and even new one’s likely have local building codes that are not up to the 62.2-2019 standard.

In the vast majority of homes in the United States, there is no mechanical system supplying outside air (ventilation) indoors and exhausting indoor air outside. The only way homes are typically ventilated is by opening a window and/door, or by small amounts of air leaking through openings and cracks in the building walls or roof. Homes generally recirculate ALL indoor air through AC unit/ furnace filters when the heating or cooling system is operated.

The majority of the focus during this pandemic has been on commercial buildings with low ventilation. Offices, restaurants, schools, grocery stores, retail businesses are all spaces where we have identified that the risk of infection increases drastically due to shared air in a poorly ventilated space with an infected person.

Over the next few weeks, people will be spending just as much time, if not more, in their homes than these other spaces. It is important to recognize that the ventilation in your home is likely lower than a restaurant. If you have a group of friends or family over for dinner for a couple of hours, airborne aerosol virus particles from an infected person will build up inside with no path out of the home.

So what can you do? If spending time inside a house with people you do not live with is in your plans, there are some things you can do to make it safer.

Reduce exposure time. One hour is much better than two or three.
Schedule events when you can do it outside, maybe on a slightly warmer day or find a way to gather with portable heaters or a fire pit.
Increase ventilation by cracking open a few windows. The bigger the opening the better. Yes you will be wasting heat, but it should be done while people are in your home and for a few hours after they leave. Ventilation rates through openings are determined by the wind speed and temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, and in colder weather opening the window a small amount can result in ventilation that is almost as effective as opening the window fully in the summer.
Turn on exhaust fans in your bathrooms and kitchen. This will increase infiltration of outside air into your home. However, always make sure you have a window/door open for the make-up air. It is possible if you don’t, that the make-up air will come from your combustion sources possibly contributing CO to the air quality in your home (and make sure you have a CO detector).
Add a portable air cleaner. Run your furnace to recirculate the indoor air and get more running through the cleaner. There are a vast number of different air cleaners on the market and it can be difficult to choose one that is effective. Air cleaners that are based on filtration (with a HEPA filter) are likely to be most effective. It is important to remember that air cleaners should be used as a supplement to increased ventilation, not instead of.
Socially distance when you are visiting a friend’s home and wear your mask while not eating. Spending a very short period of time in a poorly ventilated space is unlikely to pose a significant risk, especially if people are wearing face coverings. However if you are in a poorly ventilated room with a lot of people for a long time, this is likely to be a much higher risk environment for transmission.
Get a humidifier. There is evidence from laboratory studies that shows that the virus that causes COVID-19 survives better in colder and drier conditions and there is evidence from other viruses that relative humidity is a particularly important parameter. Maintaining the humidity between 40% and 60% RH indoors may help to further reduce risks.

While ventilation is important, it should always be used as a preventative measure in addition to social distancing, hand washing, wearing face coverings and limiting interactions altogether.

Everyone at The Holistic Athlete wishes you a safe and happy holiday season!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post Is Your Home Safe For Indoor Gatherings? first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post Is Your Home Safe For Indoor Gatherings? appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

Teaching Your Kids About Food Choices

Luke Powell — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 21:05:35 +0000

One of the things I look most forward to when things return to “normal” following the pandemic is being able to take my kids to the grocery with me. I know that sounds insane and some people go to the grocery just to be away from their kids, but I feel like food knowledge is one of the most important things I can pass on to my children.

As parents, you guide the eating habits and routines of children as they grow up. They are not going to try new healthy foods if you do not buy them and give them the opportunity. The foods that they learn to love as children will be staples with them throughout their entire life. This could be great or it could instill habits and preferences that are hard to break later.

There are a few things that we can do to help our children learn how to make healthier choices, but at the same time not develop orthorexia (or orthorexia nervosa, is an eating disorder that involves an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating).

Be Careful How You Refer to Foods

If you refer to food items as “good” or “bad” you may be doing more harm than good. Think about “bad foods” right now. What comes to mind? Donuts? Pizza? Ice Cream? Fries? These are things that you will find in my house once in a while and I do not want my kids to have guilt around them. The truth is, some things that you might consider “good foods” are not any better for you. Like orange juice, yogurt, whole wheat bread and sugar free candy. Moderation is the key. My kids know that ice cream is not part of the foundation of a healthy diet, but having a scoop once in a while on a special occasion is ok and fun.

Let the Kids Help With Picking Out Meals

My wife and I set the dinner menu for the week every Sunday morning. I then proceed to go to the grocery (or multiple stores) to get the ingredients we need. We usually make the kids part of this process. They can make suggestions as to what meals they would like that week. Our four-year old goes with macaroni and cheese every time. It makes it on the menu about once a month, but he never gives up hope! When we end up having a meal that one of the kids suggested, it’s no problem getting them to eat that night. Even if we add in a vegetable or side that they didn’t suggest, the plate usually ends up clean.

Get the Kids in the Kitchen

If you are the parent that cooks, having the kids in the kitchen with you when preparing dinner might sound like a nightmare. But if they are old enough, they can actually be a help! Kids Cook Monday is a campaign that encourages families to declare Monday as family night and spend time together making and eating meals. Take advantage of the extra time at home to get your kids hands-on with the cooking at least one night a week. Then once you are all at the table eating, let them brag to the rest of the family that they helped make the meal.

Cook with Fresh Ingredients

This goes back to my original statement about taking kids to the grocery. I enjoy talking with them about different foods and teaching them how to differentiate what they see in the front of a package from what the Nutrition Facts and ingredients on the back actually tell them. They will notice when you load up the cart with real food first before adding in a few processed items. Have them open the produce bags for you! They think it's fun and it's one less thing I have to do. Take them to farmers markets so they can see and meet the people growing the food you purchase. You can visit localharvest.org to find a local farmers market near you.

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post Teaching Your Kids About Food Choices first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post Teaching Your Kids About Food Choices appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

No Sugar November – 2020 Edition

Luke Powell — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 11:06:20 +0000

October is coming to an end next week. So you know what that means? It’s time for “No Sugar November”! Can you go from November 1^st until Thanksgiving (November 26th) with no sugar? It might seem like a monumental task, but take a few minutes to read the rest of this post and I’ll guide you through the four weeks that will hopefully change your life.

Before getting into the details of the challenge, I feel like I should take a minute to remind everyone why sugar needs to be eliminated from your diet. Here are some of the things that sugar/sweeteners do:

Promotes fat storage and weight gain
Decreases your body’s production of leptin, a hormone critical for appetite regulation (i.e., it makes you not realize that you are full).
It thickens the blood
Compromises your immune system
Fuels cancer cells (cancer LOVES sugar)
Disrupts transfer of amino acids to muscles
Triggers inflammation
Causes Type 2 diabetes
Causes nerve damage
Causes Cardiovascular Disease
Has addictive properties
Causes tooth decay

If you want to know more about all of the horrible things that happen to your body when you consume sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, do a simple Google search.

So if you want to join me in the challenge, here’s what you do:

Starting now, look at the labels of everything that you eat. If the word “sugar” (in any form) is listed in the ingredients, don’t eat it. But it’s not that simple. Sugar can come in many forms. It can be very tricky to find hidden sugar in foods that you don’t even think of as being sweet. It’s obvious that candy bars and donuts are off limits, but would you ever think that pasta sauce, peanut butter and yogurt have added sugar? Even simply drinking a glass of sweet tea can trigger the release of huge amounts of dopamine into the brain. It’s the same chemical that causes people to become addicted to gambling, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc.. So when your brain gets this release from even a small amount of sugar, it makes you want it more. The only way to keep from getting cravings is to cut it out completely.

Hidden Forms of Sugar to Look For:

So what should you look for on labels other than just the word “sugar”? Check for sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, galactose, lactose, maltose, dextrin, corn syrup, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), fruit juice concentrate, cane crystals, and evaporated cane juice.

All of these are off limits. Even though the artificial sweeteners don’t have the calories of their natural counterparts, they are toxic to your body and send mixed signals to your brain. Artificial sweeteners cause you to actually eat more because they break the connection between a sweet sensation and a high-calorie food, thereby changing your body’s ability to regulate calorie intake naturally.

What about eating in a restaurant (can we do that again yet)?

So what about when you are not buying your food from the grocery and you are out to eat (or getting it to go if there's a pandemic) at a restaurant? When you are not preparing the food, it’s a little more difficult to find the hidden sugars. I usually try and order a salad with oil and vinegar instead of the dressings listed on the menu. Nearly every salad dressing out there has added sugar. Many salads also have caramelized nuts, so look to avoid those or just pick them off. Ketchup and BBQ sauces will always contain sugar. Often, sandwich meats at fast food restaurants are treated or injected with a sugar solution to add to the flavor. It’s not easy, but it can be done if you take the time to look at the menu and ask the server questions. Things can be left off or put on the side very easily if you just ask.

Are you up for the challenge??

So if you are up for it, join me in going cold-turkey on sugar (and artificial sweeteners) from now until Thanksgiving. I’ve gone without sugar for weeks at a time before and while the first week or so is tough, it’s amazing how the body transforms and you no longer care about sweets. After going a few weeks without sugar, you will be able to walk by that vending machine or that plate of cookies without the slightest urge. If you slip up and have a soda on day three, don’t quit – just start over from that point. In order for this to work, you cannot have “cheat” days. Once you introduce that sugar again, the cravings will come back and it will be harder to get sugar off of the brain. It literally starts to control your thoughts and you will start thinking about that next sweet treat.

Hold yourself accountable

If you want some accountability, share this post on Facebook or Twitter and let everyone know that you are going to give it a try. Use hashtag #NoSugarNovember. We also have a Private Facebook group. If you would like to join, just send me a friend request. If your family members, friends and co-workers all know that you are avoiding sugar, you are more likely to stick with it. You must also remove all sources of sugar from your home and replace them with real, unprocessed foods. Out of sight – out of mind. If you have a craving during the first few days, eat some berries or a banana. If your immediate family is not on-board this could be a big test for your will power.

If you are still on the fence about cutting out sugar, here are some additional benefits that you may not realize will come once you eliminate it:

Clearer Skin – A study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2006 showed that those participants who had a high-sucrose diet also had a higher level of systemic inflammation than those who had an overall decrease in sucrose consumption. Sugar spikes insulin levels—and more insulin and inflammation means more acne.
More Energy – You may think that without sugar, your energy levels will drop. Fact is, after a few days, your body will recognize that you are not going to pump sugar in every few hours like usual and it will start to switch to burning fat as fuel. This results in sustained energy, instead of a roller-coaster throughout the day as your blood sugar spikes and drops. You will notice this particularly in the afternoon when most people usually get an energy slump between 2pm-4pm that calls for a candy bar, soda or another cup of coffee to get them through the rest of the afternoon.
Motivation – Once you start reading labels and being mindful of sugar intake, you will find yourself making better choices in other areas of health and fitness. You will be motivated to eat the salad at lunch instead of the sandwich. You will want to exercise as you get more energy and see the pounds coming off!
Better Sleep – Sugar triggers the release of the hormone cortisol, which interferes with sleep. By giving up sugar, you should be more awake and alert during the day, and also better prepared to fall asleep at bedtime.
Clearer Thinking – Keep forgetting things? Sugar could be the culprit. A study at UCLA found that a diet high in sugar hinders learning and memory. Over time, eating sugar may actually damage communication among your brain’s cells, the study showed.

I hope you will give No Sugar November a try this year. Get your spouse or partner on board and make it a challenge. If you slip up, start again. Let’s take this journey together and see how much better it makes you feel. And you can still enjoy that pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post No Sugar November – 2020 Edition first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post No Sugar November – 2020 Edition appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

The 2018 Holistic Hundred Challenge

Luke Powell — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 17:48:45 +0000

The Holistic Hundred is a 100 day challenge that starts on Tuesday, August 14th and ends on Wednesday, November 21st (the day before Thanksgiving). The challenge consists of not eating any sugars, grains or vegetable oils.

This is not Keto. This is not Low Carb. This is not calorie counting. This is not counting macros. Just stop eating processed food and you are 99% there!

You may be wondering why I chose to eliminate these three items.

WHY ELIMINATE GRAINS?

One word. Inflammation. Wheat and grains powerfully inflame the body. Inflammation can manifest with skin issues such as acne, dandruff, eczema, and psoriasis. It can show as joint pain, especially in the hands, wrists, and elbows, sometimes in the knees, hips, and low back. It can show as water retention/edema in the face and ankles. Grain-induced inflammation can also show up as an autoimmune disease, anything from rheumatoid arthritis, to diabetes, to leaky gut. As inflammation has become increasingly recognized as having a role in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, there are more and more studies exploring how diet relates to inflammation. It’s important to note that the grains and flours we consume are fundamentally different from the ones our grandparents and great-grandparents consumed, we also prepare them much differently and this may also help explain the increasing rates of allergies and intolerance problems with grains.

WHAT IS A GRAIN?

So when eliminating grains from your diet, you need to understand what a “grain” is. A grain is any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain. Bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, bagels, muffins, chips, tortillas, and grits are examples of grain products. For the purpose of this challenge, there is no difference between “whole grains” and “refined grains”, they are both off limits. It’s also important to know that not all grains contain gluten. So don’t be fooled by eating something that has “gluten free” on the label. Grains that are gluten free include corn, millet, rice, cornmeal – don’t eat these. You also need to steer clear of foods and drinks that contain grains, like baking powder (contains cornstarch), beer, glucose (made from wheat), soy sauce, and most condiments, salad dressings, and sauces. You can find grain-free substitutes for most of these if you want to try to keep them in your diet.

WHAT IS NOT A GRAIN?

Some foods that you might think are grains, but are not are Amaranth, Buckwheat (Kasha), Chia seeds, Flaxseed, Sesame and Quinoa. These are ok to eat during the Holistic Hundred Challenge. You can also cook and bake with non-grain flours such as almond, coconut, fava bean and plantain.

WHY ELIMINATE SUGAR?

I don’t think that you will find many people that think sugar is GOOD for you. But if you need a reminder of all the reasons to eliminate sugar, here are a few:

It stimulates a reaction that provokes adrenaline and cortisol release and thickens the blood.
It impairs white blood cells’ function (lowering your immune system).
It appears to fuel cancer cells. (The connections to cancer and sugar continue to grow as more research is done)
It promotes fat storage and weight gain.
It disrupts transfer of amino acids to muscle tissue.
It spurs insulin resistance, leading to Type 2 diabetes and other health issues like nerve damage and cardiovascular disease.
It is a powerful, addictive drug.
It weakens bones and muscles.

We all know that sugar is sticky. Simply lick a lollipop (or a ring pop is you prefer) and then feel how sticky it gets. Sugar gets sticky because it reacts with the proteins on the surface of your skin to form a chemical bond. This bond is called glycation. The same thing happens when sugar is inside your body. The sugar sticks to your cells and tissues, making them stiff and brittle. It clogs nutrient channels, slowing communication. It stiffens the collagen in your tendons, joints, and skin, causing arthritis and premature wrinkling, while interfering with the production of new collagen.

The more sugar people tended to consume, the less they were able to taste it. Sugar literally will dull your senses. I’ve mentioned before that after doing “No Sugar November” and cutting out added sugar for over three weeks, things like carrots and beets taste very sweet. So the good news is that if you require three packets of sugar in your coffee, with time, you can reduce the amount that is required to achieve the same taste.

WHAT IS SUGAR?

You will be amazed at what is added to food to make it sweet (and addictive). Look for sugar disguised as many different things. Such as Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Glucose Syrup, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), Fruit Sugar, Raw Honey, Maple Syrup, Molasses, Agave Nectar, Palm Sugar, Coconut Sugar, Cane juice, Dehydrated cane juice, Cane juice solids, Cane juice crystals, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Dextran, Barley malt, Beet sugar, Caramel, Buttered syrup, Carob syrup, Brown sugar, Date sugar, Malt syrup, Diatase, Diatastic malt, Fruit juice, Fruit juice concentrate, Dehydrated fruit juice, Fruit juice crystals, Golden syrup, Turbinado, Sorghum syrup, Refiner’s syrup, Ethyl maltol, Maple syrup, Yellow sugar, etc.

Artificial sugars are also off limits – you know, that stuff they put in Diet and "Zero" drinks. So no blue, yellow or pink packets (Aspartame, Equal, NutraSweet, Splenda, Sucralose, Sweet ‘N Low, Xylitol).

WHAT IS NOT SUGAR?

All natural sweeteners — including maple syrup, stevia and raw honey are healthy substitutions to add to drinks if you can’t go without at first. They are still off limits if listed on ingredient labels and I recommend trying to keep their use to a minimum. They will still trigger brain responses to make you want to eat more and crave sweet things – making this challenge even more difficult. You can keep packets of stevia with you so you don’t have to resort to sugar or artificial sweeteners at work and restaurants. Hard alcohol - including vodka, gin, rum, tequila and whiskey - have zero grams of sugar per ounce, so they are ok to drink straight or with water/tonic. Do not mix them with fruit juices or soda. As you eliminate sugar from your diet, you will notice the natural sweetness of foods. I’ve done this challenge for the last three years and I’m always surprised how sweet foods like carrots and sweet potatoes naturally are once my pallet adjusts.

If you want more details on sugar, check out these links:

No Sugar November

No Sugar November 2.0

No Sugar November 2016

WHY ELIMINATE VEGETABLE OILS?

Vegetable oils are toxic to our arteries because they contain delicate polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that are particularly prone to oxidative damage, especially when exposed to heat and when separated from the antioxidants that would otherwise help protect them from that oxidating damage. Science backs up the claim that the historically resent rise in heart disease is the result of the recent invention of refined, bleached, and deodorized vegetable oils. The food industry has been adding these oils to our foods without much fanfare and we are suffering because of it.

If you need more reasons to cut out vegetable oils, consider that they destroy your brain. They do this both directly and indirectly by impacting the gut, your arteries, your white blood cells, the cellular architecture of your nerves and your gene replication. If you have heartburn, gastritis or other digestive symptoms, try eliminating vegetable oils. By inciting chaos, vegetable oil confuses the immune system and ultimately gets the body to turn on itself in ways that can lead to auto-immune brain disorders like multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s and all the other neurodegenerative processes we now understand result at least in part from auto-immune attacks. In addition, if you suffer from migraines or Alzheimer’s, vegetable oils are likely making things worse.

WHAT VEGETABLE OILS ARE BAD?

These are industrial fats that cannot handle the heat involved in processing and cooking

Canola Oil
Soy Oil
Sunflower Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Corn Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Safflower Oil
Non-butter spreads (Margarine)

You may notice that the bad oil list is mostly seeds. These oils are particularly temperature sensitive because seeds stay dormant over the cold winter. But come the spring thaw, the heat-sensitive PUFAs wake up in response to warming, facilitating germination. In order to protect the seed and allow it to grow in nature, the seeds are loaded with antioxidants. Unfortunately, refining these oils ultimately converts these antioxidants into distorted, unhealthy molecules that the human body cannot handle. If you are cooking with any oil, be sure and look up the smoke point. Even some of the good oils have low smoke points, so they should not be used for high temp cooking.

So what are some common foods that are typically loaded with bad vegetable oils? Salad dressing, rice milk, soy milk, soy cheese, soy-based meat products, breakfast cereals, roasted nuts (only eat seeds and nuts raw), any fried food, crackers and chips, granola, breads, buns, frozen pizza, cakes, pies, cookies, frosting, coffee creamers, muffins, I even found it in organic baby food! Basically, anything that can sit on a shelf for a long time allowing manufacturers to keep food around longer before it must be sold, will likely contain a form of vegetable oil.

WHAT OILS ARE OK?

These traditional fats can handle the heat involved in processing or cooking

Olive Oil
Avocado Oil
Peanut Oil
Butter (the real stuff)
Macadamia Nut Oil
Coconut Oil
Animal Fats (Lard, Tallow)
Palm Oil

WHAT SHOULD MY TYPICAL DAY OF EATING LOOK LIKE?

For many people, eliminating sugars and grains may feel like they are going to be starving themselves. But as you introduce new foods to your diet to replace the bad ones, you will quickly learn to love real foods and experiment with new things. Keep it simple. Staples of your diet should be vegetables, meats, healthy fats and some fruits.

Breakfast could be eggs, bacon, avocados and tomato slices. Or a smoothie with spinach, kale, coconut or almond milk, unsweetened yogurt and berries. For more breakfast ideas, check out this website.

Lunch can simply consist of dinner leftovers from the night before. You can make a portable salad at home, or even get one from a restaurant or salad bar at a grocery (using only olive oil as a dressing).

Good snack ideas are fruit, raw veggies, hard boiled eggs, beef jerky, full fat cheese, raw nuts, olives, pumpkin seeds, 85% or greater dark chocolate, pepperoni slices, avocados, and hummus (watch for bad oils in this) with raw veggies.

Dinner should be a meat and 2-3 servings of veggies. You can try spaghetti squash if you like having "pasta".

Believe it or not, life is simple on this eating plan. Throw out all sugars and grains to start with – seriously, clean out the pantry and fridge (if it’s not there, you can’t eat it). Then simply buy meats and lots of veggies and fruits at the store. Pick a meat and two veggies to prepare for dinner each night. Preparation is key – make a meal plan for the entire week and then go shopping for everything you need.

Let me know what questions you have as you start the challenge. If you slip up one day, start over the next. It’s a “challenge” for a reason. If you want to join the Facebook group for support and recipes, shoot me an email or PM on Facebook and I’ll get you added. Good luck!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post The 2018 Holistic Hundred Challenge first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post The 2018 Holistic Hundred Challenge appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

Why Counting Calories Doesn’t Work

Luke Powell — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 02:08:59 +0000

We’ve all heard that the key to losing weight is to simply burn more calories than you take in. Calories in < Calories out. Part of this thinking is that consumed calories, regardless of their sources are equivalent; i.e., a calorie is a calorie. Historically, calorie-focused thinking has been biased against high-fat foods, many of which may be beneficial against obesity and related diseases, and in favor of starchy and sugary replacements, which are likely leading to obesity and chronic disease.

Many (most) of the “diets” and public health initiatives are based around tracking your calories. This is simply not a healthy way to live, much less lose weight. These programs treat calories like units of body weight and units of body weight like a reflection of health. So if you are overweight, simply consume fewer calories than you burn and you will achieve healthier weights and better health. Wrong.

Although such logic might make sense on the surface, reality is not quite so simple and existing evidence challenges calorie-focused weight loss plans. A plan focused more on food quality, rather than caloric quantity, may help better explain and better address the growing problems of excess weight, or more precisely excess fat and related conditions that come along with it.

By this logic, a calories worth of salmon, olive oil, white rice or vodka would each be equivalent and each expected to have the same implications for body weight and health. But a calories worth of salmon (largely protein) and a calories worth of olive oil (purely fat) have very different biological effects from a calories worth of white rice (refined carbohydrate) or a calories worth of vodka (mostly alcohol) particularly with regard to body weight/body fatness.

Some calories introduce metabolic pathways and hormones that squelch appetite and promote energy use, others stimulate pathways that promote hunger and energy storage. Even controlling for total calorie intake and energy expenditure from physical activity (calorie in / calorie out), differences in calories have different implications for obesity. A calories worth of one food is not the same a calories worth of another.

The following list was taken from a University of Cambridge commentary on Public Health Nutrition.

Here are some common notions from a calorie-focused logic:

A calorie is a calorie
Eating less and moving more to achieve calorie deficit will produce weight loss
Consuming more calories than expended causes obesity
High-calorie foods/diets (i.e. high-fat foods/diets) are undesirable
Low-calorie foods/diets (i.e. low-fat foods/diets) are desirable
Low-fat foods without empty calories are best

What science and real-life tests show:

Calories from protein, fat, carbohydrate and alcohol each stimulate different physiological pathways and have different metabolic effects
Trying to under consume calories (without paying attention to qualitative differences in calorie sources) will result in hunger and fatigue, generally with little weight/fat loss in the short term and rebound weight gain in the long term
Energy consumption and expenditure are dependently linked; consuming more calories than needed results in energy expenditure (e.g. reduced metabolic efficiency) and/or reduced appetite and subsequent intake. If calories are consumed in excess of calories expended in some kind of sustained way, then such imbalance is the result not the cause of developing obesity (and of the hormonal changes that underlie it)
Many foods that are higher in fat may protect against obesity, lead to favorable metabolic indicators and help protect against chronic diseases and early mortality.
Low-fat foods and diets are often high in the most rapidly absorbable sugars and starches, which may be distinctly detrimental for obesity and related diseases
Even for foods that have vitamins, minerals, fiber, and various other constituents believed to be healthy, if they are concentrated sources of rapidly absorbable sugars and starches, they are likely to cause metabolic dysfunction and harm

I recognize that there has been some progress in shifting dietary focus toward actual foods, there is still too much focus on eating “too much”. Focusing on the calories available from specific foods fails to recognize the metabolic effects of foods themselves. Foods that are highly processed and made up of mostly sugars and starches should not be part of any normal diet. Such carbohydrates may induce hormonal changes that might, in turn, help produce overeating and inactivity.

So unhealthy foods may be the double-whammy. Those who consume them might not only become obese by eating them but also see an increased appetite and lack of motivation as a result.

We should be improving the quality of the foods available that provide our calories. We should be promoting foods that do not prompt, or even program us to overeat. Working towards improving the quality of foods that are produced and working to support the consumption of whole/minimally processed products will change the current trend of overweight people in the world.

If nothing else, it would be nice if calorie tracking programs like Weight Watchers and public health initiatives did not continue to promote messages that create and blame victims. Not only are they making people feel like they are failing, they are keeping people sick.

I'll say it again. Eat whole foods in their most natural form and your weight and health with normalize and you will feel amazing as the result!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post Why Counting Calories Doesn’t Work first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post Why Counting Calories Doesn’t Work appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

Ironman Louisville 2017 Race Report

Luke Powell — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:08:11 +0000

As I thought about what I was going to say in this race report, I knew that I wanted to approach it from a different direction than those that I’ve done in the past. I felt that this race required more from me mentally than any race I’ve done up to this point. This may sound ridiculous, but I honestly feel like accomplishing the goals I had set in this race ended up being 75% mental and only 25% physical.

As with the Ironman races that I raced in 2013 and 2015, I followed the plan outlined in The Balanced Approach for the 36 weeks leading up to Ironman Louisville 2017. To my surprise, when I went back to Training Peaks and looked at my average training week, it was only 6 hours and 8 minutes this year…which is lower than in the past (it’s been right under 7 hours previously). I can’t imagine that there’s anyone else out there that completed the race in the time I did on less hours of training per week. This even more solidifies my thought that the mental side of racing an Ironman is just as, if not more critical, than the physical side.

So in my race preview I outlined my three goals. They were to set a personal record (PR), which would be anything under 11:32:58, complete the bike leg in under 6 hours and to just finish the race. With these goals in mind, I spent the days leading up to the race preparing myself mentally. I visualized every aspect of the race. Everything from picking up my race packet, to preparing my gear and special needs bags, to where I would park race morning. I intentionally thought about every detail that I could control (the weather is not one of them). What time would I wake up? What time would I leave the house? Where would I put myself in the self-seeding swim start line? What would I drink as I waited in line? Literally EVERY detail.

I also visualized the race. What did I want to think about during the swim (not crossing over, keeping a smooth stroke, drafting when possible, etc.)? What did I need to do in the transition tents? What order would I do things in transition to be as efficient as possible? You get the idea. This probably seems like overkill to most, but I have learned that I can eliminate almost all of the stress associated with race morning if I have everything planned out. I also have a much better chance of executing a good race if I have thought through as much of it as possible.

SWIM

Back to race morning. I knew that in order to set a PR, I would need to start off with a strong swim time. This was going to be a tall task considering I didn't get to swim with a Masters Team or a group this season. I felt like I was in a good rhythm during the swim, but I really didn’t know what pace I was on. I lined up in the 1:00:00 to 1:10:00 swim wave, and I had hoped to come out of the water somewhere between 1:05:00 and 1:10:00. In my mind, anything over 1:10 would set me behind for the rest of the day. I swam at a pace just slightly above easy, which I thought would be good enough to reach my goal. My sighting was good despite the croppy water. Needless to say, I was very excited to see 1:03 and some change on my watch when I stood up on the steps leading out of the Ohio River. This was the first big hurdle in the mental game that played out during the race.

2.4 Mile Swim

1:03:58 (1:39 / 100m pace)

There was an immediate shift in my psyche as I ran to transition from the water. I knew that this fast swim had set me up to meet my goals for the day. I went through transition as planned and got my bike. As I ran down the sidewalk toward the bike-mount line, I was carrying my bike shoes in my left hand and was guiding my bike with my right hand on the saddle. This works great as long as you keep moving forward. Unfortunately for me, someone cut right in front of me and I had to stop, causing my front wheel to turn to the left…immediately bringing my bike to a stop. I tripped over my frame and with my shoes in my hand, was not able to catch myself. My bike and I hit the ground hard. I got up and did a quick check on my bike. It was good. I was ok too. Dodged a bullet! I propped my bike up on the fence that lined the sidewalk and went ahead and put my bike shoes on. I ran the 20 feet or so left to the bike-mount line and started the 112 mile bike ride. It was at that point that I realized my top and bottom lip were bleeding. I think I hit my mouth on my bike as I went down.

BIKE

My positive mental state took a bit of a hit with the fall, but I quickly tried to regroup and spent the first few miles of the bike going over my plan for the ride. I would hold my power between 180 and 190 watts, being very careful not to let it spike above 290 or so on the hills. I had my Garmin set to auto-lap every 5 miles. So I was able to see total bike time, 3 second average power and cadence on my screen without constantly focusing on speed. I knew that if my time for each 5 mile split was around 15 minutes, that would put me at 20 miles per hour. I also knew that in order to break 6 hours, I needed to average 18.7 mph or better. My first few splits (with a nice tailwind) were 14:35 and 13:34, woo hoo! But once I made the right hand turn and the wind was no longer at my back, my splits were all over the place. I focused on riding my power, but the wind was relentless and I kept thinking about how tough that ride back into the wind was going to be during that last 30 miles. I also had a bit of a snafu regarding my nutrition. I had a 5-serving pack of almond butter that I had planned to take a “shot” of every hour on the bike. This had worked perfectly during my training ride. However, when I went to take the first hit, I realized that it was all oil. The butter had separated from the oil (typical for natural nut butters). I tried to knead the pouch as I rode, but the butter was a solid rock at the bottom and the oil was on top. There was no mixing the two at this point. I guess buying this 6 months ago and having it sit was not the best idea. Fortunately, after losing my nutrition at 70.3 Ohio, I had a back-up plan in place for this race. I had a single-serving almond butter in my bike bento box and I had put three more in my special needs bag just in case I somehow lost the 5-serving pouch. So while I fell a little behind on my calories early on, I was able to get them almost all back.

The last part of the bike was very hard mentally. Once I turned left onto US-42 to head back toward town, I knew I would be in for a battle with the wind. I decided to break the ride into segments. The first would be the 10 miles from Sligo to 393. I knew that I would have to try and stay down in my aero bars to negate the headwind as much as possible. The wind was coming from the northwest and was almost non-stop. The weather report for that time of day shows 20 mph sustained winds with gusts of 40 mph! It was crazy. I made it to 393 and told myself the next segment would be about another 10 miles to get me to the right turn off of 42 on to River Road. By this time, my lower back and neck were getting tight and I just wanted OFF THE BIKE! I made if to River Road and then the wind really picked up and it started raining a little bit. I was hit by a few flying branches off of trees and felt the wind blowing mist off of the river as I rode beside it. Seriously?! At this point, I had to break it down into even smaller segments in order to get myself to stay in aero and keep peddling hard. I really wanted to get it over with! The next segment was just 2 miles to Wolf Pen Branch Road. Then the 5 miles to Zorn Avenue. Then the final 3 or so miles to transition. With a few miles to go, I noticed that my goal of breaking 6 hours was possible, so this provided a little extra motivation to keep my cadence high and head down. Despite the head wind, I averaged 19.5 mph during the last 10 miles, which is why I was able to sneak in under 6 hours.

112 Mile Bike

5:57:26 (18.8 mph)

Nominal Power = 171 Watts

Avg Heart Rate = 115 bpm

Avg. Cadence = 77 rpm

RUN

I was feeling good about my overall race as I excited T2. With a new swim and bike PR, I knew that a solid run would put me in position to really do something special on this day. I had played the run over in my mind several times. Keep my cadence above 176 and my heart rate below 145. That was the plan. Don’t worry about pace. I knew that if I kept my cadence up, my pace would take care of itself. The first four miles went great. I was right on track.

The one issue was with my nutrition. I had my mix in two bottles on my fuel belt. I had practiced with this mix and digested it well. But for the first time ever in an Ironman race, I was having digestion issues. The first swig that I took at mile two almost came right back up! I spent the next few minutes belching and I knew that continuing to try and drink what I had on board was not an option. So I began to think about alternatives that were available at the aid stations. If you follow my blog or know me, you know that I don’t do artificial drinks or gels. So Gatorade, Coke, Gels, and Red Bull were not good ideas (I can only image how my gut would have reacted to any of those!). So at mile 5, I tried some water with a small bite of banana. I let it turn to mush in my mouth before swallowing it. But I knew quickly that “solid” food was not going to work. By miles 7, 8 and 9, my cadence had slowed to 174 and I was having trouble getting it back up. This is when my mental state started to go negative. I was telling myself that without my nutrition, there’s no way I could sustain my pace for a marathon. The negative thoughts were creeping in the more I ran. I had resorted to drinking water and sucking the juice from orange slices at each aid station.

My cadence slowed to 172 by mile 14 and I was struggling. My mile splits were progressively getting slower. I would get a little motivation from friends and family out on the course (my wife and kids, my parents, the BC Mafia, Louisville Landsharks, TriLoco's, and everyone else cheering along the course giving me encouragement), but I was already thinking that my goal of a race PR was lost. By mile 18, I was breaking down both physically and mentally. My cadence had dropped into the 160’s and every step hurt. My heart rate was dropping and my legs were toast. I was still running, but it was slow and ugly.

I passed my family at mile 22 and my middle son, who is 4, told me that I need to run faster. I laughed (as did other runners around me), but that little spark from my boy flipped a switch in my mind. Was this really as hard as I could push myself? What were all the early morning workouts for? Why did I go the last 100 days without sugar, grains or vegetable oils? Why all the sacrifices? This was it! Now was the time! This was the damn race! There was no coming back and trying again. It was all for right now! I went to a place in my mind where I hadn’t been before. I blocked out the pain from my body. I overroad the message my body was sending to my brain telling it that it was time to quit. I became laser-focused on the task at hand. Find something deep-down that would enable me to “run faster”. My cadence jumped back up into the low 170’s and my pace started to creep back down under 10 minute miles. My watch had been set just to show heart rate and cadence with the auto-lap on every mile. At the 23 mile mark, I scrolled over to see that my overall race time was just under 11 hours. What a minute? Was this right? Despite the crap-fest that was miles 18 through 22, I still had a chance, a GOOD chance, to set a PR! This was all I needed mentally to take things to the next level. I suddenly found another gear and ran the last three miles in 9:45, 9:27 and 8:40. The last 0.2 miles were at a 8:32 pace! I completely blocked out the pain and my surroundings as I pushed to the finish line. I bypassed the aid stations and everything went quiet. When I turned the last corner and saw the finish shoot, my senses came back to life. I heard the announcer calling out finishers names, I heard the music bumping from the finish line speakers. I heard the crowd at Fourth Street Live cheering wildly! I got cold chills all over my body. I had done it!

26.2 Mile Run

4:07:40 (9:27 min/mile)

Avg Heart Rate = 122 bpm

Avg. Cadence = 176 spm

There are lots of reasons for me to be proud of my performance on this day. I realize that 11 hours and 25 minutes isn’t fast compared to some and others might see it as inconceivably quick. The time isn’t what I’m most proud of. It’s the way I was able to push myself through some really hard spots during the bike and run. I’ve done this race four times now. I’ve raced when the temps were in the mid 90’s with high humidity. I raced when I thought there was wind (that was nothing compared to this year). But I’ve never had to go to the place mentally that it took for me to get to the finish line this time. I will use this race in the future when I need to push myself to do something uncomfortable. When I don’t think I’m capable of something, I will remind myself of what I’m capable of when I get my mind right. I’m constantly amazed by what the human body can accomplish, and this is yet another example of what can be done when you put mind over matter!

Total Time

11:25:42

75th out of 287 in 35-39 Age Group

450th Overall out of 2750

Nutrition Used:

Pre-Race - (1) Medium Sweet Potato and (1) packet of Justin's Almond Butter

Bike- 3 scoops Phat Fibre mix with 3/4 bottle coconut water mixed in (2) 20oz bottles

Justin's Almond Butter packets (4 total)

New Bottle of clear water at each aid station

Run - Water and oranges at Aid stations

Gear used:

TYR Hurricane 5 wetsuit

Aqua Sphere Kayenne goggles

Argon 18 E-112 Triathlon bike with Zipp wheel set (404 front, 808 back)

Bike Javelin aero helmet

Adidas Boost running shoes with Swiftwick socks

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post Ironman Louisville 2017 Race Report first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post Ironman Louisville 2017 Race Report appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

Kentucky Derby Festival MiniMarathon Race Preview

Luke Powell — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 21:17:17 +0000

Meet Ellie.

Ellie will be my partner for tomorrow's KDF MiniMarathon. We will run 13.1 miles together (me pushing her in a stroller) from Downtown Louisville through the Portland neighborhood, down past Museum Row and Louisville Slugger. We will head south to historic Churchill Downs where we will get to run through the infield with the famous twin spires in the background. Then we head back toward the river through the University of Louisville to Waterfront Park.

I'm very excited for Ellie because this will be her first race. She is a 31 year old that lives with Cerebral Palsy (pronounced seh-ree-brel pawl-zee). Cerebral Palsy affects body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture and balance. It can also impact fine motor skills, gross motor skills and oral motor functioning.

It is estimated that 764,000 children and adults in the U.S. manifest one or more of the symptoms of cerebral palsy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year about 10,000 babies born in the United States will develop cerebral palsy.

The type of movement dysfunction, the location and number of limbs involved, as well as the extent of impairment, will vary from one individual to another. It can affect arms, legs, and even the face; it can affect one limb, several, or all.

Cerebral Palsy affects muscles and a person’s ability to control them. Muscles can contract too much, too little, or all at the same time. Limbs can be stiff and forced into painful, awkward positions. Fluctuating muscle contractions can make limbs tremble, shake, or writhe.

Balance, posture, and coordination can also be affected by Cerebral Palsy. Tasks such as walking, sitting, or tying shoes may be difficult for some, while others might have difficulty grasping objects.

Other complications, such as intellectual impairment, seizures, and vision or hearing impairment also commonly accompany Cerebral Palsy.

Thanks to Dennis from Athletes In Tandem for setting me up with Ellie!

Wish Ellie and I luck as we tackle the course tomorrow and cheer us on if you are out there!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post Kentucky Derby Festival MiniMarathon Race Preview first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post Kentucky Derby Festival MiniMarathon Race Preview appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

What My Diet Looks Like

Luke Powell — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 13:20:06 +0000

It's been over two and a half years since I kept a food log, so I thought it would be a good idea to do it for a week to see what my typical diet looks like. I don't follow any type of "official" diet, such as Paleo, Keto, Low-Carb, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, etc., so I really don't know how much fat, carbohydrates or protein my diet consists of. I just eat real food and stay away from sugar and most grains.

Last time I logged everything I ate (June of 2013), I turned it into a blog post – you can check that out here: https://www.holisticathlete.net/uncategorized/what-i-eat/

At that time, my calorie break down was 41% carbohydrates, 22% protein and 37% fats. My average daily calories were 2,305.

So has anything changed since then? The short answer is, probably not. I haven’t made any changes in my mindset since that time as far as macro nutrient levels or how many calories I should be eating in a given day. My workouts are pretty similar as well, so there isn’t a need for additional calories there either.

That being said, let’s take a look at what my week looked like. I used an App on my phone called “MyPlate Calorie Tracker”. It’s run by LiveStrong.com. It’s pretty simple, you just plug in the food that you eat during the day and if something you eat happens to have a label, you can just scan it and the App automatically plugs in all of the nutritional info for you.

I started my food log on the morning of Monday, February 6^th and logged everything I ate through the end of the day on Sunday the 12^th. I didn't log my drinks because I had just water and some tea once or twice (no juice or soda). I also took my normal supplements from Garden of Life to get my essential vitamins and micro nutrients.

I won’t bore you with listing everything that I ate, but instead I’ll just give you a sample. If you want to actually see everything I ate, shoot me a message and I’ll send it to you.

Breakfast – Eggs (the whole thing - not just egg whites) with Avocado / Apple with Almond Butter / Coconut milk smoothie with GoL Protein Powder & Avocado / Quinoa with berries

Lunch – Fajita bowl / Salad / Raw Veggies and Guacamole

Afternoon Snack – Raw nuts & seeds / Epic bar

Dinner – Chicken with olives, sundried tomatoes & feta with Brussels Sprouts and beets / Chili (no noodles) / Hamburger patty with mushrooms & bacon with roasted potatoes

I didn’t eat anything after dinner and only had a snack during the day when I felt hungry (only happened twice during the week). Most of my daily calories come at dinner time as my wife is an awesome cook and I always clean my plate and often go back for seconds!

When the App totaled up the numbers for the week, here’s where I ended up (based on calorie distribution):

39% fats, 38% carbohydrates and 23% protein. My average daily calories were 2,155.

None of these numbers are that surprising to me. I purposely include a good amount of fats in my diet. I work out in the morning on an empty stomach, so it’s important that I stay fat-adapted. Eating a diet consisting of a good amount of fats is crucial for making this work. The carbs are not as important as my workouts are short and strenuous, so it’s not like I’m getting past my glycogen stores anyway. Keep in mind that the kind of carbs that I eat are not what most people are trying to cut out. There are no refined carbs in my diet. My carb intake comes almost exclusively from vegetables and some fruit. Most of it locally sourced from GreenBEAN Delivery or the Farmer's Market.

Here are some charts that I made and some that I grabbed from the App.

It's worth noting that the app tracked grams of each macro nutrient. In order to compare this to my ratios from 2013, I had to convert these grams to calories (the App I used previously tracked calories only). Each gram of Protein and Carbohydrate is equivalent to 4 calories, but each gram of Fat is equivalent to 9 calories. So if I just looked at the distribution of grams and not calories, it would have looked a little different (22% Fat, 49% Carbohydrates and 29% Protein).

This clearly demonstrates that calories are not all the same! I never count calories and I don't think that you should either. If you want to try and monitor a certain macro nutrient, count the grams that you eat for a short period of time (maybe a week) and then see what things look like. Tracking EVERYTHING that you eat is not fun. I was glad once the week was over! The only time I would recommend that someone keep a food log would be if you have never done one and are struggling to meet goals (weight loss, overall energy, fitness gains, etc.). You will probably be surprised at what you find once you document everything that you eat and drink. Sometime people think they eat healthy, but in reality, their diet could use some work. You are also less likely to eat that cookie if you know that you will have to log it on the App!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

The post What My Diet Looks Like first appeared on Holistic Athlete.

The post What My Diet Looks Like appeared first on Holistic Athlete.

The 5 Best Things You Can Eat Or Drink

Luke Powell — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 19:00:08 +0000

Earlier this week I told you about the 5 things that I think are the worst to eat or drink. So to counter that, here are 5 things that I think you should try and eat as often as possible!

#5 Best Thing You Can Eat: MUSHROOMS

About 100 species of mushrooms are currently being studied for their health-promoting benefits. Of those hundred, about a half dozen really stand out for their ability to deliver a tremendous boost to your immune system.

It's important to eat only organically grown mushrooms because they absorb and concentrate whatever they grow in — good OR bad. This is what gives mushrooms their potency. Mushrooms are known to concentrate heavy metals, as well as air and water pollutants, so healthy growing conditions is a critical factor. Also, don’t go picking shrooms from your yard as most species are poisonous!

Mushrooms are becoming increasingly valuable tools in medicine, where research is finding that mushroom compounds can fight diseases such as breast cancer.

Look for Shiitake, Reishi, Cordyceps, Maitake, Cremini/White Button and Himematsutake mushrooms.

#4 Best Thing You Can Eat: BONE BROTH

Bone broth is exceptionally healing for your gut, and contains a number of valuable nutrients that many people lack, in a form your body can easily absorb and use. All bone broths — beef, chicken, fish, lamb and more — are staples in the traditional diets of every culture and the basis of all fine cuisine.

Bone broth or stock was a way our ancestors made use of every part of an animal. Bones and marrow, skin and feet, tendons and ligaments that you can’t eat directly can be boiled and then simmered over a period of days. This simmering causes the bones and ligaments to release healing compounds like collagen, proline, glycine and glutamine that have the power to transform your health.

#3 Best Thing You Can Eat: WILD CAUGHT SALMON

So why Salmon and not other fish? It’s the omega-3 content and the fact that it’s high in protein. You’ll want to look specifically for Alaskan wild salmon to get the full amount of benefits, and make sure that you’re not eating smoked salmon as it does not have the same nutritional benefits as freshly caught and cooked.

The reason omega-3s are so important is that they provide vital support to your heart and circulatory system. Eating salmon also gives benefits in the form of increased memory function and a decrease in the likelihood of degenerative diseases like Alzheimers.

Since wild salmon eat what what’s available to them in nature, they have a more complete nutritional profile, with valuable micronutrients, fats, minerals (including magnesium, potassium, and selenium), vitamins (including all the B-vitamins), and antioxidants like astaxanthin.

Avoid farmed salmon, as they're fed an artificial diet consisting of grain products like corn and soy, chicken- and feather meal, artificial coloring, and synthetic astaxanthin — all of which negatively affects the nutritional profile.

#2 Best Thing You Can Eat: ORGANIC PASTURED EGGS

Overall, eggs are one of Nature's most perfect foods, they are inexpensive and loaded with high quality protein, healthy fats and cholesterol (it’s not an evil word), vitamins, and minerals.

But don’t throw out those egg yolks either. They are a rich source of the antioxidants

Proteins in cooked eggs are also converted by gastrointestinal enzymes, producing peptides that act as ACE inhibitors (common prescription medications for lowering blood pressure).

Despite their low calorie count, eggs are extremely filling, keeping you fuller for longer, which makes them a great breakfast option to keep you going until lunch time. Eggs can aid weight loss, increase good cholesterol and build stronger teeth and bones, as well as increasing brain health because of the omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins B12 and D, and choline, which are all essential nutrients for a functioning brain.

#1 Best Thing You Can Eat: AVOCADOS

If you’re not already a fan of avocados, you should try adding more of it into your life. I usually eat one a day in one form or another. There’s no need to buy these organic since you don’t eat the skin. It can also be a little tricky to pick the right ones and then consume them before they go bad.

One of the most referenced benefits of avocado is their amounts of healthy monounsaturated fat. These healthy fats actually help you to lose fat and feel fuller longer.

I hope that you are able to incorporate some of these into your diet if you aren't already. A quick Google search with give you tons of ideas of how to prepare these amazing gifts from nature!

Be sure and visit all of my sponsor’s websites. I sought out these companies because they provide great products and services.

Wishing you optimal health and peak performance,

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